Righteousness as God defines it in the Quran, contrasted with the dictionary meaning, with verses on how God enjoins it and mercifully allows repentance. A second piece traces steadfastness, wickedness, forgiveness, and righteousness through the Quran. A third urges reading the Quran daily and attending Quran study groups, treating them as seriously as Jumu'ah and setting a good example for newcomers.
The dictionary definition of righteousness says: Righteousness is the noun form of the word Righteous. Righteous is defined as 1) Characterized by uprightness or morality. 2) Morally right or justifiable, 3) Acting in an upright or moral way; virtuous: a righteous person.
God gives us the true definition of righteousness in the Quran:
Righteousness Defined
2:177 Righteousness is not turning your faces towards the east or the west. Righteous are those who believe in GOD, the Last Day, the angels, the scripture, and the prophets; and they give the money, cheerfully, to the relatives, the orphans, the needy, the traveling alien, the beggars, and to free the slaves; and they observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) and give the obligatory charity (Zakat); and they keep their word whenever they make a promise; and they steadfastly persevere in the face of persecution, hardship, and war. These are the truthful; these are the righteous.
Quranic examples of righteousness and unrighteousness:
2:189 They ask you about the phases of the moon! Say, "They provide a timing device for the people, and determine the time of Hajj." It is not righteous to beat around the bush; righteousness is attained by upholding the commandments and by being straightforward. You shall observe GOD, that you may succeed.
2:197 Hajj shall be observed in the specified months. Whoever sets out to observe Hajj shall refrain from sexual intercourse, misconduct, and arguments throughout Hajj. Whatever good you do, GOD is fully aware thereof. As you prepare your provisions for the journey, the best provision is righteousness. You shall observe Me, O you who possess intelligence.
3:92 You cannot attain righteousness until you give to charity from the possessions you love. Whatever you give to charity, GOD is fully aware thereof.
7:26 O children of Adam, we have provided you with garments to cover your bodies, as well as for luxury. But the best garment is the garment of righteousness. These are some of GOD's signs, that they may take heed.
23:57-61 Surely, those who are reverently conscious of their Lord, And who believe in the revelations of their Lord, And who never set up any idols beside their Lord, As they give their charities, their hearts are fully reverent. For they recognize that they will be summoned before their Lord, They are eager to do righteous works; they compete in doing them.
40:40 Whoever commits a sin is requited for just that, and whoever works righteousness―male or female―while believing, these will enter Paradise wherein they receive provisions without any limits.
God not only defines righteousness for us, he enjoins us to be righteous. Enjoin means to prescribe a course of action, with authority or emphasis. Some enjoinders from God to us:
6:154-155 And we gave Moses the scripture, complete with the best commandments, and detailing everything, and a beacon and mercy, that they may believe in meeting their Lord. This too is a blessed scripture that we have revealed; you shall follow it and lead a
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righteous life, that you may attain mercy.
7:65 To 'Ãd we sent their brother Hûd. He said, "O my people, worship GOD; you have no other god beside Him. Would you then observe righteousness?"
8:1 They consult you about the spoils of war. Say, "The spoils of war belong to GOD and the messenger." You shall observe GOD, exhort one another to be righteous, and obey GOD and His messenger, if you are believers.
22:77 O you who believe, you shall bow, prostrate, worship your Lord, and work righteousness, that you may succeed.
33:70-71O you who believe, reverence GOD and utter only the correct utterances. He will then fix your works, and forgive your sins. Those who obey GOD and His messenger have triumphed a great triumph.
64:14-16 O you who believe, your spouses and your children can be your enemies; beware. If you pardon, forget, and forgive, then GOD is Forgiver, Most Merciful. Your money and children are a test, and GOD possesses a great recompense. Therefore, you shall reverence GOD as much as you can, and listen, and obey, and give (to charity) for your own good.
45:17 We have given them herein clear commandments. Ironically, they did not dispute this until the knowledge had come to them. This is due to jealousy on their part. Surely, your Lord will judge them on the Day of Resurrection regarding everything they have disputed. We then appointed you to establish the correct laws; you shall follow this, and do not follow the wishes of those who do not know. They cannot help you at all against GOD. It is the transgressors who ally themselves with one another, while GOD is the Lord of the righteous.
God is so merciful.
He has given us the gift of Righteousness to allow us to repent and atone for all the human mistakes we commit. If God held us accountable for our sins, none of us would be worthy of Paradise. 35:45 If GOD punished the people for their sins, He would not leave a single creature on earth. But He respites them for a predetermined interim. Once their interim is fulfilled, then GOD is Seer of His servants.
42:30 Anything bad that happens to you is a consequence of your own deeds, and He overlooks many (of your sins).
May God bless each and every one of us with righteousness.
Lory
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STEADFAST TO RIGHTEOUS
I'd like to look at some words in the Quran: Steadfastness, Wickedness, Forgiveness, and Righteousness. The suffix "ness" means a state or quality, added onto an adjective to describe that quality.
Steadfastness is the quality of being firm and not wavering in the face of adversity.
2:45 You shall seek help through steadfastness and the Contact Prayers (Salat). This is difficult indeed, but not so for the reverent, 2:46 who believe that they will meet their Lord; that to Him they ultimately return.
2:153 O you who believe, seek help through steadfastness and the Contact Prayers (Salat). GOD is with those who steadfastly persevere.
7:126 …. "Our Lord, grant us steadfastness, and let us die as submitters."
23:111 "I have rewarded them today, in return for their steadfastness, by making them the winners."
25:75 These are the ones who attain Paradise in return
for their steadfastness; they are received therein with joyous greetings and peace.
Wickedness is the quality of being evil or morally wrong.
6:49 As for those who reject our revelations, they incur the retribution for their wickedness.
23:106 They will say, "Our Lord, our wickedness overwhelmed us, and we were people gone astray.
2:99 We have sent down to you such clear revelations, and only the wicked will reject them.
17:82 We send down in the Quran healing and mercy for the believers. At the same time, it only increases the wickedness of the transgressors.
This world that we live in is full of distractions and wickedness. But we have to stay focused and try not to fall for the hocus-pocus!
Forgiveness is to let go of resentment and anger over something or somebody.
2:199 You shall file together, with the rest of the people who file, and ask GOD for forgiveness. GOD is Forgiver, Most Merciful.
3:135 If they fall in sin or wrong their souls, they remember GOD and ask forgiveness for their sins-and who forgives the sins except GOD-and they do not persist in sins, knowingly.
11:11 As for those who steadfastly persevere, and lead a righteous life, they deserve forgiveness and a generous recompense.
Many people say that a man died for their sins, but we know only God can forgive our sins. Turning to anyone else is idolatry and straying.
2:175 It is they who chose the straying instead of guidance, and the retribution instead of forgiveness.
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Consequently, they will have to endure Hell.
Righteousness is the quality of being morally right, a state of spiritual and ethical uprightness aligned with a divine or moral standard. In the Old Testament, righteous men are portrayed as those who fear God, follow His commandments, and act justly toward others.
2:148 Each of you chooses the direction to follow; you shall race towards righteousness. Wherever you may be, GOD will summon you all. GOD is Omnipotent.
Omnipotent is to have unlimited power, able to do anything. This is God and only God.
3:104 Let there be a community of you who invite to what is good, advocate righteousness, and forbid evil. These are the winners.
9:105 Say, "Work righteousness; GOD will see your work, and so will His messenger and the believers. Ultimately, you will be returned to the Knower of all secrets and declarations, then He will inform you of everything you had done."
16:97 Anyone who works righteousness, male or female, while believing, we will surely grant them a happy life in this world, and we will surely pay them their full recompense (on the Day of Judgment) for their righteous works.
20:112 As for those who worked righteousness, while believing, they will have no fear of injustice or adversity.
45:15 Whoever works righteousness does so for his own good, and whoever works evil does so to his own detriment. To your Lord you will be returned.
Praise God. We must have steadfastness in the face of wickedness, and ask God for forgiveness to maintain righteousness.
Taareq
Studying the Quran and Quran Study (QS) groups
It is a Submitter's duty to read the Quran. Every day. For the rest of our lives. We need to do this to remind ourselves of God, to learn about God and to better understand what He wants us to do.
We think we don't have time? Everyone has time. God will give you time. Studying Quran on our own is very important.
Proof of Divine Authorship
4:82 Why do they not study the Quran carefully? If it were from other than GOD, they would have found in it numerous contradictions.
Only God Can Author the Quran
10:37 This Quran could not possibly be authored by other than GOD. It confirms all previous messages, and provides a fully detailed scripture. It is infallible; for it comes from the Lord of the universe.
17:78 You shall observe the Contact Prayer (Salat) when the sun declines from its highest point at noon, as it moves towards sunset. You shall also observe (the recitation of) the Quran at dawn. (Reciting) the Quran at dawn is witnessed.
Healing and Mercy
17:82 We send down in the Quran healing and mercy for the believers. At the same time, it only increases the wickedness of the transgressors.
20:2 We did not reveal the Quran to you, to cause you any hardship.
54:17 We Made the Quran Easy to learn. Does any of you wish to learn?
And 73:30 tells us to " read what you can of the Quran." So, the commandment is to read what you can of the Quran. I mean, what's five verses? 2 verses? 1 verse?! Especially in our modern world we can just open up the app and read away, right? No excuse.
Quranic Study Groups
18:28 You shall force yourself to be with those who worship their Lord day and night, seeking Him alone. Do not turn your eyes away from them, seeking the vanities of this world. Nor shall you obey one whose heart we rendered oblivious to our message; one who pursues his own desires, and whose priorities are confused.
Reading Quran in a group is very important. Because we get other ideas and input about the Quran. Not everyone sees everything in the Quran the same.
Some seem to think Jumu'ah is more important than Quran study. When it comes to God's commandments, can we really say something is more important? It's not something that the Quran tells us. But, it is sort of "easier" to plan for Jumu'ah because it's always at generally the same time all year. But I think we should treat both these commandments as being very important. And if it's hard for us to get to Quran study, then doesn't that mean we get more credit? It's more important than hanging out with friends or even our families if they are not Submitters. If we do have plans when a Quran study is announced then we should try to rearrange our plans. Often what I try to do is have my family dinner earlier, then go to Quran study after.
Sometimes I think to myself, "maybe it's good that not a lot of people go to Quran study, because we might run out of seats and/or food!" But really when we think about it, we should be turning people away due to the fact that everyone should be racing to the Quran study. The same as they race to Jumu'ah.
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People have all kinds of excuses for not attending Quran study. But honestly, we need to treat Quran study as receiving a great gift. If we were to receive a nice material gift every week we would always go and never make excuses. Sometimes, it's the last thing I want to do, go to Quran study, but I still go. Because that's why I'm on earth actually. To do more to worship God.
God teaches by example. All through the Quran we have examples of both right and wrong. I was surprised when I searched the word, "example," in the Quran and the abundant number of times the word is mentioned. It's because the human being is impressionable and we learn a lot by example. When we see an example, it just makes things so much easier to understand. For example, in math class, we learn about a mathematical theory, but only after the teacher shows us an example do we say, "AAAHHH," now it makes sense.
18:54 We have cited in this Quran every kind of example, but the human being is the most argumentative creature.
29:43 We cite these examples for the people, and none appreciate them except the knowledgeable.
39:27 We have cited for the people every kind of example in this Quran, that they may take heed.
Think about what other people (especially newbies) think about folks missing Quran study. Guess what kind of example we're setting by not attending. They think the group is smaller than it really is. This sets a really bad example for the group. It makes our group look insignificant and weak. They think Quran study is not important. They think the people not coming are weak believers. They think it's not important to study the Quran in general.
On the other hand, people that go to Quran study inspire others to attend as well. " If they can do it, I should too." Thus, setting a good example. And when we go to Quran study and there's more people, it makes it a lot more fun too (usually).
So, let's set a good example, go to Quran study regularly and have fun too!
James
As human beings, we desperately need GOD's forgiveness, constantly.
Quran app
About this work
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Author
International Community of Submitters
Publisher
International Community of Submitters / Masjid Tucson