Re: religious men
Any 'religious' man who claims that he is honest and loyal to Allah swt, and by that token fulfills his duties to fellow human beings, and then he does not is non religious in his own right. either he lacks what true religious sanctity calls for upon him, or he is being selfish. either way, he is not religious and loyal neither to his Maker nor to other people whom he takes advantages of.
of course, he cannot be respected, and hold a reputation for being religious.
an example which may cause controversy is a man who admits to his flaws, his dishonesty with an intent to correct it, vs. a man who rants that i fear Allah swt, that i am religious in many ways, and then he proves that he is anything but religious... figuring who can be respected more is obvious.
in Islam, & in the letter of Allah swt to man kind, constantly believers are admonished of forgiveness, mercifulness of Allah swt.
but that almost always is preceded by a warning against disloyalty to Allah swt as well as fellow human beings.
a man who claims his place as a religious man, and has established his 'seat' as someone to be seen as a religious man, cannot be arrogant, selfish, and hypocrite.
can he be?
on individual levels, when a true religious man is socially dealing with others, he is uniform and constant in his actions and thoughts as well as words; he does not fail truthfulness by saying one thing and then saying another or never saying things clearly.
May Mothers never raise such men.
And when these men see for themselves their inability to be what they claim to be, may they correct their personalities with grace of owning up to their mistakes of disloyalty.
Dushwari