ADHERENCE TO THE VALUES OF

RELIGION HINDERS DEGENERATION

he most distinctive characteristic of societies not bound by the

T principles of religion is the prevalence of degeneration and its

deep penetration into all levels of society, which becomes more
chronic with each passing day. Since people do not follow Qur'anic pre-
cepts and are bereft of values like the fear of God or the necessity to earn
God's approval, there is nothing to hinder this degeneration. There are, of
course, some traditions, customs and social laws developed by individu-
als or leaders, which shape the general conduct of society. But, because
these have been developed by man and are not grounded in the fear of
God, their impact on society is feeble. Ultimately, they fail to restrain be-
haviour which is cruel, unconscientious and inhuman.

HARUN YAHYA To give an example, there is no reason why one who conducts himself
immorally should not indulge in more immorality. Think of an employer.
www.harunyahya.com If he does not have faith in God and feels no fear of Him, he has already
info@harunyahya.com decided to act unconscionably and hence becomes a person ready to take
any opportunity to put this decision into action. The reason for this is that,
not obeying the commandments of the Creator or appreciating the
favours granted by Him are already the most serious examples of unconscientious behaviour. Therefore, from
his own personal standpoint, there is no reason why this employer should not mistreat his employees at the
workplace, offend them, or try to make them work the maximum time for the minimum wage. Within his own
understanding of conscience, these are reasonable attitudes for him to take. Towards his partners, he takes the
same improper attitude; he cheats them or resorts to illegal ways to quickly amass a fortune, and there is noth-
ing to restrain him from doing so.
As stated earlier, when divine rules are not the source of social criteria, moral understanding will differ
greatly from one person to another. An immoral attitude rejected by one, may well be perfectly normal for
someone else. Hence, wherever religious values have no influence, people, societies, ages, regions, cities, and
countries set their own moral values, which are different from one another. In the absence of a unified perspec-
tive regarding moral values, society becomes the setting for numerous disputes and conflicts over what is right
and what is not right. Every new generation becomes more degenerate than the previous one.
Moral degeneration corrupts societies at an ever in-
creasing rate every year. Societies rapidly become cor- gion prevails. After all, with their deep fear of God, individuals avoid immorality. To this end, it suffices to com-
rupt when there is incomplete faith in God. In this way, ply with the commandments of the Qur'an. For instance, in the following verse, the moral criterion set by God
a form of conduct, perceived to be extreme one year, is is clear:
embraced by the same members of society, the follow-
ing year. This progressive decline surely brings ruin to God commands justice and doing good and giving to relatives. And He forbids indecency and doing wrong
society, and immorality, a consequence of disbelief, and tyranny. He warns you so that hopefully you will pay heed. (Surat an-Nahl: 90)
spreads with each passing day. What is interesting is Believers who acknowledge these commandments of the Qur'an pay meticulous attention to observing the
that, immorality is presented as "modernity" and be- limits set by God. Thus in a community of true believers, there is very little immoral behaviour.
comes the greatest topic of indoctrination in societies. A
way of thinking which is summed up in the motto: "The If exceptional cases arise and some individuals do wrong, this will again not become a problem in society
man of the 21st century should be free and unre- since true believers will not allow this immorality. Furthermore, contrary to the state of affairs in ignorant soci-
strained" is instilled into unsuspecting minds by disbe- eties, it is unlikely that this immorality would be encouraged or become widespread in society as a whole. That
lieving ideologists. is because one of the main duties of believers is to "command what is right and forbid what is wrong," as Allah
states in the following verse:
Whole generations are introduced to immorality at
True believers, both men and women, are friends to one another. They command what is right and forbid
very early ages. Indeed, there is a considerable increase what is wrong, and attend to their prayers and pay alms, and obey God and His Messenger. They are the peo-
in the number of children who commit murder in ple on whom God will have mercy. God is Almighty, All-Wise. (Surat at-Tawba: 71)
America and Europe. From the Far East comes the
grievous news of children being exposed to every sort Hence, a society where Qur'anic values are observed is also a morally elite community, because, there,
of sexual abuse for commercial purposes. During the "…believers compete in doing the good." (Surah Al 'Imran: 114) Another virtue of believers is alluded to in the
80's, sexual perversion was a subject people were too following verses:
embarrassed even to talk about. Today, however, people Who could say anything better than one who summons men to the service of God and acts rightly and says, "I
are apt to perceive such relations as a part of the mod- am one of the Muslims"? (Surah Fussilat: 33)
ern way of living and even feel sympathy for those hav- Those who listen well to My precepts and follow what is best in them, are the ones whom God has guided.
ing perverted relations. Those opposing them, on the They are people endowed with intelligence. (Surat az-Zumar: 18)
other hand, are accused of not being modern. Allah de-
plores this critical attitude of people living in disbeliev- God spells out the attributes of a community whose members live by the principles of religion:
ing societies in the Qur'an: You are the best nation ever to be produced before mankind. You enjoin the right, forbid the wrong and be-
Those who love to see immorality being spread (or pub- lieve in God…(Surah Al 'Imran: 110)
licized) among those who believe will have a painful In one of his sayings, our Prophet also stated that "a believer is a mirror to another believer," (Abu Dawud) and
punishment both in this world and the hereafter. God invited believers to set an example to each other by evincing good character, saying, "The believers whose
knows and you do not know. (Surat an-Nur: 19) faith is most perfect are those who have the best character." (Abu Dawud) It is obvious that such a society is
morally superior to a disbelieving society.
On the contrary, it is unlikely that moral degenera-
tion should exist in a society where the morality of reli- w w w. e v i d e n c e s o f c r e a t i o n . c o m

Examples From The Lives Of

THE TRUTH OF THE LIFE
The Prophets
OF THIS WORLD
he struggling against disbelievers constituted a perior morality and the unwavering faith of the Prophet

T major part of the efforts of the prophets and the

true believers who followed them. These noble
people were faced with many incidents that would other-
wise have seemed unfortunate. Yet, when confronted
with these trials, that trait which was their most distin-
guishing became apparent; no matter how trying the cir-
cumstances were, they felt the peace and comfort of
knowing that nothing is apart and independent of God.
Such knowledge aided them to adopt a positive atti-
tude...
The messengers of God and the true believers led
their lives assured of the fact that God will help
them during the hard times and that everything
will ultimately turn out in their favour, and
based their entire outlook on this fact. This su-
perior trait of theirs, derived from a pro-
found faith, sets a
good example for
all believers.
The Exemplary Faith of the Prophet (saas)
The Prophet Muhammad (saas), as is the case with all
other prophets, encountered various hardships through-
out his life, and sets a perfect example for all Muslims
through his patience and faith in God. God relates the su-
Muhammad (saas) with a situation in the Qur’an.
When the Prophet (saas) left Mecca, the disbelievers
pursued him for the purpose of killing him. As a result,
he took shelter in
a cave. In their search, the
disbelievers managed to even-
tually come upon the entrance of
the cave. Even in such a distressful
moment, the Prophet (saas) advised
his companion not to worry and reminded
him to put his trust in God:
If you do not help him, God did help him when the
disbelievers drove him out and there were two of
them in the Cave. He said to his companion, "Do not
be despondent, God is with us." Then God sent down
His serenity upon him and reinforced him with
troops you could not see. He made the word of the
disbelievers undermost... (Surat at-Tawba: 40)
Clearly, the sole reason why the Prophet (saas) felt no
fear or distress at such a moment, when his life was in ev-
ident danger, was for his trust in God and his awareness
that God ordains everything in one's destiny for a pur-
pose. Ultimately, he reached Medina unharmed and thus
the emigration, a great milestone in the history of Islam,
had begun.
There are some phrases commonly used by people regarding the shortness of this
life: "Make the most of your life while it lasts", "life is short", "one does not live for-
ever". Yet, these phrases contain an implicit attachment to this life rather than the
next. They reflect the general attitude of people to life and death. Having such a
strong affection for life, conversations about death are always interrupted with jokes
or by raising other subjects thus attempting to alleviate the seriousness of the matter.
Mortality is surely a grave topic to ponder. Until this moment in his life, it may
well be that the person is unaware of the significance of this reality. Yet, now that he
has the chance to grasp its importance, he must reconsider his life and his expecta-
tions. It is never too late to repent to God, and to reorient all one's deeds and the con-
duct of one's life in submission to the will of God.
Life is short; the human soul is eternal. During this short period, one should not
allow temporary passions to control one. It is surely unwise to neglect the next world
just for the sake of the temporary joys of this one.
Nevertheless, disbelievers who cannot comprehend this fact spend their lives in
vain being forgetful of God. Moreover, they know that it is impossible to attain these
desires.
An endless search for the new and better, attaching no value to something once it
has been achieved, deprecation of the old and placing all hopes in something new:
these are the vicious circles that people have everywhere experienced throughout
history. Yet an intelligent person should stop and ask himself for a moment: why is he
chasing after temporary ambitions and has he ever gained any benefit from such pur-
suit? Finally, he should draw the conclusion that "there is a radical problem with this
viewpoint." Yet people, lacking this kind of reasoning, continue to chase after dreams
they are unlikely to achieve.
Nobody, however, knows what will happen
even in the next few hours: at any time one may
have an accident, be severely injured, or become
disabled. Furthermore, time flies in the count-
down to one's own death. Death surely eradi-
cates all ambitions, greed and desires for this
world. Under the soil, neither possessions nor
status prevail. Whether one is poor or wealthy,
beautiful or ugly, one will be wrapped in a sim-
ple shroud one day.
Ta-ha Publishers Ltd.
1 Wynne Road London SW9 OBB
Tel: +44 (0)207 737 7266
Fax: +44 (0)207 737 7267
E-mail: sales@taha.co.uk
Website: http://www.taha.co.uk

w w w. i s l a m d e n o u n c e s t e r r o r i s m . c o m - w w w. d a r w i n i s m r e f u t e d . c o m

To p u r c h a s e t h e w o r k s o f H A R U N Y A H Y A , p l e a s e v i s i t : w w w . b o o k g l o b a l . n e t