Fake Piety
This world is to test us. As a result, people often show modesty in front of God. Genuine modesty lies in behaving modestly with the rest of God’s creatures.
Sometimes, a bit of mud accumulates on a boulder, and then, after a while, a patch of green moss starts to grow on it. It looks like a narrow field, but the mud, moss, and other greenery are washed away if it rains heavily, and the boulder becomes bare again.
The same thing often happens with people. Externally, they seem fine. They appear to be very ‘green’. However, a single blow in the form of some occurrence destroys their ‘greenery’. And then they become like bare, dry boulders.
While speaking to others, a person may be the epitome of good manners and reasonableness and of being an ardent advocate of justice and humanity. However, he may behave contrary when the time to act comes. Someone may demonstrate great humility in the mosque while offering his prayers, but he may embody pride and selfishness once he steps out of the mosque. Someone who insists that others be generous and respect people’s rights may show envy, maliciousness, and cruelty when his time to act comes.
This world has been created to test us. Here, every person is being tested. However, how often do we fail? How often do we forget the test that we are going through? How often do we seek to prove our truthfulness through our words, although what alone counts is evidence of our truthfulness through our actions? How often do we show our good manners in good times, and how quickly do we change our colours when things go wrong? How often people are satisfied engaging in a show of modesty by performing some ritual actions before God, although genuine modesty lies in behaving modestly with the rest of God’s creatures?
The field of moss that grows on a boulder is a deception. Such a field is of no use to the farmer. One flood strike is enough to prove it for what it truly is. So likewise, showy piety is false and utterly useless. The ‘flood’ of the Hereafter proves that those who cling to it for support have no support to lean on.
