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.

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)