Editor’s note: This article is quoted from the network; the original title was ‘Extraordinary life’. The title has been changed to ‘Quality of believers’ because it is thought that the latter is more suitable for this article. The author of this article is Ibrahim.
<Quran> Surah 3:17 Those who show patience, Firmness and self-control; who are true (in word and deed); who worship devoutly; who spend (in the way of Allah); and who pray for forgiveness in the early hours of the morning.
A) What kind of person can enter into paradise? – Those who believe.
<Quran>
Surah 3:16 (Namely), those who say: “Our Lord! We have indeed believed: forgive us, then, our sins, and save us from the agony of the Fire;”
Surah 3:13 “There has already been for you a Sign in the two armies that met (in combat): One was fighting in the cause of Allah, the other resisting Allah; these saw with their own eyes Twice their number. But Allah doth support with His aid whom He pleaseth. In this is a warning for such as have eyes to see.”
We can see from the above verses, only believers can enter into paradise. We can get the same answer from the entire teachings of Al-Quran; this is something we can agree with. However, we do not just stop here. We still have to ask one important question, that is “What is the difference between the believers and non-believers?”
B) What are the characteristics of believers?
<Quran> Surah 3:17 Those who show patience, Firmness and self-control; who are true (in word and deed); who worship devoutly; who spend (in the way of Allah); and who pray for forgiveness in the early hours of the morning.
- Overall, these characteristics can be summed up as ‘good’ – those who can enter paradise are those who are good.
Is this verse telling us the traits of believers? The believers are different from the others because of their qualities; these qualities are related to kindness and these are the qualities that differentiate them from non-believers. - What is the relationship between believing and do good? – ‘believe’ means changing a person from doing evil in the past to doing good now, in other words, ‘believing’ can make a person stops doing evil and starts doing good. For example, Paul was against Prophet Isa in the past, but he served him after he believed. This is a total change.
C) Allah wants a kind-hearted man but not some good works.
The wicked man can do good works and yet he is still a wicked one. Like a bandit, he may do good work in giving to the poor once or twice, but this cannot change the fact that he is still a bad person.
- ‘Believe’ is changing the nature of a person’s life; it is the difference in essence, rather than adding some good works.
- Not everyone who does good work is a charitable person.
<Bible> 1 Corinthians 13:3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
<Quran> Surah 9:107 And there are those who put up a mosque by way of mischief and infidelity – to disunite the Believers – and in preparation for one who warred against Allah and His Messenger aforetime. They will indeed swear that their intention is nothing but good; But Allah doth declare that they are certainly liars
Both the Bible and Al-Quran talk about the one same fact that some people may do some things which look good on the surface, but the Lord does not think they are doing good deeds. The intention of a person is very important. The intention of many people who do good work is not pleasing the Lord. This kind of error may often happen to us too.
- This is a totally different life; it is not on the external but most importantly is the quality of life.
- It is also a change in value – in the past, ‘fame’ is always the objective and pursuit. Now, Allah SWT is more important than anything else.
The difference in life is neither on the clothing nor the ritual, but a totally different life. A life without faith is a ‘self-centred life’; those who have faith in their lives are not only different in terms of what they eat and wear or do some extra good works, but live a ‘God-centred life’, magnify the Lord in all things.
D) What type of lifestyle is this?
- Perseverance
Do not give up when facing challenges (commit suicide is the negative example). Allah SWT wants us to spread the truth, no matter what the external environment is. There will be a lot of pressure from the government, temple management committee and the people, yet we still have to endure and persevere on the truth. This kind of perseverance is different from the perseverance of those who do not believe. People who do not have faith will not persevere willingly, they endure because they have no choice and their hearts are full of hatred. Those who have faith will face the challenges with joy no matter how hard it is, just like Jesus who prayed for God’s forgiveness for those who harmed him. - Honesty
Not only do not tell lies, life is not self-deceit and is not deceptive. Your action must be consistent with what you say, your mind should be at the same state as your action, (negative examples – do good work for strife, do charity for fame). It is not carrying a different personality in front of people and act differently behind them. Keeping promise is an act of honesty. A person who does not keep his or her promise is not an honest person.<Quran> Surah 9:107 And there are those who put up a mosque by way of mischief and infidelity – to disunite the Believers – and in preparation for one who warred against Allah and His Messenger aforetime. They will indeed swear that their intention is nothing but good; But Allah doth declare that they are certainly liars. - Obedience
It is very difficult for a man to obey; most of them obey from the mouth and not from the heart. Man can find many excuses not to obey Allah SWT (example of the devil), because cannot put down the self. (Allah SWT wants me to examine myself but I do not want to do it, excuses given are busy and tired). - Giving
Nowadays, people only want to receive but never think of giving. This is human nature. They always think that they get less. Those who come to prayer also want to receive ‘peace, reward’ (these are of course the promises from Allah SWT); they never think what they can give.<Gospel of Luke> 21:1-4 And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury. And He saw a poor widow putting in two small copper coins. And He said, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them; for they all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on.”
Of course, there are many who do not have faith also do charity. The difference is they give from the extra they have, what they themselves are not able to finish. But what is pleasing to Allah SWT are those who do not have enough for themselves but still give to others. This reflects a total change of a person, the total change of value in him. For those who have no faith, ‘receiving’ is a blessing; for those who have faith, to give is more blessed than to receive. This is the difference. - Pray for forgiveness
It is not only asking for forgiveness from the Lord but also from others. This is even more difficult to do because it is a process of denying yourself and making strict demands from yourself. People often think that they are right and others are always wrong. Only those who can see their own mistakes will ask for forgiveness. A person who has faith will often examine himself and dare to admit his or her mistake. Asking for forgiveness is very embarrassing and is a very difficult thing to do.
E) Conclusion
These distinctive qualities are the results of often dealing with our own self-desires; one can never have these qualities if he does not deal with self-desires. The five qualities above are the enemies of self. In order to have these qualities, one has to lose their own desires. We can say that these qualities are the tests that Allah SWT sets for us, to test and see who the master is, Allah SWT or ourselves (self-desires).
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Note:
- All Al-Quran verses are sourced from English Translation of Al-Quran by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, with thanks.
- All Bible verses are sourced from New American Standard Bible with Codes (1995), with thanks.