How do a believer and an unbeliever see the world?
The world is viewed through two glasses. One is the glasses of belief and the other is the glasses of denial.
A person who looks at the universe through the glasses of denial, that is, through the glasses of unbelief, which does not accept the existence of a Creator sees everything in the universe as unattended, unplanned, ownerless and purposeless. He does not and cannot know why the beings were created and what their duties are just like a person who is left on a mountain in the darkness at night who mistakes whatever he sees for a snake or a monster and who does not understand what the duties of these beings are and what they are really like.
All of his aim and purposes is the world life. He does not know any other life than life in this world. Therefore, he wants to satisfy all of his feelings in this world.
However, the feelings in man were given to him according to the realm in the hereafter. Each feeling is infinite. It is not possible to satisfy these feelings in this world. For instance, the desire to live eternally and the desire to have a lot of property are infinite. The feelings like love and compassion are infinite. We do not say, “I love this amount of people. There is no place to love anybody else in my heart.” Even if we love everybody, the capacity of this feeling does not fill.
Even if a person who looks at the world through the glasses of unbelief sees so many creatures with meaning, wisdom and purpose, he cannot understand them. For such a person, the people in the past passed away and disappeared. The people in the future will also disappear and decay. Therefore, he sees himself between two graves and as a being that will decay and disappear soon. Such a person cannot receive any pleasure and taste from the world due to fear of death just like a person sentenced to death waiting to be executed.
A person who looks at the universe through the glasses of denial relies on his own mind and compares everything to his own self as if his mind was appointed as the engineer of the universe; he objects to the richness of the rich and the poverty of the poor. He opposes when he is not given the best opportunities and facilities.
In the Quran, the richness of Qarun (Croesus) is narrated, which will shed light on the issue. Qarun is so rich that he cannot carry the keys to his treasures on his own. The people around him look at his wealth and say, “We wish we had such wealth.” However, Qarun does not fulfill his responsibility of being rich and does not pay zakah, which is the right of the poor, and does not pay the wages of his workers fully. He claims that he has earned his wealth through his knowledge.
When Allah buried him under the ground together with his wealth, the people who had wanted to be like him said, “Thanks, Allah that He has not given us such wealth. We do not want to be in place of Qarun.”
A person who regards his mind as the engineer who to determine the shape of the universe and who feels enmity against Allah because he has not been given certain things should not overlook these stories narrated in the Quran. He should be happy not sorry because he has not been given the things whose responsibilities he will not be able to fulfill. For, Allah tells us that everybody will be accounted for every bounty that he has, even the water one drinks and the air he breathes in.
A person who looks at the universe through the glasses of belief sees this realm as a great guesthouse and palace decorated with roses and basils where all kinds of bounties and food are granted. He feels great gratitude toward his Creator, who transformed him from shape to shape beginning from the time he was in the uterus, who created him as a human being not as a stone, plant or animal, who equipped him with faculties like mind, imagination and memory and who presented all of the living and non-living beings in the universe to him.
When he looks at the past, he understands that the journey that started with his ancestors Hz. Adam and Hz. Hawwa (Eve) will end in Paradise, that he will be together with all of his beloved people and relatives there eternally and that he will be treated all kinds of bounties by his Creator endlessly. He understands that the world is not the main destination but that it is a waiting room and a test center on the way to the hereafter.
He knows that the misfortunes like diseases and earthquakes are a necessity of testing and thanks by showing patience and thinking that the troubles and problems he suffers here will gain him rewards in the hereafter.
When he is faced with events whose real meaning he cannot understands he speaks like Ibrahim Haqqi who says,
A person who looks at the universe through the glasses of denial, that is, through the glasses of unbelief, which does not accept the existence of a Creator sees everything in the universe as unattended, unplanned, ownerless and purposeless. He does not and cannot know why the beings were created and what their duties are just like a person who is left on a mountain in the darkness at night who mistakes whatever he sees for a snake or a monster and who does not understand what the duties of these beings are and what they are really like.
All of his aim and purposes is the world life. He does not know any other life than life in this world. Therefore, he wants to satisfy all of his feelings in this world.
However, the feelings in man were given to him according to the realm in the hereafter. Each feeling is infinite. It is not possible to satisfy these feelings in this world. For instance, the desire to live eternally and the desire to have a lot of property are infinite. The feelings like love and compassion are infinite. We do not say, “I love this amount of people. There is no place to love anybody else in my heart.” Even if we love everybody, the capacity of this feeling does not fill.
Even if a person who looks at the world through the glasses of unbelief sees so many creatures with meaning, wisdom and purpose, he cannot understand them. For such a person, the people in the past passed away and disappeared. The people in the future will also disappear and decay. Therefore, he sees himself between two graves and as a being that will decay and disappear soon. Such a person cannot receive any pleasure and taste from the world due to fear of death just like a person sentenced to death waiting to be executed.
A person who looks at the universe through the glasses of denial relies on his own mind and compares everything to his own self as if his mind was appointed as the engineer of the universe; he objects to the richness of the rich and the poverty of the poor. He opposes when he is not given the best opportunities and facilities.
In the Quran, the richness of Qarun (Croesus) is narrated, which will shed light on the issue. Qarun is so rich that he cannot carry the keys to his treasures on his own. The people around him look at his wealth and say, “We wish we had such wealth.” However, Qarun does not fulfill his responsibility of being rich and does not pay zakah, which is the right of the poor, and does not pay the wages of his workers fully. He claims that he has earned his wealth through his knowledge.
When Allah buried him under the ground together with his wealth, the people who had wanted to be like him said, “Thanks, Allah that He has not given us such wealth. We do not want to be in place of Qarun.”
A person who regards his mind as the engineer who to determine the shape of the universe and who feels enmity against Allah because he has not been given certain things should not overlook these stories narrated in the Quran. He should be happy not sorry because he has not been given the things whose responsibilities he will not be able to fulfill. For, Allah tells us that everybody will be accounted for every bounty that he has, even the water one drinks and the air he breathes in.
A person who looks at the universe through the glasses of belief sees this realm as a great guesthouse and palace decorated with roses and basils where all kinds of bounties and food are granted. He feels great gratitude toward his Creator, who transformed him from shape to shape beginning from the time he was in the uterus, who created him as a human being not as a stone, plant or animal, who equipped him with faculties like mind, imagination and memory and who presented all of the living and non-living beings in the universe to him.
When he looks at the past, he understands that the journey that started with his ancestors Hz. Adam and Hz. Hawwa (Eve) will end in Paradise, that he will be together with all of his beloved people and relatives there eternally and that he will be treated all kinds of bounties by his Creator endlessly. He understands that the world is not the main destination but that it is a waiting room and a test center on the way to the hereafter.
He knows that the misfortunes like diseases and earthquakes are a necessity of testing and thanks by showing patience and thinking that the troubles and problems he suffers here will gain him rewards in the hereafter.
When he is faced with events whose real meaning he cannot understands he speaks like Ibrahim Haqqi who says,
"God transforms evil to good, (That is, there is definitely something good behind everything that we see as bad or evil. Allah makes what seems evil good for us.)
Do not think He does something else, (That is, there are goodness and beauty in everything that Allah creates. What is created is nothing but goodness.)
The clever person watches it, (The clever person, that is, the person who has knowledge only watches it. He does not try to object to things whose reasons and meanings he does not understand.)
Let us see what God will do,
Whatever He does, He does well.
Do not say why is this so,
It is as it should be,
Show patience and watch the end,
Let us see what God will do,
It is as it should be,
Show patience and watch the end,
Let us see what God will do,
Whatever He does, He does well.”
Even if his mind cannot comprehend, he knows that Allah does everything in the best way.
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