THE PLEASURE OF SIN But At What Price!

The Pleasure of Sin

But At What Price!

Don’t We Fear Allah?

When Would We Learn?

(M. Javed Naseem)

زُيِّنَ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ ٱلْحَيَاةُ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَيَسْخَرُونَ

مِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّقَواْ فَوْقَهُمْ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَامَةِ

وَٱللَّهُ يَرْزُقُ مَن يَشَآءُ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ

”The life of this world is alluring to those who

reject faith, and they scoff at those who believe.

But the righteous will be above them on the

Day of Resurrection. For Allah bestows His

abundance without measure on whom He will.”

(al-Quran 2:212)

We Are The Wrong-Doers!

To err is human, it is said. But keep erring despite all warnings, is that human too? A mistake is a mistake when committed the first time. If it is repeated despite all warnings, it becomes a punishable crime.

Why do we commit sin? Why do we do wrong? Why do we push our friends to be our partners in evil?

Nobody on earth can come up with a just and real reason or an arguable motive that pushes people to disobey God and do evil, except in the following three situations:

1. Misconception.

2. Ignorance.

3. Arrogance.

MISCONCEPTION:

Some people have misconception about evil-doing. They believe that if somebody does anything wrong to them and they retaliate (or react), it is not evil. Retaliation and revenge can be evil too because it can harm innocent human beings. And ‘harm’ is very hard to justify. The most it can do is to give you ‘personal satisfaction’ for getting even. Call it “ego satisfaction”.

The other day, I was talking to some educated young Arab people. They were very frustrated since they had university degrees but no jobs. They were complaining about the corrupt system, dishonest functionaries and lack of job opportunities due to ill-planning or no-planning at all. They were all smoking drugs. When asked why, one of them said: “This is our reaction, our revenge, our protest to the corrupt government.”

I said: But you are not hurting the government or any of its inept ministers. You are hurting yourselves, ruining your lives, killing yourselves and hurting your parents, families and friends who count on you. Why don’t you see it that way? Frustration and disappointment must be tackled with patience and cool-minded alternatives. You are Muslims and Allah tells you in the Quran how to seek Allah’s help in all situations. Never do wrong; never commit evil! Always do the right, try your best to change things in the fairest and legal ways and leave the results to Allah! No violent reaction, no revenge, no illegal activity, no bloody confrontation – unless the Ummah leaders declare ‘Jihad’! That’s “patience” or “patient perseverance”.

يَآأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ ٱسْتَعِينُواْ بِٱلصَّبْرِ وَٱلصَّلاَةِ

إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَ ٱلصَّابِرِينَ
“O you who believe! Seek help with patient

perseverance and prayer; for Allah is with

those who patiently persevere.”

(al-Quran 2:153)

IGNORANCE:

Ignorance is best translated in Urdu as “Jahaalat” (in Arabic: ‘Jahal’). In simple sense, an ignorant person ‘does not know’, but in fact that person does not ‘want’ to know. He prefers to follow the path his parents, friends or others followed. He never questions: Why? He just does it because others are doing it and he likes it. And that’s no justification for any evil or wrong-doing. As a mature human being, it is your responsibility to know the pros and cons of your actions. You should be able to judge your actions in black & white or ‘right & wrong’. If somebody gives you a good and sincere piece of advice; tells you what’s right or wrong but you don’t accept it, this is ignorance. Knowledge is the best cure for ignorance. You need to change your attitude. Because, eventually, you are responsible and liable for your actions. And again, you cannot justify wrong-doing.

ARROGANCE:

This is the worst situation of all. Arrogance is criminal for you know something is wrong but you insist on doing that because you 'like' or 'want' to do that. Arrogance comes out of pride and pride stems from ego. It forces you to abandon reason and logic. It was arrogance that cost Iblees (the Devil or Shaitan) the Paradise. His arrogant attitude (of superiority) made him disobey the command of Allah, the Almighty. As a result, he was cursed and destined to Hell. Allah dislikes the arrogant.

It’s a very common thing among the ‘smart’ Muslims that they blame Shaitan (the Devil) for their own wrong-doings; as if Shaitan forced them. That’s a lame excuse. Shaitan has no power over us. We make our own choices. Allah tells us in the Quran:

وَقَالَ ٱلشَّيْطَانُ لَمَّا قُضِىَ ٱلأَمْرُ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ وَعَدَكُمْ وَعْدَ ٱلْحَقِّ

وَوَعَدتُّكُمْ فَأَخْلَفْتُكُمْ وَمَا كَانَ لِىَ عَلَيْكُمْ مِّن سُلْطَانٍ

إِلاَّ أَن دَعَوْتُكُمْ فَٱسْتَجَبْتُمْ لِى فَلاَ تَلُومُونِى وَلُومُوۤاْ أَنفُسَكُمْ

مَّآ أَنَاْ بِمُصْرِخِكُمْ وَمَآ أَنتُمْ بِمُصْرِخِىَّ إِنِّى كَفَرْتُ بِمَآ

أَشْرَكْتُمُونِ مِن قَبْلُ إِنَّ ٱلظَّالِمِينَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ
“And the Devil will say when the matter is decided:

"It was Allah Who gave you a promise of Truth. I too

promised, but I failed in my promise to you. I had

no authority over you except to call you but you listened

to me. So blame not me, but blame your own souls.

I cannot listen to your cries, nor can you listen to mine.

I reject your former act in associating me with Allah.

For wrong-doers there must be a grievous penalty."

(al-Quran 14:22).

There you go! There’s a very clear choice between the two ways and we (with our own free will) make our choice – right-way or wrong-way. Now the question arises: Aren’t we aware of the consequences of evil-doing? In most cases, we are. So, we do wrong knowingly, ignoring (or not caring about) the punishment. We must be shamelessly bold to go that far when at every step we are warned of the Hell-fire. That shameless boldness is called ‘arrogance’ and merits punishment.

I give here below a few (out of a thousand) verses from the Holy Quran where Allah, the Almighty, has warned us of the punishment for wrong-doing. A God-fearing human being would be shivering to imagine the situation. It’s time that we pay attention to these verses and try to secure our lives in the Hereafter. Remember! In these verses, Allah is talking about the evil or wrong-doing people:

لَهُمْ مِّن جَهَنَّمَ مِهَادٌ وَمِن فَوْقِهِمْ غَوَاشٍ

وَكَذٰلِكَ نَجْزِى ٱلظَّالِمِينَ
“For them there is Hell, as a couch (below) and

folds and folds of covering above; such is

Our requital of those who do wrong.”

(al-Quran 7:41)

وَلَوْ أَنَّ أَهْلَ ٱلْقُرَىٰ آمَنُواْ وَٱتَّقَواْ لَفَتَحْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ

بَرَكَاتٍ مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَٱلأَرْضِ وَلَـٰكِن

كَذَّبُواْ فَأَخَذْنَاهُمْ بِمَا كَانُواْ يَكْسِبُونَ
“If the people of the towns had but believed

and feared Allah, We should indeed have opened

out to them (all kinds of) blessings from heaven

and earth; but they rejected (the Truth), and

We brought them to book for their misdeeds.”

(al-Quran 7:96)

وَلَقَدْ أَخَذْنَآ آلَ فِرْعَونَ بِٱلسِّنِينَ

وَنَقْصٍ مِّن ٱلثَّمَرَاتِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَذَّكَّرُونَ
“We punished the people of Pharaoh with

years (of droughts) and shortness of crops;

that they might receive admonition.”

(al-Quran 7:130)

فَٱنْتَقَمْنَا مِنْهُمْ فَأَغْرَقْنَاهُمْ فِى ٱلْيَمِّ بِأَنَّهُمْ

كَذَّبُواْ بِآيَاتِنَا وَكَانُواْ عَنْهَا غَافِلِينَ
“So We exacted retribution from them. We

drowned them in the sea, because they rejected

Our Signs and failed to take warning from them.”

(al-Quran 7:136)

سَأَصْرِفُ عَنْ آيَاتِىَ ٱلَّذِينَ يَتَكَبَّرُونَ فِى   ٱلأَرْضِ

بِغَيْرِ ٱلْحَقِّ وَإِن يَرَوْاْ كُلَّ آيَةٍ لاَّ يُؤْمِنُواْ بِهَا

وَإِن يَرَوْاْ سَبِيلَ ٱلرُّشْدِ لاَ يَتَّخِذُوهُ سَبِيلاً

وَإِن يَرَوْاْ سَبِيلَ ٱلْغَىِّ يَتَّخِذُوهُ سَبِيلاً ذٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ

كَذَّبُواْ بِآيَاتِنَا وَكَانُواْ عَنْهَا غَافِلِينَ
“Those who behave arrogantly on the earth in

defiance of right - them will I turn away from

My signs. Even if they see all the signs, they will

not believe in them; and if they see the way of

right conduct, they will not adopt it as the way;

but if they see the way of error, that is the way

they will adopt. For they have rejected our signs,

and failed to take warning from them.”

(al-Quran 7:146)

وَٱلَّذِينَ كَذَّبُواْ بِآيَاتِنَا وَلِقَآءِ ٱلآخِرَةِ حَبِطَتْ

أَعْمَالُهُمْ هَلْ يُجْزَوْنَ إِلاَّ مَا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ
“Those who reject Our signs and the meeting in

the Hereafter, vain are their deeds. Can they expect

to be rewarded except as they have wrought?”

(al-Quran 7:147)

وَٱلَّذِينَ كَذَّبُواْ بِآيَاتِنَا سَنَسْتَدْرِجُهُمْ

مِّنْ حَيْثُ لاَ يَعْلَمُونَ
“Those who reject Our signs, We shall

gradually visit with punishment,

in ways they perceive not.”

(al-Quran 7:182)

أَوَلَمْ يَنْظُرُواْ فِى مَلَكُوتِ ٱلسَّمَاوَاتِ وَٱلأَرْضِ

وَمَا خَلَقَ ٱللَّهُ مِن شَيْءٍ وَأَنْ عَسَىۤ أَن يَكُونَ

قَدِ ٱقْتَرَبَ أَجَلُهُمْ فَبِأَىِّ حَدِيثٍ بَعْدَهُ يُؤْمِنُونَ
“Do they see nothing in the government of the

heavens and the earth and all that Allah has

created? (Do they not see) that it may well be

that their terms is nigh drawing to an end? In

what message after this will they then believe?”

(al-Quran 7:185)

Do we see what Allah has been showing us? As a matter of fact, it is for the people of understanding – for those who reflect. It’s for those who repent, beg for His mercy and seek His guidance and help – those who fear Him and treasure His pleasure.

Do we?

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