World Blog by humble servant.Following the Parents Blindly: A Common Tragedy

Following the Parents Blindly:

A Common Tragedy

[31:21] When they are told, “Follow these revelations of GOD,” they say, “No, we follow only what we found our parents doing.” What if the devil is leading them to the agony of Hell?

[37:69-70] They found their parents astray. And they blindly followed in their footsteps.

[43:22] The fact is: they said, “We found our parents carrying on certain practices, and we are following in their footsteps.” [43:23] Invariably, when we sent a warner to any community, the leaders of that community would say, “We found our parents following certain practices, and we will continue in their footsteps.”

(also 5:104, 2:170, 7:70, 11:109, 14:10)

Two stories: The Czar in Russia came upon a sentry standing at attention in a remote area of the palace garden. When he asked the sentry what he was guarding, the soldier did not know. The Czar summoned the Captain of the Guard and asked him. He replied that there was a standing order for a sentry in that spot, but he didn’t know why.

The Czar was now very curious and had the palace records searched. It turned out that Catherine the Great had received a rare and lovely rosebush. When she had it planted, she commanded that a sentry be posted around the clock to protect the bush. Catherine the Great and the rosebush had both died many many years ago, but the order had never been rescinded. Every day a soldier stood guard over a bare piece of ground with no idea why.

In preparing a leg of lamb dinner for her family, a young wife cut off the end of the lamb and threw it away before putting the lamb in the roasting pan. Her husband watched her and asked why she did that. It seemed a waste of good meat.  “I don’t know,” she replied, “My mother always did.” He then visited his mother-in-law and asked her why she cut off part of the lamb before cooking. Perhaps there was some secret to proper cooking involved. But his mother-in-law only said that her mother had always done it, though she wasn’t sure why. Now very curious, he called up his grandmother-in-law and asked her why she cut off part of the lamb before roasting. Grandma laughed. “My roasting

pan was too small to hold the whole leg,” she answered.

These stories simply illustrate what can happen when we accept information without verifying it, without seeking the truth behind it. When we blindly follow what we are told, we can end up guarding an empty space or throwing away good food.

God has given us the intelligence to live in this world, but we have to use that intelligence or go through life blindly. [17:36] You shall not accept any information, unless you verify it for yourself. I have given you the hearing, the eyesight, and the brain, and you are responsible for using them.

It’s a great blessing to have ears to hear with, eyes to see with, and a brain to process all the information. We need to be appreciative of that blessing. [23:78] He is the One who granted you the hearing, the eyesight, and the brains. Rarely are you appreciative.

I think the best way to show that appreciation is to use the gifts God gave us. We hear so much nonsense every single day—from co-workers, from television, even from friends.

We have to use our brain to filter out the bad and discard it. Don’t hold onto it; certainly don’t pass it on. We see things all the time with our gift of sight—movies, books, even billboards. Again, there is good and bad in these things and the job of our brain is to store the good for future use and get rid of the bad.

As submitters, our most important job is to worship God alone. Most religions say that that’s their way of thinking, yet most of them have been corrupted and actually promote the worship of idols. Growing up in a Christian household, I understood that Jesus was the son of God and that I needed to accept him into my heart in order to be saved. It was simply the established rule. I never asked my parents or my minister why; I simply went along. Baptism, confirmation, reciting the Apostle’s Creed, Christmas, Easter—it was all a part of my life, with no more thought than guarding a dead rose bush or throwing away good lamb.

God is the only One who can guide us out of that darkness and lead us into the light. When we begin to question the accepted norm, it can be upsetting and quite scary. How can all these millions of people be wrong?

[5:77] Say, “O people of the scripture, do not transgress the limits of your religion beyond the truth, and do not follow the opinions of people who have gone astray, and have misled multitudes of people; they are far astray from the right path.”

We know now that it’s not numbers that matter. [6:116] If you obey the majority of people on earth, they will divert you from the path of GOD. They follow only conjecture; they only guess.

In fact, claiming numbers as a proof of being on the right path is something the disbelievers do, not the believers. [19:73] When our revelations are recited to them, clearly, those who disbelieve say to those who believe, “Which of us is more prosperous? Which of us is in the majority?”

Going against our family and friends can be daunting. But the consequences of not following God’s guidance, due to peer pressure, is far more devastating.

Social Pressure: A Profound Disaster

[29:25] He said, “You worship beside GOD powerless idols due to peer pressure, just to preserve some friendship among you in this worldly life. But then, on the Day of Resurrection, you will disown one another, and curse one another. Your destiny is Hell, wherein you cannot help one another.”

The most difficult pressure is our parents. They raised us and took care of us and as children we feel they can do no wrong. And God tells us to honor our parents in both the Old Testament (Exodus 20:12) and the Quran (6:151, 17:23, 46:15). But we can honor them and be kind to them and treat them well and still follow God’s true guidance.

[9:23] O you who believe, do not ally yourselves even with your parents and your siblings, if they prefer disbelieving over believing. Those among you who ally themselves with them are transgressing.

[31:14-5] We enjoined the human being to honor his parents…. If they try to force you to set up any idols beside Me, do not obey them. But continue to treat them amicably in this world….

The most important thing is not to follow blindly. Not to follow anyone or anything blindly. We hear something and believe it to be true and, without verifying, we accept and perhaps pass it on to others as fact. This is dangerous in everything, but is especially horrible when it comes to our soul and our salvation.

[5:104] When they are told, “Come to what GOD has revealed, and to the messenger,” they say, “What we found our parents doing is sufficient for us.” What if their parents knew nothing, and were not guided?

God has given us this amazing brain. We need to continuously implore Him to increase our knowledge and understanding

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