Page 67 - Never Plead Ignorance

HARUN YAHYA 65

calling you to the good pleasure of Allah, is your conscience.

If one ignores the voice of the conscience, in time, one becomes al-
most a slave of the self, becoming prone to any kind of wickedness. Since
such an attitude is merely an expression of one's own preference, one fails
this test, and loses the blessed eternal life – unless Allah wills otherwise –
whose loss is eternal deprivation. Man bears the sole responsibility of be-
ing a slave of Allah, which can only be achieved by acting by the Book and
by following one's conscience. Allah calls the end of those who pretend
not to understand this fact 'failure' in the following verse:

He who purifies it has succeeded, he who covers it up has failed. (Surat
ash-Shams: 9-10)
Surely almost every one has experienced the inner pain that regret
gives. The main cause of this feeling is not following the commands of
conscience, which is also a divine warning to man. In some circumstances,
this pain is not relieved until one amends one's misdeeds or changes one's
flawed preferences; it simply turns into spiritual torture. So, do not pre-
tend you don't grasp it, when you are full of remorse. This is surely a
sign of a misdeed you have done; your conscience has already told you
what you did wrong and where you did it. Take this chance to compen-
sate for your misdeeds in this world, while there is still a chance. In the
Hereafter, the regret you will feel will be unbearable and will remain with
you for all eternity, unless it is for the forgiveness of Allah and His mercy.
Even though your self thinks of it as a difficult task or it is un-
willing to follow the conscience, don't pretend that you don't grasp
your conscience is guiding you to the truth. Be certain that Allah has in-

finite conscience; if you persist in following the Qur'an and are alert to
what your conscience commands, then Allah will bountifully reward
you for all your deeds, even for the ones that may seem insignificant to
you. Meanwhile, surely those who remain heedless of the Book and
about their consciences will not be treated the same in the presence of
Allah.