A sincere person with intelligence and conscience
should immediately start to order his life and live according to the moral
teachings that Allah has commanded; that is, the moral teachings of the
Qur’an. The Qur’an brings the glad tidings of the Lord of
infinite mercy who will guide those who seek His approval in the ways
of salvation.
By it, Allah guides those who follow what pleases Him to the ways of
Peace. He will bring them from the darkness to the light by His permission,
and guide them to a straight path. (Surat al-Ma’ida: 16)
Muslims are people who are aware of Allah’s existence and conscious
of His greatness; they fear and respect Him and order their lives according
to this great truth they have come to know. But those who live apart from
religious morality, either reject Allah (Surely Allah is beyond that!)
or, though they know He exists, do not fear and respect Him as they ought.
Such individuals for the most part lead their lives without any regard
for Allah’s existence or the purposes of creation. They never think
about Who created their lives or how and why they began. The Lord gives
the following example in the Qur’an to show that such a life is
doomed to destruction resting as it does on crumbled foundations:
Who is better: someone who founds his building on fear of Allah and
His good pleasure, or someone who founds his building on the brink of
a crumbling precipice so that it collapses with him into the Fire of Hell?
Allah does not love wrongdoers. (Surat at-Tawba: 109)
However, a believer is aware of the existence and power of Allah and
is aware that He knows everything perfectly. A believer knows why Allah
created him and what He expects of him. For this reason, his only goal
in life will be to be a servant in whom Allah will be pleased. He will
try every way to achieve this goal and will strive throughout his life
to attain it.
“Walking along the way of unbelief is more difficult and
more dangerous than walking on ice.” (Bediuzzaman Said Nursi,
Epitomes of Light, 2nd Chapter, p. 71) |
Believers live their whole lives according to the moral teachings of
the Qur’an
Allah sent down the holy Qur’an with all its wisdom as a guide
to his servants; in it, He reveals the purpose of human creation. The
purpose of this creation is that human beings serve Him Who created them
and gave them life. The holy Qur’an reveals this purpose in the
following words: “I only created jinn and
man to worship Me.” (Surat adh-Dhariyat: 56)
Although they may accept the existence of the Hereafter, many people
are unaffected by it. They disregard the real purpose of their lives and
pursue their own goals. They spend months and years following pointless,
worldly pursuits and never consider their responsibility toward Allah.
But there is not a single person in the world that can say he is completely
unaware of these truths.
Human beings always make the excuse that they “did not know;”
and in every age since Adam (as) Allah has sent down books and commissioned
messengers to teach them how to serve Him. This truth is revealed in the
Qur’an:
Messengers bringing good news and giving warning, so
that people will have no argument against Allah after the coming of the
Messengers. Allah is Almighty, All-Wise. (Surat an-Nisa’: 165)
As we see in the above passage, those who say they believe in Allah
but do not fear and respect Him, as they should, are living in serious
error and do not practice the truths they claim to believe in. These people
usually live without religious morality and do not follow the admonitions
of the Qur’an in their thoughts and actions.
These people also believe in Doomsday and in the existence of Paradise
and Hell. But this does not make them realize that they should start immediately
to live for Allah while they still have time; they spend their days as
if they think that Doomsday will never come or that it is far in the future.
As the Qur’an says, they “have put the
thought of a Momentous Day behind their backs.” (Surat al-Insan:
27)
In the Qur’an, Allah tells us that people deceive themselves and
close their eyes to the truth:
Humanity’s Reckoning has drawn very close to them, yet they heedlessly
turn away. (Surat al-Aniya’: 1)
To be aware of Allah’s infinite power is not only to accept the
existence of a Creator. The Qur’an gives us a good example to explain
this. This person has accepted the existence and qualities of Allah. But
he has chosen not to fear and respect Him and disregards religious morality.
With this example, the Qur’an tells us that it is not enough to
accept Allah’s existence; one must also fear and respect Him.
Say: “Who provides for you out of heaven and Earth? Who controls
hearing and sight? Who brings forth the living from the dead and the dead
from the living? Who directs the whole affair?” They will say, “Allah.”
Say, “So will you not guard against evil? That is Allah, your Lord,
the Truth, and what is there after truth except misguidance? So how have
you been distracted?” (Surah Yunus: 31-32)
The Qur’an tells us that to conceive of Allah’s greatness
means more than expressing one’s acceptance verbally. The basic
difference that separates Muslims from other people is that they are aware
of Allah’s infinite power, they fear and respect Him, and order
their lives according to the truth they have come to know.
The Danger of Self-Deception
Those who live in error use a variety of defense mechanisms to ignore
vital truths and comfort themselves. Probably, the most effective of these
mechanisms is self-deception.
A person may deceive himself into thinking that he can escape death
and ignore all other realities and responsibilities. However, self-deception
is no way to salvation; on the contrary, to ignore the real purpose of
life in this world leads a person in to a blind alley that ends in Hell.
But a person who sincerely believes in Allah feels respect, fear, and
great love for Him. He constantly thanks Allah for the countless blessings
(Surat an-Nahl: 18) He has bestowed upon him and makes it his sole purpose
to live the kind of life that will please Him. He does not deceive himself
by thinking that, since his heart is pure, Allah will forgive him and
there is nothing else to do except give thanks.
Of course, Allah’s mercy and forgiveness are infinite; but, to
access this mercy a person must believe from the heart. So, an individual
must stop deceiving himself by ignoring the truth; he must be quick while
there is still the opportunity to repent and make the best use of the
time that Allah has given him to live in this world.
Good News for those who choose to seek Allah’s
approval: A life lived in accordance with religious morality is a good
and an easy life
If a person decides to escape from error and live his life so as to
win Allah’s approval, the first thing he will notice is how easy
it is to life such a life. Islam is the religion chosen for human beings
by Allah as being the most appropriate to their nature. Allah has made
it very easy for a person to live according to the religion He has revealed.
Religious morality removes all the difficult, troublesome, and restrictive
things that weigh a person down and make him anxious; it directs an individual
to submit himself to the fate that the all-merciful, compassionate, forgiving
Allah has created for him; for Allah has created everything good for his
servants, all power is His and human beings should seek to please Him
in all things. Allah tells us in the Qur’an that religious morality
is easy and, that He will make everything easy for those who practice
this morality.
…He has selected you and not placed any constraint upon you in
the religion - the religion of your forefather Ibrahim… (Surat
al-Hajj: 78)
The concept of a good life often strikes people as strange. For most
people, a life without stress, sorrow, fear, or anxiety is an impossible
dream. This dream is attainable for believers but not for those who lived
removed from religious morality.
There may be those who have failed so far to practice the moral teachings
of the Qur’an. They may have made many errors in their distance
from this high moral calling. There may be others who have been misdirected
about living a life of religious morality. But after deciding to live
this kind of life, it is important for a person to repent in all sincerity,
do the best he can with regard to the Hereafter, to make the Qur’an
his guide and live at ease. After making this decision, if Allah wills,
he will attain “a good life” (Surat an-Nahl: 97) that is quite
different from anything he has known up to that point.
Conclusion
The Qur’an tells us that we are responsible for every blessing and
advantage we have. “Then you will be asked that Day about the pleasures
you enjoyed.” (Surat at-Takathur: 8) We are also told that we will
be questioned at the time of our death. “It
is certainly a reminder to you and to your people and you will be questioned.”
(Surat az-Zukhruf: 44)
The Qur’an tells us that we must not deceive ourselves but rather,
we must keep an open mind and perform our service carefully. This is possible
if we listen to the voice of our conscience at all times and practice
the moral teachings of the Qur’an. There is no other way for a person
whose faith is sincere.
While we live in this world, the best thing for us to do is to consider
more seriously that death and Judgment Day are approaching with every
passing second, that Allah knows our every thought and action, and that
we are responsible for them.
A decision taken after a moment’s consideration will allow us to
be able to live our whole lives with the open mindedness that this decision
will give us.
Toward this end, we must not ignore the importance of the moral teachings
of the Qur’an which have come to us as a guide, and we must not
think that they will not concern us as we get older. We cannot know when
we will die. Perhaps what is written here will be the last warning we
get before we die. The wisest thing to do is to recognize this important
truth while we still have time. So, anyone with any intelligence should
act according to this truth and organize his life according to it; he
should hope to attain the endless happiness that a momentary decision
will bring; that is, the happiness of winning the Lord’s approval.
We should not forget that the Qur’an is a guide that leads us to
a life of ease.
We did not send down the Qur’an to you to make
you miserable, but only as a reminder for those who have fear. (Surah
Ta Ha: 2-3)
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