Revolution in One’s Thinking

The life of this world is a life of test. Here, no law or court can compel human beings to always behave properly. There is only one thing that can keep a person on the right path—and that is, the awareness that in no circumstances can he be exempted from appearing before God, the Lord of the worlds, after death and giving a complete account of his actions. There is just no way we can hide from God. We cannot invent a device that can form a veil between us and God.

If an individual truly develops this consciousness, there will be a complete revolution in his personality. His daily activities and his lifestyle will totally change, as will his concepts of good and evil and his way of forming opinions. His whole life will become a God-oriented one. Consciousness of having to answer God in the Hereafter will completely take over his way of thinking.

This revolution in consciousness is called tazkiya (‘purification’) in the Quran and Sunnah. Thinking based on tazkiya will lead to the emergence of a new personality, characterized by both love for God and fear of God. In contrast to the world before death, success in the world after death will become one’s greatest concern. As a consequence of this transformation in his thinking, his intellectual stagnation will end and he will grow in creative thinking. The whole universe will become a source of intellectual nourishment for him. He will feel as if he has acquired the company of angels.