Page 43 - The Nightmare of Disbelief

For someone who shows his preference for disbelief, his
troubles begin while he is still in this world, since everyone,
deep in his heart, knows that he should adhere to the values of
religion. Surely everyone is endowed with the faculty of con-
science. But while this mechanism is very fine-tuned in believ-
ers, it becomes almost dysfunctional in those who do not live
by the values of religion. In other words, by paying no heed to

their conscience, people who have drifted apart from the values
of religion experience spiritual distress. Everyone, in reality,
knows that he has a Creator, that he is responsible to Him and
that he should display moral perfection. Yet, these proper atti-
tudes are essentially in conflict with his worldly whims and de-
sires.
That is why individuals either entirely reject religion, or
find excuses, in their own eyes, such as "I am honest, good and
sincere" so as to avoid the way of living described in the
Qur'an. However, in both cases, people know in their subcon-
scious mind that they should lead the type of life approved of
by Allah. In societies distant from the values of religion, the ba-
sic source of all mental anguish, all psychological and spiritual

problems is this spiritual distress which we call "pangs of con- 41
science."
The state of those who start to experience this grief while
they are still in this world is expressed in the following verse:
They say: When will this promise be fulfilled if you are
telling the truth? Say: "It may well be that some of what you
are anxious to hasten is right on your heels." (Surat an-
Naml: 71-72)

"Pangs of conscience" are only a minor part of the eternal
and unbearable spiritual grief a non-believer feels in the here-
after. The reason why man suffers from this worldly pain is be-

HARUN YAHYA (ADNAN OKTAR)