Page 16 - Zeal and Enthusiasm in the Qur'an

Zeal and Enthusiasm Described in the Qur’an

As the verse suggests, people in a society of ignorance are
greatly deluded about the life of this world. Despite being aware of
its brief and imperfect nature, they prefer this temporary life to an
eternal life in the hereafter because they expect to obtain worldly
benefits more easily and harbor mistaken doubts about the exis-
tence of the next world. This erroneous rationale assumes that the

world is within easy reach, while the hereafter is far away.
It is, no doubt, a very shallow and irrational kind of reasoning.
After all, man’s life in this world is confined to a very brief period of
time. A lifespan lasting six or seven decades, half of which is spent
in childhood and the advanced years of old age, is indisputably
brief compared to the eternal life of the hereafter. Furthermore,
even before the completion of those six or seven decades, one

may die for some reason. At any moment he may find his life,
which he assumed to be well in his hands, suddenly taken away,
and may, at an utterly unexpected time, find himself entering his
eternal life in the hereafter, although he had assumed it to be very
distant.
The heedless people of ignorance strive to make the most of
their worldly lives during this short period rather than earning
Allah’s acceptance and His reward of paradise. Consequently, the
issues over which these people show zeal are limited to the minor

goals pertaining to this world. In fact, the feelings they imagine to
be enthusiasm and excitement are nothing but greed.
Passionately attached to this life, they feel great excitement to-
wards everything from which they expect to derive benefit and
consequently, better living conditions. Accordingly, people feel a
great desire to become wealthy or to have a prestigious status or
career. In order to attain such a goal they make all forms of self-

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