A thread on #faith: The #Quran describes the believers most often as “Those who believe and perform good works.” Pointing to his heart, the #ProphetMuhammad (ﷺ) said, “Faith is here.” It’s an internal motivator that guides your actions and, thereby, manifests externally.

But, in faith, belief and action are dependent upon one another.

Internalized belief alone is like a seed buried in the ground and never watered. It can remain there forever, but without water, it will never grow.

External manifestation alone is like a plastic plant with no living roots. You can water it all day long and it will still be plastic. It will always be fake.

Today, I see a lot of plastic plants all around me. People who want the authority to teach but have still yet to learn. People who privately engage in behaviors that they hide publicly. People who want to speak but have yet to listen. And I could go on.

Living plants produce the oxygen that supports life itself. Plastic plants produce nothing other than a fleeting aesthetic. Replace all our trees with plastic decorations and everything dies.

It’s the same for our communities. Replace the selflessness and service to mankind that is intrinsic in true faith with the selfishness and self-serving motivations of its replica, and our communities will wither and die.