Page 63 - The Importance of Following the Good Word

Those who do not follow what they are invited to in this
world, and persist in denial, will be taken from one form of
punishment to another. Aside from the unbearable pain they
suffer physically, seeing in Paradise those believers who had
summoned them to the religion, benefiting from its eternal
blessings, adds to their regret. Their distress reaches such di-
mensions that they would choose to be annihilated. But, this
wish is not granted:
The evildoers will remain timelessly, for ever, in the
punishment of Hell. It will not be eased for them.
They will be crushed there by despair. We have not
wronged them; it was they who were wrongdoers.
They will call out [addressing the keeper of Hell],
"Malik! Let your Lord put an end to us!" He will say,
"You will stay the way you are." We brought you the
truth but most of you hated the truth. (Surat az-
Zukhruf, 74-78)
When they are flung into a narrow place in it, shack-
led together in chains, they will cry out there for de-
struction. [They will be told] "Do not cry out today for
just one destruction, cry out for many destructions!"
(Surat al-Furqan, 13-14)
We have to remember that each reminder, each warning
and notice given comes actually from Allah. Allah summons
people to His religion through His messengers and faithful
servants. Again, through the believers, He enjoins what is
right and forbids what is wrong, and through the Book He
sent down to mankind, He grants them the criterion to dis-
tinguish between right and wrong. If they fail to obey this
summons, the moment they meet death will be too late to

The Fate of Those Who Do Not Follow the Good Word 61