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Chapter 7
The Harms Of A Society Model With
No Belief In Allah
Allah declares in the Qur'an that He has created mankind according to
a certain disposition in the verse: "So set you your face steadily
and truly to the Faith: (establish) Allah's handiwork according to the
pattern on which He has made mankind." (Surat al-Room, 30). The disposition
of mankind relies on being a servant to Allah and having faith in Him.
Since man is unable to meet his unlimited wishes and needs by himself,
he naturally needs to humble himself before Allah and turn to Him.
If the individual lives in accordance with this disposition, he attains
true confidence, peace, happiness and salvation. If he denies this disposition
and turns away from Allah, he spends his life in distress, fear, anxiety
and grief.
This rule, which is true for man, also holds true for societies. If a
society is comprised of people who believe in Allah, it becomes a just,
peaceful, happy and wise society. Unquestionably, the opposite also holds
true. If a society is unaware of Allah, then the order of such a community
is basically ruined, corrupt and primitive.
When societies that have turned away from Allah are examined, this fact
is readily seen. One of the most important results of irreligious thought
is the abolishment of the concept of morality and the development of completely
corrupt societies. Transgressing religious and moral bounds, and catering
exclusively to the satisfaction of human wishes, this culture is a system
of oppression in the fullest sense of the word. In such a system, all
sorts of degeneracies from sexual perversion to drug addiction are encouraged.
Eventually, societies that are devoid of human love and are egoistic,
ignorant, shallow and nonsensical have grown up.
In a society where people live only for the satisfaction of their own
desires, it surely is not possible to maintain peace, love and amity.
In such a society, human relations depend on mutual interests. An extreme
feeling of distrust prevails. When there is no reason for one to be sincere,
honest, reliable or well-behaved, nothing stands in the way of dissimulation,
falsehood, or betrayal. The members of such societies have "cast Allah
away behind their backs (with contempt)" (Surah Hud, 92) and thus
never acknowledged the fear of Allah. Since they cannot "make a just estimate
of Allah", they are unmindful of the day of judgement and the day of account.
For them, hell is nothing more than an idea appearing in religious books.
None of them think that they shall have to give an account of themselves
in the presence of Allah after their death for all the sins they have
committed during their lives in this world, or that they may ultimately
be doomed to an eternal life of torment in hell. Even if they do think
about it, they suppose that they will enter paradise after they "pay for
their sins", as it is expressed in this verse:
This because they say ‘The Fire shall not touch
us but for a few numbered days': For their forgeries deceive them as to
their own religion. (Surat Al-e-Imran, 24)
Thus they are led to spend their lives doing their best to satisfy their
own desires and needs.
This situation naturally brings on the ethical degeneration and moral
collapse that we see in many societies today. In their own reasoning they
suppose "we have come into this world but once and will live for only
50-60 years and then die, so let us get the best of things here". The
thought system based on this erroneous reasoning may bring with it all
kinds of injustice, prostitution, theft, crime and immorality. One subscribing
to it may become involved in all kinds of crime, homicide, or fraud. When
every individual thinks of nothing but the satisfaction of his own needs
and desires, everyone else––including his family and friends––have secondary
importance. Other individuals in society have no importance whatsoever.
In a social structure that rests on interest relations to a large degree,
the mutual distrust of people hinders the formation of peace both at the
social and individual level and it causes people to live permanently in
a state of doubt, unease and irresolution. Not knowing by whom, when or
how misdeeds will be committed in such a society, people live spiritually
in a condition of great fear and distress. General distrust and suspicion
cause them to lead very unhappy lives. In a society where all kinds of
moral values are disregarded, the outlook of people on notions such as
family, honesty and chastity is quite alarming, for they have no fear
of Allah.
In such societies, the lives of people do not rely on mutual love and
respect. Its members feel no need to show respect to each other. They
do not display a caring attitude to each other without a good cause. Actually,
they are quite right, in terms of their ignorant reasoning, in behaving
this way. They are taught throughout their lives that they have evolved
from animals and that their souls will be lost forever upon their death.
They therefore deem it meaningless to respect a body of ape origin that
will rot under the earth and that they will never see again. In
their corrupt logic, "all the others as well as themselves are to die
and be buried under the earth, their bodies will decay and their souls
will vanish. So why would they bother to do good to other people, and
be self-sacrificing?" Indeed, these thoughts permeate the subconscious
of everyone who has no belief in Allah or, therefore, in the hereafter.
In societies with no belief in Allah, there is no basis for peace, happiness,
or confidence.
The purpose of all we have said is not to suggest that "degeneration
occurs in societies where there is no belief in Allah, therefore there
must be belief in Allah." Allah must be believed in because Allah exists
and whoever denies Him commits a great sin before Him. Our intention in
noting that societies where belief in Allah does not exist become corrupt
is to emphasise that the fundamental viewpoints of these societies are
wrong. Wrong viewpoints lead to ill consequences. A society that commits
the biggest sin of denying Allah, is sure to suffer the worst outcomes.
These outcomes are worthy of attention because they show how mistaken
this society is.
The common characteristic of such societies is their being deceived as
a whole. As stated in the verse,"Were
you to follow the common run of those on earth, they will lead you away
from the way of Allah." (Surat al-Anaam, 116), that most of society
share a common character creates a "mass" psychology that reinforces the
already-existing disbelief. Allah describes such societies that are unmindful
of Him and the hereafter as "ignorant" in the Qur'an. Even though the
members of this society may study physics, history, biology or similar
sciences, they do not have the sense and conscience to acknowledge the
power and might of Allah. And they are ignorant in that sense.
Because the members of an ignorant society are not devoted to Allah,
they go astray from His path in different ways. They follow people who
are incompetent servants of Allah just like themselves, taking them as
examples and adhering to their ideas as absolute truths. Ultimately an
ignorant society ends up a closed society that increasingly blinds itself,
becoming further and further divorced from reason and conscience. As we
have stated at the beginning, the most notable aspect of this system is
that members of such a society act in consonance with anti-religious indoctrination.
Allah describes in the Qur'an with a striking parable how such a life,
resting upon a vain and corrupt basis, is destined to be ruined:
Which then is best? He that lays his foundation
on piety to Allah and His good pleasure? Or he that lays his foundation
on an undermined sand-cliff ready to crumble to pieces? And it does crumble
to pieces with him, into the fire of hell. And Allah does not guide people
that do wrong. (Surat at-Tawba, 109)
There is yet another point to be remembered: every society and every person
has the opportunity to be rid of the indoctrination, way of life and philosophy
of ignorance. Allah sends them messengers who warn them and inform them
of the existence of Allah and the hereafter and who tell them the real meaning
of life. And along with His messengers He sends righteous books that answer
all the questions that are derived from the very conscience of people. This
is the law of Allah that has existed since eternity. In our day, the guide
of all people is the Qur'an, which shows the right way and leads people
from darkness to light. People will be judged according to their own preferences.
The messenger who brought the book to people thus called out to them:
Say: "O you men! Now Truth has reached you from
your Lord! Those who receive guidance, do so for the good of their own
souls; those who stray, do so to their own loss: and I am not (set) over
you to arrange your affairs. (Surah Yunus, 108)
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