Page 66 - Never Plead Ignorance

64 NEVER PLEAD IGNORANCE

Furthermore, conscience is not an inspiration peculiar only to be-
lievers. It exists in every individual, including disbelievers. However, that
believers always comply with the voice of their conscience makes them
different. Disbelievers, on the other hand, satisfy their own desires de-
spite what their consciences tell them. Allah draws attention to this sub-
ject in a story about Ibrahim. In the Qur'an, Allah relates the following di-
alog between Ibrahim and his people which occurred after Ibrahim broke
the idols, which his people worshipped, except the biggest one:
They said, "Did you this to our gods, Ibrahim?" He said: "No, this one, the
biggest of them, did it. Ask them if they are able to speak!" They consult-
ed among themselves and said, "It is you yourselves who are wrongdo-
ers." But then they relapsed back into their disbelief: "You know full well
these idols cannot talk." (Surat al-Anbiya: 62-65)

The people who uttered these words were actually the ones who de-
cided to cast Ibrahim to the fire. Even these people, so cruel in attempting
to kill a prophet who was assigned the duty of guiding them to the truth,
had consciences telling them the truth. Yet as the verse suggests, "they
were blind and deaf" (Surat al-Ma'idah: 71), they pretended not to un-
derstand the truth.
Like every other man, you have both a conscience and an evil who
misleads you. You also hear the voices of your conscience and your evil.
If you want to attain the good pleasure of Allah and truthfulness, don't
pretend that you don't hear the voice of your conscience.

Aperson may feel concerned that he is not able to distinguish these
two voices. Yet, keep in mind that conscience does not fail to see the truth
for a moment; it instantly tells the truth. However, as one hears this voice,
the evil immediately tries to mislead the self. The self makes various ex-
cuses. The evil strives to thwart one from doing what one's conscience
whispers. In other words, encountering an incident, what one initially
hears is the voice of the conscience. All the excuses we make against fol-
lowing this voice are the voice of one's self. At the moment you hear this
voice of the conscience, don't pretend you don't grasp that this voice,