“Indeed, there was a party of My servants who said, ‘Our Lord, we have believed, so forgive us and have mercy upon us, and You are the best of the merciful.’ But you took them in mockery to the point that they made you forget My remembrance, and you used to laugh at them.” [23: 109-110]

Sometimes, people will mock you, jeer at you and insult you simply on account of your faith. That you should choose to believe in One you don’t see. That you choose to hold onto principles when others are doing as they please. But the believer is a farmer who keeps toiling away at his crops because he knows the day of harvest is coming soon. Like Nuh (AS), keep building your ark despite the hurtful comments hurled at you from passersby – you know the storm is coming.

The beginning of Surah Al-Mu’minun tells us more about the traits of the believers and these are often the traits for which we are mocked. You see, we choose to pray daily without missing a beat, we choose to disengage from vulgar and bad speech although it’s all around us, we choose to spend in charity despite our situations, we choose to lower our gaze and keep chaste despite the hyper sexualized societies we live in, and we choose to be trustworthy in a world of treachery and betrayal. So, the free world laughs at us as they spend their time indulging in what the believer has kept at arm’s length.

And so at the end, Allah says: “Indeed, I have rewarded them this Day for their patient endurance – that they are the attainers of success.” [23: 111]

Let’s take a lesson from this 3rd portion of the Qur’an which lists so many traits and stories of the believers. Keep working away in silence and expectation of reward from your Lord. He sees and hears it all – and nothing escapes Him.