As Muslims, each of us needs to study our own degree of devotion to our faith. In other words, we need to constantly check to see how much we are Muslims, whether we live up to the requirements of our faith carefully and with commitment or whether God-forbid, most of the time neglect parts of our duties towards our Creator – Allah – The One and only God. No doubt, all of us desire Allah’s pleasure and a nice place in paradise in the Hereafter, but not all of us might be careful enough regarding the details of our daily actions and thoughts, to see our faults and shortcomings, and to try to remove them.

As we know, Allah’s last and most exalted Messenger - Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) called on the people to say “La ilaha illa Allah” (There is no God but Allah) in order to attain salvation. And obviously, in the course of his Prophetic Mission, he presented each and every aspect of being a true believer in Allah. As we observe in the Holy Qur’an and also in the Ahadith, including: “A true Muslim is the one from whose tongue (words) and hands (actions) the other Muslims are safe.”, meaning that to be regarded as a true follower of Islam and the Holy Qur’an, we should be always careful about what we do to the others.

Evidently, the one who backbites other Muslims, insults them, or cheats them is away from Islam unless he/she repents and tries to make up for his/her past wrong-doings. These and all other needed teachings have been presented in illuminating verses of the Holy Qur’an and in the Ahadith of the Infallibles (as). A very significant point to be mentioned here is that we should be very careful not to be led astray because of what some people may remark about us and the degree of our piety because some might have a limited outlook and so judge others in a narrow-minded way. They may regard as a very good, very pious person, somebody who is just outwardly religious, but not inwardly, since that person might, in fact, be suffering from hypocrisy inwardly. And conversely, some may be true believers and very pious and yet criticized and disliked by some others. So, we should always remember that in the Holy Qur’an, Allah has taught us to try to be most careful about our duties to Him in order to be regarded as most honorable by Him: “Truly the most honorable of you to Allah is the most careful about his or her duties towards Him.” Holy Qur’an, 49:13

No doubt, as Muslims, our duties towards Allah, besides such acts of worships as daily prayers and fasting, also include our duties towards the other servants of God (be them Muslim or non-Muslim). So, the man who cheats or takes bribes in order to get the money he wants to spend on, say, his family’s holidays or giving his children a big wedding ceremony should regard himself not a true Muslim, even if some people might praise him because he harms the other people through doing haram (forbidden by Allah) acts. And likewise, the woman who is pious in appearance, and is yet abusive and unfair - as a daughter-in-law or a mother-in-law - should be reminded that Allah sees and hears everything and no one can achieve His pleasure unless, he/she is pious, both in public and in private.

It goes without saying that a true Muslim is moral, spiritual, and always fair and considerate and kind towards all; even towards animals. And no true Muslim is arrogant towards the other Muslims. Now let’s cite very enlightening remarks by Imam Khomeini (ra) about Islamic teachings: “Islam commands us to neither be oppressive nor to submit to oppression.”

By: Hasan Shaikhul-Islami Translated by: Fatemeh Khazaii

we should be very careful not to be led astray because of what some people may remark about us and the degree of our piety because some might have a limited outlook and so judge others in a narrow-minded way. They may regard as a very good, very pious person, somebody who is just outwardly religious, but not inwardly, since that person might, in fact, be suffering from hypocrisy inwardly.