Page 50 - Unawareness: A Sly Threat

48 UNAWARENESS: A SLY THREAT

power open the way for people to cast off their usual
unawareness. However, it is wrong to wait for such events to
happen in order to escape from unawareness, because Allah
gives such warnings all the time: difficult times experienced
by relatives and neighbors, natural disasters, wars, and so on.
Those individuals who heed these warnings realize that the
same thing could happen to them. Using such events to
remind themselves just how powerless they really are when
confronted with Allah’s supreme might, they try to root out
their own unawareness and turn to Him. What happened to
the people of ‘Ad could happen to any people:
(The people of) ‘Ad were destroyed by a savage howling
wind. Allah subjected them to it for seven nights and
eight days without a break. You could see the people
flattened in their homes, just like the hollow stumps of
uprooted palms. (Surat al-Haqqah: 6-7)
By giving such examples in the Qur’an, Allah expects
people to learn from what has happened to others and to
think about His infinite power and knowledge. Daily life con-
tains many examples that lead people to remember Allah’s
power. But people merely feel sorry and pity when they see
powerless individuals; they do not realize that what they see
is also a warning to them. All of these examples are warnings
and new opportunities for people to pierce the veil of
unawareness.

Knowing that Allah is Omnipotent and
Omnipresent

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