Be Ignited by the
Remembrance of God

A man of knowledge is one whose mind is ignited by the remembrance of God while that man is devoid of knowledge whose mind is ignited only by material factors.

Chapter 39 of the Quran states: “When man suffers some affliction, he prays to his Lord and turns to Him in penitence, but once he has been granted a favour from God, he forgets the One he had been praying to and sets up rivals to God, to make others stray from His path. Say, ‘Enjoy your unbelief for a little while: you will be one of the inmates of the Fire.’ Is he who prays devoutly to God in the hours of the night, prostrating himself and standing in prayer, who is ever mindful of the life to come and hopes for the mercy of his Lord [like one who does not]? Say, ‘Are those who know equal to those who do not know?’ Truly, only those endowed with understanding will take heed.” (39:8-9)

Every human being passes through times when he finds himself utterly helpless. At this juncture, he forgets everything and starts appealing to God. In this way, in times of helplessness, every person comes to know that there is nobody worth worshipping except the one and only God.

But, as soon as he is out of trouble, he resorts to his earlier ways. A human being only becomes more arrogant and starts attributing his relief from affliction to beings other than God. For some, it becomes the miracle of cause and effect, while for others it is a feat of supposed gods. If a person keeps quiet after making a mistake, it involves the misguidance of only one individual. But, if he starts giving false explanations in order to justify his mistakes, he becomes one who misleads others.

There are two types of people: those who make material interest their supreme concern; others who make God their supreme concern. It is this second type of individual who is a person of God. His realization of God is his conscious discovery. He discovers God as the most Majestic and Supreme Being, so much so, that all his hopes and all his fears are linked to that one and only Being. His restlessness keeps him out of bed at night. His loneliness is not that which is born out of unawareness, but the loneliness of the remembrance of God.

A person of knowledge is one whose mind is ignited by the remembrance of God, and that person is devoid of knowledge whose mind is ignited only by material factors. He is awakened only by material shocks and thereafter is lost, deep in slumber.