God’s Voice

When your Lord brought forth descendants from the loins of Adam’s children, and made them testify against themselves, (He said): ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They replied: ‘We bear witness that You are.’ (This He did) lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection: ‘We had no knowledge of that,’ or: ‘Our forefathers set up partners with God; but will You destroy us, their descendants, on account of what the followers of falsehood did?’

Thus We make plain Our revelations so that they may return to the right path.

(The Quran 7:172-174)

This explains how the Lord and Creator instilled conscience into human nature in such an indelible way that it became the prime indicator of man’s humanity. Whenever a moral issue comes before an individual, it is his conscience which gives him a clear indication of what is right and what is wrong. (In our times, the experiences of the USSR in one respect and of Turkey in another are proofs that even a totally adverse, anti-religious atmosphere has failed to change conscience-based human values.)

Unlike the animals who, in the absence of conscience, are destined to follow their instincts, man has the power to obey or to disregard the inner voice of his conscience. He is completely free to choose his course of action, to indulge in whatever activities he pleases. It is on this point that man is being tested—his correctness of choice. On these hinges the verdict of heaven for one, hell for another. One who pays heed to the voice of God—whether we call it conscience or the silent language of nature—has passed this test. The doors of heaven will be opened to him after death.

The voice of nature is God’s directive to everyone. Neither can one have the pretext of being ignorant of the truth, nor can one put forward the plea that whatever one does is in continuance of the practices of one’s forefathers. Since consciousness of God is inborn and an inseparable part of human nature, no one—whatever the circumstances—has any excuse for straying from the right path.