2.33. SHAMELESSNESS (to be continued)

God says

O mankind! Partake of what is lawful and good on earth, and follow not Satan’s footsteps for he is your avowed enemy, and bids you only to do what is evil and to commit deeds which are shameful, …. Q.2:168,169

[Say: “Come, let me convey unto you what God has (really) forbidden you:] ….. and do not commit any shameful deeds, be they open or secret;…. Q.6:151

… [God] forbids all that is shameful and all that runs counter to reason [that which the moral sense rejects]….. Q.16:90

*The term al-munkar has here its original meaning of “that which the mind [or the moral sense] rejects, respectively “ought to reject.” Zamakhshari is more specific and explains this term as signifying in the above context “that which intellects disown” or “declare to be untrue”: fully in tune with the rational approach of the Quran to questions of ethics as well as with its insistence on reasonableness and moderation in man’s behavior.

Do not come near adultery*-- for it is an abomination and an evil that opens the road (to other evils). -- Q.17:32

* “Nor come near adultery” thus intensifying the prohibition. It is to be noted that the term zina signifies all sexual intercourse between a man and a woman who are not husband and wife, irrespective of whether either of them is married to another partner or not; hence, it denotes both “adultery” and “fornication” in the English terms.

Prophet said

1. “Indecency only brings disgrace wherein it occurs”– H: Tirmizi. N: Anas.

2.32. MODERATION (concluded)

God says

(MODERATION IN SPENDING:)
[the servants of Most Gracious are] those who, when they spend on others are neither extravagant nor niggardly, but hold a just (balance) between those (extremes); -- Q.25:67

(MODERATION IN SPEECH :)
[Luqman said to his son] “Be most modest in your bearing, and lower your voice: for the ugliest of all voices, without doubt, is the (loud) voice of asses…” -- Q.31:19

(MODERATION IN CONDUCT:)
But as for monastic asceticism* – We did not enjoin it upon them: they invented it themselves out of a desire for God’s goodly acceptance. -- Q.57:27
*The term rahbaniyyah combines the concepts of monastic life with an exaggerated asceticism often amounting to a denial of any value in life of this world.
To give up the love of this world for the love of God, had become a way of life, by several followers of different religions including the Muslim sufis.


Prophet said

4. “…Behold! By God, I fear God more than you do and, among you, I am most dutiful to Him, but still I keep fast and break it, and get up for prayer keeping awake at night, and (also) take wives. So whoever turns away from my way is not of me.” – H: Bukhari, Muslim and others. N: Anas.
Prophet said this to the three believers who wanted to keep awake at night for prayer and to keep fast without breaking it.

5. “Stand in prayer relaxed, and sit down if you become tired”-- H: Bukhari and Muslim. N: Anas.

6. “Act (only) as much as you can, because God inflicts no difficulty till you inflict (on yourself)”-- H: Bukhari and Muslim. N: Bibi Ayesha

2.32. MODERATION (to be continued)

God says

(MODERATION IN VIRTUES:)
And thus have We willed you to be a community of the middle way, so that (with your lives) you might bear witness to the truth before all mankind… Q.2:143

(MODERATION IN GOOD THINGS OF LIFE:)
....Do not deprive yourself of good things of life which God has made lawful to you, but commit no excess: for God loves not those given to excess. - Q.5:87

(MODERATION IN PRAYER:)
[Pray unto Him; yet] be not too loud in your prayers nor say it in too low a voice, but follow a way in between; -- Q.17:110

Prophet said

1. “The best of affairs is in their moderation.”-- H: Baihaqi. N: Matref-b-Abdullah.

2. “When one of you leads the prayer, let him be short, because among those (who pray with him) there are the sick, the weak and the old.”-- H: Bukhari and Muslim. N: Abu Hurairah. And in a Hadith narrated by Osman-b-Abil`Aas also “among them there are those who have (to attend to) other needs”

3. “…observe fast and also break (in the evening), stand up (for prayer at night) and also sleep, because surely, there is duty on you to your body, duty to your eyes, duty towards your wife, and duty to your neighbour”-- H: Bukhari and Muslim. N: Abdullah-b-Amr-Aas.

2.31. SHOWING-OFF (HYPOCRISY) concluded

God says

(God does not love) those who spend their possessions on others (only) to be seen and praised by people,* while they believe neither in God nor in the Last Day; and he who has Satan for a soul-mate, how evil a soul-mate has he!** -- Q4:38
*Deeds should be for God alone and not for praise or favours or for fear of reproach from others.
** An allusion to 2 : 268, where Satan is spoken of as “threatening you with the
prospect of poverty and bidding you to be niggardly”, the implication being that those
who obey him “have Satan for their soul-mate”.

… And when they, [the hypocrites,] rise to pray, they rise reluctantly, only to be seen and praised by men, remembering God but seldom, Q.4:142


Restrain from deceptive speech,Q.22:30

Woe, then, unto those praying ones whose hearts from prayer are remote – those who want only to be seen and praised, Q.107:4-6


Prophet said

1. “The thing I fear most for you is the lesser polytheism.” They asked: O Messenger of God: What is the lesser polytheism? He replied, “Showing-off.”-- H: Ahmad and Baihaqi. N: Mahmud bin Labeed.

2. “Should I tell you what I fear for you more than a false christ?” They said: Indeed, yes (O Apostle of God). He said, “Concealed polytheism, as when one improves performance of salaat (prayer) knowing that others are watching.” – H: Ahmed. N: Abu Sa’eed.

3. According to a lengthy Hadith quoted by Muslim on the authority of Abu Hurairah, God will make null and void the actions of those who were regarded in this world as martyr, learned and philanthropist because their true motive was to make a show of their abilities.

2.31. SHOWING-OFF (HYPOCRISY) to be continued

God says

O you who believe! Do not deprive your charitable deeds of all worth by stressing your own benevolence and hurting [the feelings of the needy], as does he who spends his wealth only to be seen and be praised by men, and believes not in God and the Last Day: Q.2:264

For, whatever you may spend on others, or whatever you may vow [to spend], verily, God knows it; and those who do wrong [by withholding charity] shall have none to succour them. Q.2:270

Think not that those who exult in what they have thus contrived, and who love to be praised for what they have not done – think not that they will escape suffering: for grievous suffering does await them [in the life to come] Q.3:188

Prophet said

1. “Whoever prays for show commits polytheism; whoever fasts for show commits polytheism; whoever gives charity for show commits polytheism.” – H: Ahmed. N: Shaddab-b-Aus.

2. “…(it is) secret polytheism that a man would stand up to pray and then prolong his prayers so that he may be noticed by men.”– H: Ibn Majah. N: Abu Sa’eed.

3. “Seek refuge to God from the valley of grief.” They asked: O Messenger of God! What is the valley of grief? He replied, “A valley in hell from which hell itself seeks refuge 400 times a day.” They asked: O Messenger of God! Who will enter it? He said, “Readers of the Qur’an (i.e., Muslims) who are ostentatious in their deeds.” – H: Tirmizi and Ibn Majah. N: Abu Hurairah.