Tag: Integrity

  • There are times when the cowardly vagueness of some really threatens to unsettle me, but I quickly restrain myself with the knowledge that those that play for an audience will rarely engage in private. I believe that the true measure of our character is not determined by how we engage with others, but rather what thoughts and actions we entertain when we find ourselves alone, without an audience to appease. Everything else is a show, or an act, or both. Sometimes deliberately, but most times not. When we’re surrounded by others, no matter how intimately they may know us, there is always a barrier between who we are, and who we want them to believe we are. This is simply the innate nature of the human spirit that seeks to protect itself before it expresses itself. Accepting this truth allows me to master that which deludes others, while denying it allows me to delude myself whilst others achieve mastery over me.

  • My Greatest Fear

    I fear hypocrisy more than I fear disbelief. Determining, subjectively or objectively, whether one is on the path of Imaan or Kufr is relatively easy, with the most daunting obstacle in this path possibly being arrogance or pride. And both arrogance and pride quickly subsides in the face of overwhelming odds. So at such a point, it would be quite easy to determine whether I’m a believer or not.

    Hypocrisy is so much more difficult to identify, both within ourselves and in others. Blatant hypocrisy is easy. Seeing someone visibly making statements about their beliefs and then deliberately or equally blatantly acting in contradiction to those beliefs is a litmus test of hypocrisy that anyone can apply, regardless of education, intelligence or upbringing.

    But hypocrisy can be easily disguised through the conscious application of our intelligence, especially if we’re naturally self aware. I can easily observe my own actions relative to my statements in front of others, and through conscious thought, ensure that they are always aligned. But if my motivation to do so is to appear to be sincere and consistent to others to save myself from criticism or ridicule, then this is when I believe I’ll be standing on the edge of hypocrisy and potentially not even realising it because at that point, if practiced for long enough, I would possibly succumb to internal debates that justify my actions to myself because my actions are beyond reproach by others. But…this internal debate is what I fear most as the potential seat for hypocrisy.