Introduction — 'How Did I Find This Reasonable At The Time?'
Looking back at one's past decisions, a person sometimes wonders: 'How did I find this so reasonable at the time?' What seemed perfectly fitting at the moment may, from a distance, look problematic — even wrong.
The Quran names this state with a single concept: tazyīn — that one's deeds are made to appear beautified. The wrong appears as right from within, the ugly as beautiful. This is not merely an outer deception — it is the mind's power to persuade itself.
1. The Innate Oscillation of the Human — Excess ↔ Deficit
فَلَوْلٓا اِذْ جٓاءَهُمْ بَأْسُنَا تَضَرَّعُوا وَلٰكِنْ قَسَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَزَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ
Al-Anʿām 6:43 — وَزَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ — 'Satan made their deeds appear beautified to them' — once hearts had hardened.
وَاِذَا مَسَّ الْاِنْسَانَ الضُّرُّ دَعَانَا لِجَنْبِهٓ اَوْ قَاعِداً اَوْ قٓائِماً فَلَمَّا كَشَفْنَا عَنْهُ ضُرَّهُ مَرَّ كَاَنْ لَمْ يَدْعُنٓا اِلٰى ضُرٍّ مَسَّهُ كَذٰلِكَ زُيِّنَ لِلْمُسْرِفِينَ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ
Yūnus 10:12 — When harm touches him he calls upon Us — on his side, sitting, standing; once We lift the harm, he passes on as if he had never called Us at all — to those who exceed bounds, their deeds are made beautiful.
Because the human is innately a being of wide bounds, he slips easily into ifrāṭ (excess) and tafrīṭ (deficit). Just as sweets look more enticing when you are hungry, the inner state distorts the perception of the outer — and the human dresses this distortion in rational justifications.
Balance does not give the nafs immediate pleasure — so it appears harder, while the extremes look more attractive. To abandon all social life out of fear of the unlawful may look like high taqwā — but it is in truth a positioning at the extreme. The middle path is narrow, but in it lie stability and inner peace.
In the Quran's description, Islam is the middle way — al-ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm — and Muslims are the middle community (Al-Baqara 2:143). On the Quran's terms, 'extremist Muslimness' is therefore an oxymoron.
2. Individual Tazyīn — Deeds Made to Appear Beautified
اَفَمَنْ زُيِّنَ لَهُ سٓوءُ عَمَلِهِ فَرَاٰهُ حَسَناً فَاِنَّ اللّٰهَ يُضِلُّ مَنْ يَشٓاءُ وَيَهْدِي مَنْ يَشٓاءُ فَلَا تَذْهَبْ نَفْسُكَ عَلَيْهِمْ حَسَرَاتٍ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ عَلِيمٌ بِمَا يَصْنَعُونَ
Fāṭir 35:8 — اَفَمَنْ زُيِّنَ لَهُ سٓوءُ عَمَلِهِ فَرَاٰهُ حَسَنًا — 'Is one whose evil deed has been made beautiful to him, so that he sees it as good…'
اِنَّ الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْاٰخِرَةِ زَيَّنَّا لَهُمْ اَعْمَالَهُمْ فَهُمْ يَعْمَهُونَ
Al-Naml 27:4 — اِنَّ الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْاٰخِرَةِ زَيَّنَّا لَهُمْ اَعْمَالَهُمْ — 'To those who do not believe in the hereafter, We have made their deeds appear beautiful; they wander in blindness.'
وَلَا تَسُبُّوا الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللّٰهِ فَيَسُبُّوا اللّٰهَ عَدْواً بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ كَذٰلِكَ زَيَّنَّا لِكُلِّ اُمَّةٍ عَمَلَهُمْ ثُمَّ اِلٰى رَبِّهِمْ مَرْجِعُهُمْ فَيُنَبِّئُهُمْ بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ
Al-Anʿām 6:108 — كَذٰلِكَ زَيَّنَّا لِكُلِّ اُمَّةٍ عَمَلَهُمْ — 'Thus We have made the deeds of every community appear beautiful to them' — a universal mechanism.
The mind often validates not its intention but the interpretation that comforts it in that moment; thus a choice problematic in reality may appear reasonable, even necessary, from within. Modern forms:
— Calling a needless purchase 'an investment for work'
— Calling backbiting 'unburdening a worry'
— Calling a cutting remark 'plain speaking'
— Calling procrastination 'I am waiting for the perfect moment'
Thus tazyīn turns into a defence mechanism inwardly, a cultural idiom outwardly.
The practical question: 'Why did this seem reasonable to me?'
Noticing the answer without judgment is the first step in dispelling the spell of tazyīn.
3. Collective Tazyīn — The Social Allure
اِنَّمَا النَّسِٓيءُ زِيَادَةٌ فِي الْكُفْرِ يُضَلُّ بِهِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا يُحِلُّونَهُ عَاماً وَيُحَرِّمُونَهُ عَاماً لِيُوَاطِؤُا عِدَّةَ مَا حَرَّمَ اللّٰهُ فَيُحِلُّوا مَا حَرَّمَ اللّٰهُ زُيِّنَ لَهُمْ سٓوءُ اَعْمَالِهِمْ وَاللّٰهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْكَافِرِينَ
Al-Tawba 9:37 — They postponed the sacred months, made the forbidden lawful; thus their deeds were made beautiful to them.
وَكَذٰلِكَ زَيَّنَ لِكَثِيرٍ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ قَتْلَ اَوْلَادِهِمْ شُرَكٓاؤُهُمْ لِيُرْدُوهُمْ وَلِيَلْبِسُوا عَلَيْهِمْ دِينَهُمْ وَلَوْ شٓاءَ اللّٰهُ مَا فَعَلُوهُ فَذَرْهُمْ وَمَا يَفْتَرُونَ
Al-Anʿām 6:137 — Their polytheistic notions made killing their children appear beautiful to them. A collective belief-system manufactures tazyīn.
وَاِذْ زَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ اَعْمَالَهُمْ وَقَالَ لَا غَالِبَ لَكُمُ الْيَوْمَ مِنَ النَّاسِ وَاِنِّي جَارٌ لَكُمْ فَلَمَّا تَرٓاءَتِ الْفِئَتَانِ نَكَصَ عَلٰى عَقِبَيْهِ وَقَالَ اِنِّي بَرِٓيءٌ مِنْكُمْ اِنِٓي اَرٰى مَا لَا تَرَوْنَ اِنِٓي اَخَافُ اللّٰهَ وَاللّٰهُ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ
Al-Anfāl 8:48 — 'Satan made their deeds appear beautified to them and said: No human shall overcome you today; I am your protector.' Acting in a crowd creates a psychological shield that legitimates wrong.
Tazyīn operates not only individually but also socially. The postponement of sacred months, the killing of children, prostration to the sun — a community had drifted from truth, yet made its position appear beautiful to itself.
Modern parallels:
— Interest → 'a financial instrument'
— Extreme performance pressure → 'thinking of the child's future'
— Idolizing career → 'self-actualization'
— Demagogy → 'preserving the social fabric'
What is done in a group carries a feeling of rightness and safety to the individual — and goes unquestioned.
The protective question: 'Is this valuable in itself — or does it only appear valuable because everyone does it?'
4. Epistemic Darkness — Echo Chambers and Loss of Perspective
اَوَمَنْ كَانَ مَيْتاً فَاَحْيَيْنَاهُ وَجَعَلْنَا لَهُ نُوراً يَمْشِي بِهِ فِي النَّاسِ كَمَنْ مَثَلُهُ فِي الظُّلُمَاتِ لَيْسَ بِخَارِجٍ مِنْهَا كَذٰلِكَ زُيِّنَ لِلْكَافِرِينَ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ
Al-Anʿām 6:122 — Is the one to whom We gave light the same as one who is stuck in darkness and cannot emerge? Thus to the disbelievers their deeds are made beautiful. Darkness = less the absence of information than the loss of perspective.
The Quranic image of 'darknesses' points less to a lack of information than to the loss of perspective. The human thinks according not so much to what information he has as to which information he is looking at.
— Echo chambers in which algorithms keep returning similar ideas
— Ideological partiality that cannot see even the clear errors of one's own side
— Saying 'everyone does it' and so muting the small voice of conscience
All are manifestations of a narrowed gaze. The person who looks free from outside may, in truth, be pacing in the epistemic prison of his own mind.
يٓا اَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ مِنْ ذَكَرٍ وَاُنْثٰى وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوباً وَقَـبٓائِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوا اِنَّ اَكْرَمَكُمْ عِنْدَ اللّٰهِ اَتْقٰيكُمْ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ
Al-Ḥujurāt 49:13 — يٓا اَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ مِنْ ذَكَرٍ وَاُنْثٰى وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَآئِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوا — 'We made you peoples and tribes so that you might know one another.' Li-taʿārafū — without contrast, you cannot know yourself.
To question one's assumptions; to pause about someone who thinks differently and ask 'Why might he think this way?' — these are the openings out of the epistemic cage. In the dense formula of Al-Ḥujurāt 13, the human comes to know himself through contrast (li-taʿārafū).
5. Hawā, Suggestion, and the Softness of the Heart
اَفَمَنْ كَانَ عَلٰى بَيِّنَةٍ مِنْ رَبِّهِ كَمَنْ زُيِّنَ لَهُ سٓوءُ عَمَلِهِ وَاتَّبَعٓوا اَهْوٓاءَهُمْ
Muḥammad 47:14 — 'Is one who stands on a clear sign from his Lord like the one whose evil deed is made beautiful to him and follows his desires?' The direct opposite of tazyīn: bayyina + adherence to truth.
قَالَ رَبِّ بِمٓا اَغْوَيْتَنِي لَاُزَيِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ فِي الْاَرْضِ وَلَاُغْوِيَنَّهُمْ اَجْمَعِينَ…and following
Al-Ḥijr 15:39-40 — Iblīs: 'I will make things appear beautiful for them on earth and will lead them astray, all of them — except Your sincere servants.' The single antidote to tazyīn: ikhlāṣ.
وَقَيَّضْنَا لَهُمْ قُرَنٓاءَ فَزَيَّنُوا لَهُمْ مَا بَيْنَ اَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ وَحَقَّ عَلَيْهِمُ الْقَوْلُ فِٓي اُمَمٍ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَالْاِنْسِ اِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا خَاسِرِينَ
Fuṣṣilat 41:25 — 'We assigned to them companions, who made beautiful to them what lay before and behind.' Tazyīn travels also through the social network.
The heart magnifies what it turns toward. When hawā is at the centre, emotion overtakes truth. 'I was angry, so I said it' — the determiner is not truth but feeling.
Signs of the heart hardening:
— A flood of urgent tasks that arrives the moment you sit for dhikr or Quran, yet does not feel urgent at all while watching a series
— A sin that once disturbed turns, over time, into material for jokes
Sign of the heart softening: mercy, patience, and humility become visible.
Simple exercise: three minutes of silence during the day; sit quietly and observe the breath. The capacity to remain doing nothing — a small door that opens to the softening of the heart.
6. Oscillations and Inconclusive Cycles
When hardship touches a person, the heart inclines to turn toward Allah; in ease it usually returns to its old state — the oscillation of nature.
Modern examples:
— Intense prayer during a crisis; old heedlessness in comfort
— 'When I get the next promotion, I'll find peace' — the same emptiness at every rung
— A string of self-improvement attempts; never quite committed to any of them
The aim is not to abolish the oscillation — but to recognize it and build inner discipline. Control from the negative side is easier:
— Not reacting violently when difficulty comes
— So as to reduce complaint
— So as to not voice negative feelings
— If not possible in one step, soften negative expressions
A method long proven by experience.
7. Bayyina and Ikhlāṣ — Two Shields
Allāhumma arinā l-ḥaqqa ḥaqqan wa-rzuqnā ttibāʿah, wa-arinā l-bāṭila bāṭilan wa-rzuqnā jtinābah
'O Allah, show us truth as truth and grant us its following; show us falsehood as falsehood and grant us turning from it.'
وَاَمٓا اِذَا مَا ابْتَلٰيهُ فَقَدَرَ عَلَيْهِ رِزْقَهُ فَيَقُولُ رَبِٓي اَهَانَنِ
Al-Fajr 89:16 — فَقَدَرَ عَلَيْهِ رِزْقَهُ — 'He has constrained his provision.' When resources are constrained, one's multiple aims shrink — and finally collapse to a single one. Every trial is, in a sense, a trial of ikhlāṣ.
Most of our actions carry multiple aims and expected outcomes. But when resources are constrained (fa-qadara ʿalayhi rizqahu, Al-Fajr 89:16), these aims shrink and at last collapse to one. On a normal errand, one stops at the post office, the supermarket, the gas station. But if you must return within half an hour — you must choose only one outcome.
Every trial is, on one level, a resource constraint — and in essence a trial of ikhlāṣ.
8. Tazyīn in the Modern World and Epistemic Freedom
Today's world operates like an 'order of beautification' built on attention and desire:
— Filtered lives displayed on digital media
— Simplicity marketed as 'style' in consumption
— The nafs placed at the centre through the vocabulary of 'self-love' and 'self-actualization'
All of these are faces of the same mechanism. So the warning 'one's deeds appear beautified' is not a relic in history — it is a key that reads the psychology of our age.
'What am I doing?' is a valuable question — but it must be joined by 'Why do I find what I am doing beautiful?'
Asking this question partially frees the human from the pressure of his own emotions and of the age's suggestions. In place of comparison, inadequacy, and haste, a simple satisfaction and inner peace begin to emerge.