Perfected Faith: The Moral Perfection Conferred by Perfected Faith

Every human being who wholeheartedly believes in Allah fulfils His commands unconditionally. This commitment ensures the formation of a form of moral perfection. It is meticulous observance of the commands of the Qur'an that accounts for this moral perfection which is peculiar to those of perfected faith.

Man can attain all good and precious qualities only by complying with the commands of the Qur'an. In the Qur'an, Allah commands righteousness, justice, patience, self-sacrifice, loyalty, devotion, commitment, submission, humility, tolerance, mercy, compassion, keeping anger under control and various other moral traits. Displaying this moral perfection as presented in the Qur'an depends on one's fear of Allah and thus following the voice of one's conscience. The more a person fears Allah and meticulously complies with what his conscience enjoins, the more obedient he becomes to Allah's commands. A person lacking in these qualities, however, fails to show commitment to live by the morals of the Qur'an. He may display some of the moral attributes that Allah approves but, when he encounters situations in which he feels his interests are at stake, he may well become a totally different person.

Such situations clearly reveal the superiority of those who have attained maturity of faith. One of perfected faith unflaggingly displays moral perfection at every moment of his life. The greatest patience, the highest degree of self-sacrifice and submission, the strongest love for Allah are manifest in his behaviour. These qualities make him a distinguished person. In the words of the Qur'an, he becomes a

The major goal of every Muslim is to attain such moral perfection. Setting limits for oneself leads man to be contented with himself, which is an attitude a man should strenuously avoid. In one verse, Allah stresses that the feeling of self-sufficiency is a serious depravation:

For this reason, everybody who has faith in Allah and the hereafter must make his major goal to live by the values of the Qur'an in the best way possible. Only one with such a noble goal can hope to attain paradise and be united with the prophets, the saints, the martyrs and the truthful. Allah informs us that only strict obedience makes man successful in this noble effort:

Whoever obeys Allah and the Messenger will be with those whom Allah has blessed:

In the following pages, we will dwell on this kind of moral perfection of which Allah gives a detailed account in the Qur'an and see the great zeal and enthusiasm man should show in order to be successful in this cause.

The Conscience of The People of Perfected Faith

From the day a man is born, a voice that always perpetually whispers evil accompanies him. This whisper belongs to one's lower self (an-nafs). Next to this voice, however, there exists an infallible voice that forbids evil and guides him to the right path. This voice that leads man to righteousness is called "conscience". Allah introduces to us these two aspects of the self as follows:

As stated in the above verse, Allah also inspires man to avoid the evil of his self. This inspiration is provided through the conscience. Therefore, conscience is, in a sense, the voice of Allah that summons believers to what is good and right. For this reason, the conscience is a key to perfected faith.

Those of perfected faith unceasingly give ear to this voice. They have a quite different understanding of conscience from that prevalent in society. Helping needy and old people or making contributions to aid organisations is generally regarded as a sign of a good conscience. But except for such examples, the conscience is excluded from almost all other fields of life; people generally do not feel the need to employ their conscience and they lead their lives in compliance with their lower self.

Those who heed their conscience as commanded in the Qur'an are only those who are of perfected faith: throughout their lives, they listen to their conscience on every issue. Drawing near to Allah and earning His approval being their sole goal in life, they unceasingly bow to their conscience, whatever the conditions or circumstances may be. Neither exhaustion, sleeplessness nor the rush of daily life distracts them from following this voice. Their busiest moments or hard times are no exceptions; a single warning from their conscience suffices to make them immediately see the good and turn to it.

An example will clarify this issue: Think of a believer who has just returned from a long tiresome journey; having had only a few hours sleep, he is exhausted and hungry. Just at the time he is about to rest to regain his strength, he meets a person in a desperate situation who asks for help. This believer feels no hesitation in setting aside all his personal needs and rushes to his assistance. If he is physically too weak to help himself, then he finds someone who will replace him. Meanwhile, in return for all this help, he avoids any such attitude as would arouse feelings of indebtedness in the other person; he does not stoop to mentioning his needs or the sacrifices he has made. That is because, he has performed all these services to earn Allah's approval. He does not expect anything in return. The attitude of such people is stated in the Qur'an as follows:

This is the understanding of conscience of a person of perfected faith. No matter how dire the circumstances may be, he does not swerve from following his conscience and never does a good deed in expectation of a reward. The thought that Allah is aware of that deed is sufficient for him.

In the case of one who lacks the morality conferred by perfected faith, every inconvenience becomes a legitimate excuse that makes him ignore the right option to which his conscience guides him. Physical needs such as sleeplessness, exhaustion or hunger may well change his attitude, turning him into an intolerant, nervous and badtempered person. At such times, let alone helping someone, he becomes rude to the people around him who try to help him. If he agrees to help another—which is often an exceptional situation—he definitely grumbles about it, reproaches the person and does much to make him feel obliged.

As is evident, there is a wide gulf between the morality and attitudes of those of perfected faith and those bereft of such noble character traits. This distinction becomes obvious at every moment of their lives and will make a considerable difference in the rewards they will receive in the hereafter.

The Patience of The People of Perfected Faith

For a person of perfected faith, the scope of patience is not limited to enduring difficulties and problems with calmness. In the light of the verse, "You who believe, be steadfast; be supreme in steadfastness…" (Surah Al 'Imran, 200), throughout his life, he shows an undeviating commitment to meticulously fulfilling all the commands of the Qur'an, to avoiding what is unlawful, to displaying moral perfection in every situation, without becoming daunted or losing heart. In short, he resolutely shows the patience and good manners prescribed by the religion. That is because one can develop these noble character traits only if one makes a steady effort. It is the people of perfected faith who exhibit patience when making such efforts. As the Prophet Muhammad informed Muslims in the following hadith, they know that patience is a gift for them from Allah: "No-one can be given a better and more abundant gift than patience." (Bukhârî and Muslim)

That is why patience permeates the entire life of a man of perfected faith and manifests itself in all his acts and attitudes. A man of perfected faith shows profound patience in compliance with the command of our Lord, "So be patient with gracious patience." (Surat al-Ma'arij, 5) He shows patience in humility and becomes the most humble person; he shows patience in spending for the cause of Allah and becomes the most generous person; he shows patience in not preferring his own self and becomes the most self-sacrificing person… The following example in the Qur'an about the patience evinced in displaying moral perfection will give us a better understanding of this concept:

As the verse points out, Allah commands man to respond to an evil act in the best manner possible and stresses that only those who are patient can be successful in doing so. This example clearly shows that if moral perfection is to be displayed, it is important to be patient.

Never feeling frustrated in the face of events that are seemingly negative is another attribute of a believer of perfected faith. Alternatively, when he has a blessing bestowed upon him he never becomes spoiled.

An individual can be very generous, self-sacrificing and very humble at certain times of his life. Or, he may remain strong in the face of hardships. However, failure to demonstrate these favourable character traits under certain conditions, and thus having some limits or weak points, may invalidate one's preceding efforts to conducting oneself correctly. One must incorporate all these values in one's character. These qualities must be far from being imitative, fake, shallow or temporary; they must be components of an established Qur'anic structure. Allah also states that consistently displayed good values that have become an integral part of one's character are worthy in Allah's sight:

Patience is one of the most important signs of a believer's sincerity and efforts to draw near to Allah: one can only show patience in relation with his sincerity and closeness to Allah. Those of perfected faith who are committed to displaying these traits compete with other believers in being patient. If making a sacrifice is in question, they conduct themselves most correctly and bring all their material and physical resources into play. Attention is drawn to this trait in a verse which reads:

Encountering a difficulty, such people turn to Allah without harbouring any feelings of distress or uncertainty in their hearts. This was also expressed by our Prophet: "Wondrous are the believer's affairs. For him there is good in all his affairs, and this is so only for the believer. When something pleasing happens to him, he is grateful, and that is good for him; and when something displeasing happens to him, he is patient, and that is good for him." (Muslim)

People often misinterpret patience and think of it as "putting up with something." This is but a distant connotation of patience experienced and felt by a man of perfected faith, since "putting up with something" is an obligatory form of endurance shown in the face of a distressing and painful situation. The patience shown for the cause of Allah, however, is not a source of distress, but a great cause of pleasure and happiness. A man of perfected faith shows patience in order to earn the approval of Allah, and thus does not become depressed. On the contrary, with the hope of receiving the blessings and rewards Allah promises in return for his patience, he derives great pleasure from it. Allah informs us in the Qur'an that patience is distressing for disbelievers:

The patience of one of perfected faith is so profound that his patience and imploration never wavers, even though he cannot eliminate a problem or attain his wishes until death overtakes him. He knows that Allah keeps everything under His control and that he will earn great rewards in return for his patience. For this reason, he is content with Allah no matter which situations he encounters, he believes in His eternal compassion and mercy, and puts His trust in Him. If Allah does not answer his call immediately, he certainly knows a greater goodness and beauty are hidden in this. He never forgets that Allah answers all prayers and gives an excellent reward to those who are patient. And His promise is true. One verse reads:

A believer who is aware of this fact thinks that Allah will probably give him more blessings but, before that, He wants him to grow more mature. Through this, He might well be putting his loyalty and determination to the test. Believers who are exemplary in their submission are referred to in the Qur'an as:

Indeed, Allah advises His servants to be patient in the face of the hardships they encounter and gives them the glad tidings that they will eventually reap great benefits:

A believer exercises patience throughout his life. He obeys the command of his Lord: "Be steadfast for your Lord" (Surat alMuddaththir, 7) at every moment of his life. Ultimately he will meet His Lord and be rewarded with His paradise. The angels at the gates of paradise will address him as follows:

The Understanding of Compassion by

The People of Perfected Faith

Man is, by nature, inclined to take pleasure from living by the values of the Qur'an and feels at ease with this set of ethics:

This being the case, a man of perfected faith naturally possesses the kind of compassion and mercy enjoined by the Qur'an. When believers adhere to the values of the Qur'an, He makes manifest His beautiful names, ar-Ra'uf (the Kind) and ar-Rahman (the All Merciful) to them. Allah is the Most Merciful of the merciful, and the Most Compassionate. Allah draws attention to His infinite mercy and compassion:

Allah's Messenger described Allah's compassion to believers in this way: "Allah shows compassion only to those among His slaves who are compassionate." (Bukhari, Muslim) The people of perfected faith, having this moral perfection, are compassionate and merciful towards people. But their understanding of compassion is very different from that which is prevalent in society. Since their compassion is a manifestation of Allah's compassion, it takes a form that is worthy of Allah's pleasure and is in compliance with the Qur'an. They know that an understanding of compassion shaped by the criteria of a non-Qur'anic system would be an "evil" compassion.

For instance, while helping someone, whether this help will be for the cause of the good or for a purpose that will displease Allah serves as the main criterion for the man of perfected faith. If this help is asked for a rightful purposes, then the compassion of a man of perfected faith steers him into providing all forms of help. But he would never agree to help someone who would make use of this help to commit an unlawful act. This is the true compassion with which Allah is pleased. Hindering a person from a mistake and guiding him to the right path is true goodness and compassion, for which the potential wrongdoer will be truly grateful in the hereafter, though he may fail to grasp its importance in this world.

Believers do not show compassion and mercy to those who have made it their major goal to oppose the values of religion. The criterion that the Qur'an lays down on this subject is as follows:

Believers show compassion only to "believers", the devout servants of Allah. Their attitude towards disbelievers, on the other hand, is very firm and resolute. They do not show them compassion, since this is the kind of "evil compassion" we mentioned above. The attitude such people assume towards believers is made clear in the verse:

This being the case, it would obviously be unwise to show mercy to one who harbours deep hostility towards believers and seeks an opportunity to show it.

Beside this, the mercy and compassion people of faith show to other believers is truly exemplary and unique. This compassion is accompanied by humane qualities such as self-sacrifice, considerateness, forgivingness, love and respect. People of perfected faith recognize any material, physical or spiritual needs of others even before they express them, and lose no time in meeting these needs, due to the deep compassion they feel for them. As is in every other subject, our Prophet set the best example with the moral perfection he displayed in terms of compassion and mercy. The mercy and compassion our Prophet felt for Muslims is described in the verse as follows:

As is seen in the above verse, the mercy and compassion our Prophet felt for believers was so profound that their suffering greatly distressed him. This is the understanding of compassion for which people of perfected faith strive.