Traits of The Believer
by Lydia Kelly

The worshipers of the Most Gracious are those who tread the earth gently,
and when the ignorant speak to them, they only utter peace.
In the privacy of the night, they meditate on their Lord,
and fall prostrate. (25:63-64)

We are human beings; we accepted the responsibility when we came to this earth. That means
that we have certain characteristics, certain attributes placed into human beings by God. When He
created us, He created all of our human traits. We are by nature selfish, stingy, unappre-ciative,
impatient, arrogant, egotisti-cal and angry.

· The human being is created weak. (4:28)

· The human being is anxious. (70:19)

· Selfishness is a human trait. (4:128)

· The human being is unapprecia-tive. (14:34, 43:15, 80:17)

· The human being is stingy. (17:100)

· The human being is impatient by nature. (17:11, 21:37)

· The human being is the most ar-gumentative creature. (18:54)

Since God created us with these char-acteristics, is it then okay to display those traits? Can we just
say that God meant for us to be this way? Certainly not. The idol worshipers say, "Had God willed,
we would not worship any idols besides Him, nor would our par-ents. Nor would we prohibit
anything besides His prohibitions." Those be-fore them have done the same thing. (6:148, 16:35)

We know that if we commit idol wor-ship we will have no excuse when we face God. Thus, we
cannot blame God and fall back on the excuse that it’s God’s will that we are the way we are. We
need to look in the Quran to find out what God considers acceptable behavior.

We are created weak and anxious. But God repeatedly says that believers have neither fear nor
grief. We need to learn to trust God. As long as we strive to be submitters God will pro-tect us, both in this life and the here-after.

So when we feel afraid or anx-ious, whether over a test tomorrow or a life-threatening situation, we need to turn to God and implore Him for relief and know that He will respond.

We are selfish and stingy by nature. God places great importance on char-ity. He says that He
specifies His mercy for those who give the obliga-tory charity. We have a natural ten-dency to want to hang onto what we have, but an important thing to re-member is that everything we have is a gift from God.

It’s not really ours to begin with. So we need to be generous and helpful and considerate of others. These are traits praised by God.

Those who overcome their natural stinginess are the successful ones. (59:9)

You cannot attain righteousness un-til you give to charity from the pos-sessions you love. Whatever
you give to charity, God is fully aware thereof. (3:92)

Those who give to charity night and day, secretly and publicly, receive their recompense from their
Lord; they will have nothing to fear, nor will they grieve. (2:274)

Impatience is a very common human tendency. We want everything imme-diately; we don’t want to wait.

But God cautions us to develop patience. The phrase "be patient" occurs in the Quran 19
times. Clearly it’s some-thing we need to observe, and that means we will have to work hard to
overcome our natural inclination.

You shall resort to patience—and your patience is attainable only with God's help. (16:127)

How we can be unappreciative of all God has given us is a mystery. But we are. We can never
encompass all the blessings from God; we can never be appreciative enough. But we have to try.
We have to know that everything we receive, everything we attain, eve-rything in the heavens and
the earth is a gift from God. And God’s generos-ity is so great that He tells us if we show
appreciation He will give us even more.

The more you thank Me, the more I give you. (14:7)

We reward those who are apprecia-tive. (3:145)

You shall be appreciative of God. Whoever is appreciative is appre-ciative for his own good.
(31:12)

Anger is an emotion that causes great difficulty. Any time a person feels wronged, he or she feels a
need to get angry and get even. In Sura 42, God tells us how to react when we face what we
consider an injustice. We must use our judgment depending on the circumstance, because God gives us the right to avenge a true injustice, but clearly patience and forgiveness are the preferred
responses:

They avoid gross sins and vice, and when angered they forgive. When gross injustice befalls them,
they stand up for their rights. Although the just requital for an injustice is an equivalent retribution,
those who pardon and maintain righteousness are rewarded by God. He does not love the unjust.
Certainly, those who stand up for their rights, when in-justice befalls them, are not com-mitting any
error. Resorting to pa-tience and forgiveness reflects a true strength of character. (42:37, 39-41,43)

And God is the one who cools our temper (94:1) and prevents us from carrying our anger to
extremes. (48:24-25) God does not love the ag-gressors. (2:190)

Arrogance is a trait discouraged by God. It was the cause of Satan’s downfall and is a strong human fail-ing.

Absolutely, God knows everything they conceal and everything they declare. He does not love those who are arrogant. (16:23)

We are reminded that all things come from God so we have no reason to be proud or smug.

Those who boast about their works, and wish to be praised for some-thing they have not really
done, should not think that they can evade the retribution. They have incurred a painful retribution.
(3:188)

Thus, you should not grieve over anything you miss, nor be proud of anything He has bestowed upon you. God does not love those who are boastful, proud. (57:23)

All of these negative traits are part of the test of being human. God has told us that He created us this way.

That means that we will experience fear and impatience and anger. God knows that. Losing your temper or having a selfish moment is human. It’s inevita-ble and understandable. But we shouldn’t be satisfied with that be-havior. We should strive to attain the characteristics that God
reveals as traits of the believers. And when we fail, we need to repent and try harder. The more we
try the more God sup-ports us and the closer we come to being a righteous submitter.

You should eagerly race towards forgiveness from your Lord and a Paradise whose width
encompasses the heavens and the earth; it awaits the righteous, who give to charity during the good
times, as well as the bad times. They are suppressors of anger, and pardoners of the people. God
loves the charitable. (3:133-4)

You shall advocate righteousness and forbid evil and remain steadfast in the face of adversity. These are the most honorable traits. (