Never Plead Ignorance
of the Fact that Disbelief is the Source of All Wickedness
Those who have faith in the existence of Allah proceed on His path all through their lives. They meticulously obey His commands and spend their lives in the way of Allah. For this end, believers adopt Islam, the religion Allah perfected for man, and adhere to the Qur'an as a guide to the true path, taking the high manners of our Prophet (saas) recounted in the Qur'an as an example for themselves. Trying to follow the noble examples related in the Qur'an, their conscience leads them to strive with good character at every moment of their lives.
Those who insist on denying the existence of Allah, or who simply reject surrendering themselves to Allah and practising His religion fail to attain the standard of the religion of Allah since they never grasp the beauties and good aspects of the values encouraged by the Qur'an. That is why a community of disbelievers consists of people who live properly and decently not for the good pleasure of Allah but for the approval of other people, and others who dare to live immorally without considering its consequences.
Telling lies, taking bribes, murder, suicide, gambling, violating the rights of others or committing injustices are the misdeeds readily committed by people having no fear of Allah. They do them either openly or by legal subterfuges. They cannot keep their rage under control, are inherently jealous and ambitious and easily hurt others by the way they speak. They are not self-sacrificing and are dominated by selfish desires and petty interests. There may be some people saying "I am not religious yet I do not have hatred for people either". Yet, it is probable that one day such people will encounter an incident that will enrage them. At such a moment, they may well engage in any kind of wickedness that they would normally never dare. After killing somebody, for instance, it is most probable that they would say, "but he deserved it". This is a consequence one would never expect from someone who feels fear for Allah. That is because a person who has faith in Allah is known for his patience and that he would never dare to do something Allah prohibits. Hence, he would never knowingly give in to his anger.
It is, on the other hand, possible that a disbeliever would say, "I have no faith yet I would never take a bribe". However such a statement remains only a claim since he is able to do any misdeed when he feels under pressure. People often try to find legitimate pretexts to justify a bribe saying, for instance, that they need money to get the kids through school. Yet, it is unlikely that you would expect such an approach from a believer. A person having fear of Allah never engages in deeds he knows will be judged severely on the Day of Judgement.
Some common crimes provide good examples of such insincere attitudes. Theft, for instance, as an established offence, may well be regarded as legitimate by these people under certain circumstances. Towels, glasses, cutlery taken from hotels are not considered theft by this mentality. When viewed from the point of the values of religion, however, under all circumstances theft is immoral.
All these are actually the common attributes of people who do not have fear of Allah. Hundreds of examples can be given to depict this character. Never showing commitment to attain excellent character, these people make a sacrifice only when they feel they have a serious interest in it. As soon as they find this interest to be at stake, however, they cease to make sacrifices. A believer however has a strong determination. The fear of Allah ensures this determination. This fear is also the warranty of the security religion provides for the society.
Love, mercy, respect, loyalty together with other values the family ensures also disappear in such a society. The only ones who show mercy and loyalty without price are the believers who fear Allah and believe in their individual accountability for actions.
A family laying its foundations on mercy, love and sacrifice together with the other values the Qur'an brings is essential to the welfare and peace of a society. In societies where life is not regulated by revealed values, the society degenerates, since the family, a key unit of the society, degenerates.
Only fear of Allah and faith secure peaceful societies and they are the simple consequences of adherence to the Qur'an. These are OBVIOUS facts.
In societies where disbelief prevails, social anarchy reigns. The wealthy oppress the poor, the poor feel hatred for the wealthy, bosses assume an aggressive attitude towards employees and vice-versa. Instead of mercy, those who are in need are shown anger.
News items of murder or suicide frequently appearing in the press have only one reason: disbelief. Surely a person killing a man only because he feels hatred for him or he derives a benefit from his death does not think that he will be judged for it. These offences readily committed by people having no fear of Allah are the type of behaviours disturbing the order and peace of society.
In such a society one does not expect to find concepts like co-operation or generosity. People do not care for each other. Similarly, the health and well-being of others never become a matter of concern. Precautions are not taken to remove anything likely to give harm to people and the society as a whole. Nobody cares about somebody becoming sick and fainting in the middle of the street, for instance. Such a person is left all alone to handle such a serious problem. Trying to derive maximum benefits, they do not hesitate to defraud each other. A market owner sells rotten food without considering the health risks to which it exposes public. Alternatively, sellers overcharge their customers. There is no end to these examples. In such a system all services rendered are bound to the price paid for them. A doctor shows the care due to his patient only when he thinks he will be well paid. In brief, some of these people bear sacrifices only when a solid benefit is assured.
As we have seen, there is no end to social problems and immoral attitudes where disbelief rages. So, never plead ignorance of the fact that you need to submit yourself to the religion of Allah and that only then can you attain peace and security. Besides that, keep in mind that only a life devoted to Allah will secure a life for all eternity.
Immorality, a consequence of disbelief, is primarily a detriment to health and the main source of trouble for the heart. A person, for instance, who makes the life of others unbearable due to his jealousy in fact lives a life that is troublesome to himself. The rage he feels is the main cause of his trouble. Mostly, other people do not realise the feelings jealous people harbour or simply do not care about them. After all, the jealousy others feel does not affect them. Consequently jealousy only negatively affects the person himself. Allah draws our attention to the trouble disbelievers suffer in the following verse:
When Allah desires to guide someone, He expands his breast to Islam. When He desires to misguide someone, He makes his breast narrow and constricted as if he were climbing up into the sky. That is how Allah defiles those who do not believe. (Surat Al-An'am: 125)
People of the religion feel pleased at the good deeds of other believers. They derive pleasure from one another's good qualities. The beauty of a person reminds a believer of the power of creation of Allah. It is also a way in which he glorifies Allah. In an environment where disbelief dominates, however, the way people hurt each other – gossiping or giving contemptuous nicknames to people – creates tension. This tension is surely a consequence of their jealousy of each other. Therefore, those who behave immorally suffer great trouble themselves for the impatient, unbalanced qualities of character they display. In other words, these people give torment to themselves. In a verse Allah says:
Allah does not wrong people in any way; rather it is people who wrong themselves. (Surah Yunus: 44)
A person having fear for Allah often shows patience no matter what he encounters in life. Difficulties neither demoralise nor discourage him. Trusting Allah, he confronts every incident with determination and courage. By trusting Allah and with the state of spirit the religion grants man, he assesses incidents wisely. Disbelievers, however, always incur trouble and superstitious fears leading them to a hellish life. Neither societies nor individuals attain a condition of heart that finds the satisfaction the verse which follows indicates: "… Only in the remembrance of Allah can the heart find peace." (Surat al-Ra'd: 28)
So, ponder on the fact that disbelief eradicates all human and beautiful feelings and never plead ignorance of the fact that those who do not submit themselves to the will of Allah live in trouble and regret both in this world and beyond.
