Those Who Question and Those Who Ignore

So far, we have talked about how a conscientious man can build an awareness of the existence of Allah, even though he has not been taught anything about it. Someone who realises through his conscience that a creator exists will reach the conclusion that if Allah created such a flawless universe and provided man with a consciousness to comprehend it, then He would not have left him idle. He would definitely have established some sort of communication with these intelligent beings He created, and presented Himself to them. Furthermore, Allah, Who created everything, would definitely have created them for a purpose and let this purpose be known to them.

The person who employs his conscience, will feel a great desire to know about his Creator Who created himself and the entire universe. This desire even becomes the sole purpose of his life. He realises that he is in need of Allah, Who created him out of nothing and gave him life when he was nothing, and that all power lies with Him.

He also realises that Allah creates everything for a purpose. Everything has a duty. The sky is like a ceiling that protects the planet; cells are there to constitute life; rain brings bounty and the sun is the source of light and heat for the entire world. It is created for such a significant purpose that life would not exist without it. In short, man can see that everything we can and cannot count here is created for a special cause. Man then asks himself, 'If I am created into such a perfect and flawlessly planned world and I will die in a short while, then what is the purpose of my presence here?' And he seeks an answer to this question.

He is not satisfied by the pieces of information he has heard from other people. He wants to know Allah, to learn what He wants from him and the purpose of his creation. He understands through his conscience that information provided by people can be insufficient or misleading. Mostly, the statements of people contradict one another, and are full of inconsistencies. He naturally thinks that the best guide to reach Allah is the book He revealed. Consequently, he takes the Qur'an, the last book Allah sent and which He protected, as his guide.

Those who ignore the Qur'an do not follow their conscience:

How many people in the world have neither read the Qur'an nor even wondered about it?

Allah sends a book to guide people, warning them that they will be questioned after their death as to whether or not they heeded what was written in it. The result will send them either to paradise or hell. Even if people do not grasp this by referring to their conscience, they hear about it and are aware of it. However, in spite of this, they still do not read the Qur'an. They do not even barely wonder what is written in the book for which they will be held responsible on the Day of Judgement.

For example, a man receives a letter from his office or school in an envelope reading 'most important for your career/education'. He is asked to read this letter and completely fulfil its requirements by a certain date. What will he do? Will he hang it up on the wall without even reading it, just put it in the drawer, or read and disregard what is written in it? Or will he immediately start reading it with great excitement and attention as soon as he received it, and immediately act fully upon its contents?

His wisdom and common sense would definitely tell him to read this message. However, most people, due to the state of heedlessness they are in, do not lift a finger to read the most vital book in existence: the message of Allah to His people.

The fact that people have abandoned the book Allah sent is stated as follows in the Qur'an:

In the above verse, the expression 'as if they did not know' points out that although people know, they ignore the book of Allah. Everyone, deep in his conscience, knows that he must read and practise the Qur'an, but the majority ignores it. The reason for this is that people do not follow their conscience.