Page 58 - Why Do You Deceive Yourself ?

56 WHY DO YOU DECEIVE YOURSELF?

Allah and waste countless opportunities on his own selfish desires
and passions, and then automatically take his place amongst the sin-
cere and right acting believers, sharing with them all the bounties
which Allah has prepared for them in Paradise. This kind of reasoning
shows that the person knows nothing about the Qur'an at all. Someone
who understands the truths contained in the verses of the Qur'an
knows very well that it is impossible to be saved on the basis of such
misconceptions which arise out of people's susceptibility to self-de-
ception.

When someone becomes aware of and reflects on the Fire as it is
described in the Qur'an, he cannot bring himself to contemplate
spending even a single moment there. He fights strenuously not only
against going to the Fire but against going anywhere near it because
Hell is a place filled with unimaginable suffering, pain and torment.
As described in the Qur'an, the torment of Hell is so violent as to make
people wish they no longer existed:
When they are flung into a narrow place in it, shackled to-
gether in chains, they will cry out there for destruction. (Surat
al-Furqan: 13)
They will call out, "Malik, let your Lord put an end to us!" He
will say, "You will stay the way you are." (Surat az-Zukhruf:
77)
People who do not praise Allah and recognize His attributes as

they should cannot appreciate the horror of the Fire which He has pre-
pared for unbelievers. This brings about in them a heedlessness. So
much so that instead of acting on the basis of fear of Hell and the desire
to escape it they are prepared to contemplate going to Hell for a time
for certain acts they have committed. This point of view is very wide-
spread in society. People who transgress Allah's commands and prohi-