Page 16 - Deep Thinking

14 DEEP THINKING

have any knowledge?"
They will say: "To Allah." Say: "So will you not pay heed?"
Say: "Who is the Lord of the Seven Heavens and the Lord of the
Mighty Throne?"
They will say: "Allah." Say: "So will you not have taqwa*?"
Say: "In whose hand is the dominion over everything, He who
gives protection and from whom no protection can be given, if
you have any knowledge?"
They will say: "Allah's." Say: "So how have you been bewitched?"
The fact is that We have given them the truth and they are liars.
(Surat al-Muminun: 84-90)

Thinking Removes the Spell on People
In the above verse, Allah asks people, "So how have you been
bewitched?" The word "bewitched" in the verse implies a state of mental
numbness that takes control of people as a whole. An unthinking person's
mind is benumbed, his sight becomes fuzzy, he acts as if he does not see
the facts before his eyes, and his faculty of judgement weakens. He
becomes incapable of grasping even a plain truth. He cannot be fully con-
scious of extraordinary events taking place right before him. He does not
notice the intricate details of events. The reason for people's leading heed-
less lives for thousands of years and their staying away from deep thought
as a whole, as if it is merely a cultural heritage, is actually this mental
numbness.
We can explain one of the outcomes of this collective spell with an
example:
Beneath the earth's surface lies a boiling stratum or layer called magma.
The crust of the earth is very thin, which implies that this blaze is very close
to us, almost under our feet. In order to have a better understanding of how
thin the earth's crust is we can make a comparison: the thickness of the

* Taqwa: Awe or fear of Allah, which inspires a person to be on guard against wrong
action and eager for actions which please Him.