(71) Temptations
I read about a young Muslim in Britain who came across an advertisement by a company looking for escorts. He went to the interview to find a group of young men comprised of Muslims and non-Muslims. The interviewees were entering into the interview room one after the other, and every time a person would come out, those waiting outside would ask, “What did they ask you? What did you say?”
One of the important questions they asked the interviewees was, “How much alcohol do you drink a day?” When the young man’s turn came, he entered and began to answer their questions.
During the session, they asked the same question.
The young man thought to himself that perhaps he should lie and say that he drinks alcohol like the rest of the young men, just so that they would not think that he was a strict Muslim. He also contemplated speaking the truth and saying, “I am a Muslim and Allah has forbidden me from drinking alcohol. Therefore, I do not drink.”
After some quick thinking, he decided to speak the truth.
Thus, he said, “I do not drink.”
They said, “Why? Are you ill?”
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He said, “No, but rather because I am a Muslim and alcohol is forbidden for me.”
They said, “Meaning, you don’t drink? Even on the weekends?”
He said, “Yes. I do not drink at all.”
They looked at each other in surprise. When the results were published, his name was top of the list! He began to work with them and several months passed. One day, he spoke to one of the interviewers and asked him, “Why did you ask questions about alcohol consumption?”
He said, “Because the job is to do with escorting, and every time we have employed a young man, we would be surprised to discover that he drank and got drunk. When we realised that you do not drink, we knew that we got the person we were looking for, and hence we employed you!”
How wonderful it is to stick to your principles, despite temptations!
The problem is that we live in a society where it is difficult to find those who stick to their principles – people who live and die for them, those who rigidly adhere to them in the face of temptations.
If you follow the right method and adhere to the straight path, then those who believe in different principles will never leave you alone. Whenever you refuse a bribe, the friends who are attempting to bribe you are angered. Whenever you refuse to indulge in illicit sexual relations, those who do indulge in them will become upset with you.
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It is related that ‘Umar bin al-Khattab – may Allah be pleased with him – was once on a night patrol. He passed by a house in the darkest part of the night and heard the people therein laughing and fooling around as if they were drunk. He did not wish to knock at their door at night and feared he might have wrongly assumed that they were drunk. He therefore wished to ascertain the matter.
He therefore took a piece of coal, made a mark on the door, and left. The owner of the house heard something at the door, so he went out and noticed the mark. He looked up to see the back of ‘Umar and understood what had happened.
What he should have done was to wipe out the mark and that would have been the end of the matter. But he didn’t do that.
Instead, he took the piece of coal and went to his neighbours’ houses, leaving marks on their doors! It was as if he wanted the people to be as base as him by being drunk like him, instead of wanting to raise himself to their level!
There is an idiom which says, “A fornicating woman wishes that all women fornicated like her.”
Sometimes you may find that a wife habitually lies to her husband. She has been cultured to be a habitual liar from a very young age. When she comes across someone who criticises her for that and advises her to speak the truth, she will try to drag her to her side of the fence. She would insist, “This is all you can do with men! You cannot live with them except by lying to them.” Some women listening to this may begin to give up their principles and change while others may remain firm on their principles.
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The same can be said about a manager who treats his employees nicely because he believes that this attitude benefits the work, makes everyone feel at ease with each other, and increases productivity. Yet, another manager may come along who is always angry with his employees, so perhaps he would envy the first manager and therefore attempt to convince him to deal with them differently. He may say to him, “Don’t do that… Do this… Don’t smile…”
A grocer, for example, may not sell cigarettes, but then his friend comes to him and advises him to sell cigarettes to increase his profits and puts doubts in his mind to convince him of his opinion. Be brave and stick to your principles. Say in a loud voice, “Never! No matter what the temptations!”
In the past, some disbelievers tried to make the Messenger of Allah Peace be upon himgive up some of his principles, and hence, Allah said, “They wish that you compromise, so they too can compromise.”
Meaning, that the disbelievers who worship idols have no principles to adhere to, and hence, they see no difficulty in giving anything up. So be wary of them ever tempting you to lose grip of your principles.

Methodology
Allah says, “Do not obey those who reject the truth. They wish that you compromise, so they too can compromise.”
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