Say No To Double Standards | Sunday Guardian | January 8th 2012 | Page 5
According to the Quran, it is a sign of bad character to have double standards. Two verses of the chapter entitled Al-Saff (Ranks) are of relevance: "O faithful! Why do you say one thing and do another? It is most hateful to God that you do not practise what you preach" (61: 2-3).
Having double standards is anathema in this world. It is a kind of hypocrisy and hypocrisy is completely unwanted in Islam as well as in Nature. A person with double standards believes himself to be a good person, but in the eyes of others, he is certainly a bad person. Double standards are alien to personal integrity. Integrity is a part of faith. One who loses his integrity will consequently lose his faith.
Double standards are a perpetual obstacle to personality development. One who habitually observes double standards will not be a strong personality. People of this kind will inevitably live with a weak personality and die with a weak personality.
Such people are devoid of sincerity. They say one thing but do something else. It is their petty interests which control their behaviour. They are not controlled by firm principles but by immediate gain. Their behaviour is interest-based rather than principle-based.
The character of those with double standards is not predictable. Such people talk much, but fail to back up their avowed resolutions with firmness of action. As a result, they will very soon lose the trust of their society. They appear to be human, but, in fact, they resemble sub-human creatures.
Having double standards means saying one thing and then doing something else. This kind of character is completely alien to the world of nature. No animal shows a character of this kind. It is only man who indulges in this kind of inhuman behaviour.