Introduction
Praise be to Allah, who created creation for a tremendous purpose, tied their fate in the Hereafter to soundness of hearts and righteousness of deeds, made this world a passage and not a place of settlement, and tested His servants in it to try them as to which of them is best in deed; and blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, who pointed the way to Allah by word, deed, and state, and upon his family, his Companions, and all who follow his way until the Day of Judgment.
Among the greatest matters a Muslim needs in this age is to call to mind the reality of the journey to Allah, and to understand the landmarks of the path, the points of failure, and the places of heedlessness, especially with the spread of mistaken notions about faith, repentance, ignorance, and excuse.
The Purpose of Creation and the Reality of the Journey
The Noble Qur’an states clearly that the purpose of creating mankind and jinn is the worship of Allah alone. He, Glorified is He, said:
“And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me. I do not want from them any provision, nor do I want them to feed Me. Indeed, it is Allah who is the [continual] Provider, the firm possessor of strength” (al-Dhariyat 51:56-58).
This worship is not rituals cut off from life; rather it is a constant journey to Allah, as He, Mighty and Majestic, said:
“O mankind, indeed you are laboring toward your Lord with [great] exertion and will meet it. Then as for he who is given his record in his right hand, he will be judged with an easy account and return to his people in happiness. But as for he who is given his record behind his back, he will cry out for destruction and [enter to] burn in a Blaze. Indeed, he had [once] been among his people in happiness; indeed, he had thought he would never return [to Allah]. But yes! Indeed, his Lord was ever of him, Seeing” (al-Inshiqaq 84:6-15).
Whoever reflects on this meaning knows that this world is not an abode of settlement but a stage of testing, and that what counts is not the length of the journey but a good ending and soundness of heart, as He, Glorified is He, said:
“The Day when there will not benefit [anyone] wealth or children, but only one who comes to Allah with a sound heart” (al-Shu’ara’ 26:88-89).
The Station of Wakefulness and Self-Accountability
The first of the stations of those journeying to Allah is wakefulness: the heart’s awakening from the sleep of heedlessness and its sensing of the reality of the reckoning. The Exalted said:
“O you who have believed, fear Allah. And let every soul look to what it has put forth for tomorrow, and fear Allah. Indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what you do. And be not like those who forgot Allah, so He made them forget themselves. Those are the defiantly disobedient. Not equal are the companions of the Fire and the companions of Paradise. The companions of Paradise, they are the attainers [of success]” (al-Hashr 59:18-20).
The truthful believer does not live on justification, nor does he rest on mere good assumption; rather he reviews himself and weighs his deeds. If he finds good, he praises Allah and asks Him for steadfastness; and if he finds shortcoming, he hastens to return and turn back, in confirmation of the saying of the Exalted:
“So flee to Allah” (al-Dhariyat 51:50).
Yet what is painful is that many people, except those on whom Allah has mercy, flee from Allah through disobedience instead of fleeing to Him through obedience.
Repentance Is a Necessity, Not an Option
If wakefulness is genuine, it necessarily leads to repentance, because the servant is never free of shortcoming. He, Glorified is He, said:
“And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed” (al-Nur 24:31).
Repentance covers shirk, both open and hidden; hypocrisy, both in belief and in practice; major sins and minor sins; and shortcoming in obligations.
Among the profound indications of the importance of this meaning is that seeking forgiveness was legislated right after the greatest acts of obedience, such as prayer, as an acknowledgment of shortcoming and a confession of the servant’s inability to fulfill Allah’s right in the manner befitting His majesty.
Faith Between Word and Deed
Among the most dangerous intellectual deviations in the reality of Muslims is the separation between word and deed, or the assumption that deeds are not part of the reality of faith.
What is correct, as the texts indicate and as the Salaf agreed, is that faith is word and deed: the word of the heart and the tongue, and the action of the heart and the limbs; it increases with obedience and decreases with disobedience.
The Exalted said:
“Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds, they will have the Gardens of Paradise as a lodging, wherein they abide eternally. They will not desire from it any transfer” (al-Kahf 18:107-108).
Mere claims are not enough. True love for Allah and His Messenger ﷺ has practical signs, just as claiming love without any effect on conduct is a kind of contradiction; and Allah, Glorified is He, is more deserving that one’s word to Him be confirmed by deeds.
Being Deluded by the Vastness of Mercy, and the Danger of Minor Sins
Among the devil’s deceptions of people is clinging to the verses of hope while neglecting the verses of warning, even though Allah the Exalted joined the two in many places. He said:
“[O Muhammad], inform My servants that it is I who am the Forgiving, the Merciful. And that it is My punishment which is the painful punishment” (al-Hijr 15:49-50).
Likewise, taking minor sins lightly is a great danger; for sins, even if small, when they accumulate, corrupt the heart until it is sealed.
The Effect of Minor Sins Combined With Persistence
If a person held a pin and began pricking a living body with light, successive pricks, the first prick would not kill, nor the second, nor the third; but with many pricks and continued repetition, one of them may strike a fatal spot, and the body perishes, not because of the greatness of the tool, but because of the accumulation of the effect.
Such is the case of minor sins. A single sin may be forgiven, but persisting in it, taking it lightly, and following it with more without repentance may bring about hardness of heart and weaken the light of faith, until the servant reaches, without realizing it, a state in which he no longer notices sin at all.
The Prophet ﷺ said:
“When the servant commits a sin, a black spot is placed on his heart. If he desists, seeks forgiveness, and repents, his heart is polished. But if he returns, it is increased until it covers his heart. That is the ran (stain) that Allah mentioned: ‘No! Rather, the stain has covered their hearts of that which they were earning’.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi (3334).
That is why one of the Salaf said: Do not look at the smallness of the sin, but look at the greatness of the One you have disobeyed.
The Difference Between Ignorance and Turning Away
Among the subtle issues in which confusion is common is the difference between ignorance and turning away.
The ignorant person is one who exerted his effort, asked, and searched for the truth, yet his knowledge fell short despite that.
As for the one who turns away, the means were available to him and the proof reached him, but he turned away by his own will.
For this reason, one who turns away from learning what he cannot be excused for not knowing is not excused, as many texts indicate. Among them:
The story of the man who prayed badly, who was not excused for his ignorance after the explanation; and the consensus of the scholars that the Hajj of one who has intercourse with his wife before the major release from ihram is invalid, because he neglected to learn what was binding on him.
The Road and the Traffic
If a state set up a clear system to regulate traffic, announced its laws, published its regulations, and put guiding signs on the roads, and then a man drove his car at excessive speed, paying no attention to the signs or the warnings, nor to people alerting him, until the enforcement authority stopped him and he was penalized, and then he said, “I did not know,” no attention would be paid to his claim; because the law is announced, the signs are clear, the ability to learn is available, and the matter is widespread among those around him.
This example sheds light on the state of many people regarding the religion of Allah. Allah has granted them hearing, sight, and reason; He sent down His Books to them, sent His Messengers among them, established the rites of Islam in their lands, and made knowledge and its people easy for them to reach. Then some of them turn away from learning what Allah has made obligatory on them, and afterwards plead ignorance; and that is a plea that holds up neither in the Shari’ah nor in reason.
The Exalted said:
“And who is more unjust than one who is reminded of the verses of his Lord; then he turns away from them? Indeed We, from the criminals, will take retribution” (al-Sajdah 32:22),
and He, Glorified is He, said:
“And who is more unjust than one who is reminded of the verses of his Lord but turns away from them and forgets what his hands have put forth? Indeed, We have placed over their hearts coverings, lest they understand it, and in their ears deafness. And if you invite them to guidance, they will never be guided, then — ever. And your Lord is the Forgiving, full of mercy. If He were to impose blame upon them for what they earned, He would have hastened for them the punishment. Rather, for them is an appointment from which they will never find an escape” (al-Kahf 18:57-58).
So the problem, in many cases, is not the absence of knowledge but turning away from it.
Conclusion
The journey to Allah is a path with clear landmarks, but the great obstacle on it is not mere ignorance; it is heedlessness, procrastination, and turning away from learning and acting.
Whoever’s wakefulness is genuine, whose repentance is true, and whose outward and inward are upright, may hope to meet Allah with a sound heart, and that is the true triumph.
We ask Allah to return us to Him in a beautiful return, and to grant us sound hearts, righteous deeds, and good endings.