The End of Unawareness
Despite all of Allah’s warnings, unawareness quickly draws those who persist in it toward a horrible, indescribable, and eternal punishment. Allah created this world as a place of testing, and those who leave it without becoming aware will continue their lives eternally among the people of Hell.
As revealed in the Qur’an, their eyes and ears have been sealed and their understanding removed. Their understanding and awareness are like those of animals. And, because they are so by choice, they are even lower than animals:
We created many of the jinn and humanity for Hell. They have hearts with which they do not understand, eyes with which they do not see, and ears with which they do not hear. Such people are like cattle. No, they are even further astray! They are the unaware. (Surat al-A‘raf: 179)
Do you suppose that most of them hear or understand? They are just like cattle. Indeed, they are even further astray! (Surat al-Furqan: 44)
Animals have no awareness. Allah compares unaware people to them, because their animal-like unawareness has caused their hearts to harden. Whatever they see and hear, and all of the admonitions and advice they receive, do not lift them out of that state. As a result, they do not learn anything from what happens to them.
All people without exception are responsible for understanding and living according to the truth. But if they persist in their unawareness, they become less intelligent than other living species and lose those qualities that make them human. The sense, perception, and understanding that Allah gives to everyone so that they can know of His existence and serve Him are closed to these people who are determined to persist in unawareness:
Those are the people whose hearts, hearing, and sight have been sealed up by Allah. They are the unaware. (Surat an-Nahl: 108)
Such individuals can no longer save themselves from living among the people of Hell unless they turn towards Him. Their lack of awareness and confusion will be even greater in Hell:
Those who are blind in this world will be blind in the Hereafter and even further off the Path. (Surat al-Isra’: 72)
The harshness of the punishment and its terror are described in verses as follows:
… the kindled Fire of Allah reaching right into the heart. It is sealed in above them in towering columns. (Surat al-Humaza: 6-9)
People who live in a state of unawareness, who make no effort to escape from this state, and who die without being aware of the Qur’an and His pleasure will be dragged down to Hell.
