Gift of Conscience
Cont’d from page 1
He is the One who created you, then among you there is the disbeliever, and the believer. GOD is fully Seer of everything you do. (64:2)
He knows everything in the heavens and the earth, and He knows everything you conceal and everything you declare. GOD is fully aware of the innermost thoughts. (64:4).
In Quran we have a few examples of God’s servants to show this gift of conscience or realization which we can also learn from:
After they were duped by Satan, Adam and his wife ‘realized’ their mistake and asked to be forgiven.
He thus duped them with lies. As soon as they tasted the tree, their bodies became visible to them, and they tried to cover themselves with the leaves of Paradise. (7:22-23).
Remorse comes when one realizes one’s mistake, which leads to seeking forgiveness, repenting and reforming, as what happened with Adam’s son.
GOD then sent a raven to scratch the soil, to teach him how to bury his brother’s corpse. He said, “Woe to me; I failed to be as intelligent as this raven, and bury my brother’s corpse.” He became ridden with remorse. (5:31).
Sheba realized her mistake of worshipping idols after Solomon showed the appropriate signs.
She had been diverted by worshipping idols instead of God. She belonged to disbelieving people. She was told, “Go inside the palace.” When she saw its interior, she thought it was a pool of water, and she (pulled up her dress,) exposing her legs. He said, “This interior is now paved with crystal.” She said, “My Lord, I have wronged my soul. I now submit with Solomon to GOD, Lord of the universe.” (27:43-44).
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Solomon himself was a victim of preoccupation with the material world, till God saved him through realization, after which he asked for forgiveness and reformed.
He then said, “I enjoyed the material things more than I enjoyed worshiping my Lord, until the sun was gone. (38:32).
After David gave his judgment to the two men, his conscience kept making him wonder if he had done the right thing. When he showed concern, God helped him out.
He said, “He is being unfair to you by asking to combine your sheep with his. Most people who combine their properties treat each other unfairly, except those who believe and work righteousness, and these are so few.” Afterwards, David wondered if he made the right judgment. He thought that we were testing him. He then implored his Lord for forgiveness, bowed down, and repented. (38:24).
When Jonah rebelled, he was swallowed by the fish. He had to have thought about it, ‘realized his mistake’ and then resorted to meditation to be forgiven.
Consequently, the fish swallowed him, and he was the one to blame. If it were not that he resorted to meditation (on God), he would have stayed in its belly until the Day of Resurrection. (37:142-144).
The Governor’s wife knew the truth behind Joseph’s imprisonment. Her conscience must have bothered her all those years till God made the truth prevail, forcing her to admit what she was hiding and seek forgiveness.
(The king) said (to the women), “What do you know about the incident when you tried to seduce Joseph?” They said, “GOD forbid; we did not know of anything evil committed by him.” The wife of the governor said, “Now the truth has prevailed. I am the one who tried to seduce him, and he was the truthful one. “I hope that he will realize that I never |
betrayed him in his absence, for GOD does not bless the schemes of the betrayers. “I do not claim innocence for myself. The self is an advocate of vice, except for those who have attained mercy from my Lord. My Lord is Forgiver, Most Merciful.” (12:51-53).
I wish to end by encouraging everyone to take full use of every precious tool God has gifted to us. Even the mighty and arrogant Pharaoh, being a human after all, had to have been thinking about whatever was happening in his life. But his ego was too big to admit and act upon any truth that may have crossed his mind.
So if something is there in our minds, we should come to terms with it and be willing to think it through. It may be God’s way of helping us to realize things so we can keep doing better and purify our souls. As believers we should not worry. If we are sincere, God will divert sin and evil from us and help us make the right decision.
Sometimes Satan will also try and confuse us. Again, if we are sincere, God will ‘make us realize’ Satan’s ploy and save us as He did with Abraham and his son. The key is in being ‘conscious’ of our actions – always being reverent of God and be willing to take his help and guidance to repent, reform and seek forgiveness if we wish to make it back to His most beautiful abode.
Hena R., Mumbai, India
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