THE LOSSES THOUGHTLESSNESS BRINGS WITH IT

THE LOSSES THOUGHTLESSNESS BRINGS WITH IT

The biggest loss caused by thoughtlessness, without a doubt, is the distancing of people from Allah’s religion. People who move further away from religion also move further from Heaven and drift into a life of infinite Hell. The thoughtlessness of these people show them the right things as wrong, the wrong things as right, for which reason they think that the real life is the life in this world and they see the real life of the Hereafter as very remote. As long as they are in this world they do not try to earn Allah’s approval and His Heaven, and do not reckon that the torments of Hell will affect them. When they are faced with realities in the Hereafter, they voice their regret by saying: "We wish we had been wise" and they admit the huge loss thoughtlessness has caused them. This is how the Qur’an alludes to their regret:

And the Day Hell is brought near, that Day man will remember his deeds; but how will the remembrance help him? He will say, "Oh! If only I had been charitable in my lifetime!" (Surat al-Fajr: 23-24)

If only you could see them when they are standing before the Fire and saying, "Oh! If only we could be sent back again, we would not deny the Signs of our Lord and we would be true believers". (Surat al-An‘am: 27)

They will say, "If only we had really listened and understood, we would not now have been the heirs of Hell." (Surat al-Mulk: 10)

The conclusion that should be reached from all of this is that thoughtlessness is a great misfortune that leads a person into Hell. And Hell is a place of torment where it is not even possible to die and so escape from it. This reality is definite enough and so much unbearable that no one may say, "Nothing will happen to me". The Qur’an mentions in detail the unbelievers in Hell in which there is heavy sighing, whose skin is renewed every time it is burned off, and who cannot find anything other than boiling water and scalding pus when they are thirsty.

Furthermore, one who doesn’t use his mind should start thinking of the blessings of Heaven he will be deprived of, too. Before unreasoning people face Hell, they will be aware of the beauty of Heaven and see the joy believers experience as they are given the good news of Heaven. Knowing that believers are enjoying themselves on couches in mansions with rivers flowing under them will also leave a deep and painful mark of regret on the hearts of thoughtless people.

These are the losses thoughtlessness brings in the Hereafter. People distanced from religion because of their thoughtlessness try to enjoy worldly blessings by abandoning the Hereafter. But they cannot achieve what they want here either. They suffer material and spiritual losses throughout their lives. Firstly, they are untrusting of Allah, which is brought about by not submitting to Allah and His decree, and as a result of this they live in a state of unease. They lead lives of continual worry about the future, fear of losing what they have, anxiety about becoming destitute, grief at separation from loved ones, and becoming humiliated in others’ eyes.

Because they don’t live by the teachings of the Qur’an, they can never be close friends with anyone in the real sense; they cannot comprehend the beauty of real love, respect, loyalty, and many other moral virtues. As they don’t live according to the Qur’an, they experience the difficulties of an ignorant system. Regret constantly rules their lives; they are always complaining about what they did the day before or even an hour before and keep voicing their regret.

Because they don’t use their reason they cannot speak well or wisely. They talk for hours but still can’t sort things out; they cannot take rapid precautions, and come up with rational solutions. Unable to see the beauty and refinement of others, they cannot express their appreciation of them. They can neither enjoy the subtleties of art and aesthetics nor can they develop practical innovations. They cannot give up their traditional way of living and their habits; they cannot renew themselves or evolve.

The state of thoughtless people is thus illustrated in the Qur’an:

Allah uses another metaphor: take a man who is deaf and dumb, unable to do anything, a burden on his master; no matter where he directs him he returns with empty hands. Is he as good as someone who commands justice and is on the right path? (Surat an-Nahl: 76)

Without a doubt, this example expresses the state a thoughtless person is in. Since a thoughtless person, as declared in the verse, is someone who has no power over anything and, as well as not being of any benefit to himself, he is a burden to those around him. For this reason, the person in question has to live his life in a state of deprivation. Allah informs us of the state of thoughtless people in another verse:

None can believe except with Allah’s permission. He places a blight on those who do not use their reason. (Surah Yunus: 100)

Moreover, thoughtless people form thoughtless communities. As a result of being far from religion, thoughtless communities are wracked with confusion, oppression, injustice, animosity, violence, and intolerance; theirs is basically an environment where every kind of negativity exists. As a result of their thoughtlessness, people cannot appreciate Allah’s power and hence do not fear Him. And in a society where Allah is not feared, any kind of offence can be committed. People can easily kill others, abuse their rights, or turn to larceny and fraud. Because compassion and kindness are at a low, they indulge in any kind of wrongdoing.

So these are the summaries of some of the damage thoughtlessness causes in this world. For this reason, thoughtlessness is not a state that any individual should needlessly accept. Every human being should think of the obstacles blocking wisdom, should make every effort to try to rid himself of them, so that he may have the beautiful existence made possible by wisdom in this world and the next.