The Danger of Hell
The Quran (95: 4-6) tells us: “We have indeed created man in the best of mould, then We cast him down as the lowest of the low, except for those who believe and do good deeds—theirs shall be an unending reward!”
God has made man with a heavenly psyche. Then, He placed him in this world, where conditions are such that they stir a hellish psyche in people. Now, he who, while living amidst ‘the lowest of the low’, takes himself to the level of ‘the best of mould’ (or, in other words, who reawakens the heavenly psyche that is hidden deep within him amidst the hellish environment in which he finds himself) will be blessed by God after death. All other people will be left to suffer the punishment of Hellfire.
This world is a testing-ground. That is why it has been made in such a way that conditions repeatedly arise which serve as a test or trial for people. Here, one is faced with issues of profit and loss, and situations that stoke emotions such as greed and selfishness. There are superficial attractions here that attract people towards lust, addiction and worldly delight. Here people compete with each other, leading to selfishness and egotism. Here there are constant clashes of interest, which stir emotions such as anger, hatred and depravity.
This is ‘the lowest of the low’ of this world. The task before man is to lift himself above this and take himself to the level of ‘the best of mould’—which, in terms of his very birth, is his real or authentic level.
Whether a fruit is good or bad can be decided when it is cut open and its inside is seen. The same is true with man. Someone has a heavenly psyche, while someone else’s psyche is hellish. This reality of people can be discovered when they are ‘cut open’—when they are faced with difficult or unfavourable situations, which is when their real or inner reality is expressed. The way people react at such times indicates what their mindset is—heavenly or hellish. When people start fighting over money and property, when people who think differently start quarreling about their respective views, when people start squabbling over a post that they each want to grab—these are the sorts of occasions when their reality can be discovered. On such occasions, if people express hatred, selfishness, injustice and egotism, they prove by their actions that their mindset is hellish and that they are neighbours of the devil. On the other hand, people who respond in such situations with love, unselfishness, justice, and humility prove that their mindset is heavenly and that they are close to God and the angels.
He who is a neighbour of the devil in this world will be so in the Hereafter, as well. He who lives in this world in the neighbourhood of God and angels, will live in the same way in the Hereafter as well.
