Page 88 - Answers from the Qur'an

ANSWERS FROM THE QUR'AN
them to find the true answer in the Qur'an, which is the source of
guidance for humanity. When they find the answer they will ac-
cept it sincerely and do their best to adhere to it. In the Qur'an,
this sincerity is related, as follows:
The reply of the believers when they are summoned to
Allah and His Messenger so that He can judge between
them is to say: "We hear and obey." They are the ones who
are successful. All who obey Allah and His Messenger,
and have awe of Allah and heed Him, are the ones who
are victorious. (Surat an-Nur, 51-52)
Yet, if those who are told about these truths from the Qur'an
acknowledge them to be true by their consciences but still insist
upon disobeying Allah and His judgments, this attitude proves
that they are insincere. Their behavior shows that they deny a
truth that they have acknowledged to be right and insist upon fol-
lowing one that they know to be wrong. One must not forget the
consequences of such a wrongful insistence and must avoid it:
Have you seen him who takes his whims and desires to
be his deity—whom Allah has misguided knowingly,
sealing up his hearing and his heart and placing a blind-
fold over his eyes? Who then will guide him after Allah?
So will you not pay heed? (Surat al-Jathiyya, 23)
The end of such an obstinate attitude is Hell, an everlasting
abode. However, what is expected from people of understand-
ing and conscience is for them to say "We hear and obey" as the
verse relates.
This being the case, people of wisdom must be very cautious
against those factors that hinder them from saying: "I hear and
obey." The most important of these factors is, as the verse main-
tains, one's whims and desires, which stem from one's lower self.
As indicated in the Qur'an: "the self indeed commands to evil

86