The concept of a living and powerful God is necessarily accompanied by the concept of accountability. And the concept of accountability guarantees right thinking and right actions on the part of man. It makes man cautious by reminding him of God's chastisement. Moreover, this gives him the conviction of receiving God's reward if he adheres to the right path at all costs and in all situations. The concept of God provides man with an ideology in which loss is turned to gain and in which adversity brings with it good tidings. It is therefore submission to God that is the only way of life for both man and the universe.
Why have crimes increased these days? It is because people have no fear of punishment. The police will report the matter and the case will be heard in court. The court is full of lawyers. The most brilliant persons of our society become lawyers. If you have money in your pocket, you can pay the lawyer and he will bring up such points that even if the judge knows you have committed a crime, he won’t be able to punish you. The judge's hands are tied due to the legal points raised by the lawyer. When you commit a crime and if you are wealthy, you can hire a lawyer and nobody will be able to punish you. This is why, there are no punishments. There are numerous crimes happening, but no punishment. We are living in a society where there is crime all around but no one gets punishment.
Why? Because you can hire lawyers and use their minds. They will come up with such legal points that it would tie the hands of the judge. He wont be able to punish you. In earlier times, people had fear of God. They knew they had to show their face to God. Even if we are acquitted by the court, we cannot save ourselves from God's punishment. Once a case was brought before the Prophet. Two people were claiming a land without evidence. There used to be no papers as evidence in earlier times. There used to be no evidence. Verdict was given based on people's claims. The Prophet told them that he had to decide based on their claims. If one of them presented his case very effectively and I made the decision in his favour even if the land was not his, then what would happen?
That piece of land would become a fire brand for him. قِطْعَةً مِنَ النَّارِ (Musnad Ahmad 26717) If I give you the land by listening to your claim even though the land is not yours, then I gave you a fire brand. Listening to this, both became fearful. They realized the issue was not about the arguments they gave, rather it was about God's judgment. If I show by my argument that I am the owner of this land, God's knows full well that I am not the owner. I can’t save myself before God. My arguments will not work. The matter will ultimately go before God Almighty. Both the men then said: حَقِّي لِأَخِي Although the land is mine, I give it to my companion. This is how earlier times had been working for since several centuries. People feared God. They feared God's judgment. They feared that they would have to go to Hell if they did wrong. This was a God-based culture and God-based thinking. Now God has been removed from people's thought process. Every person now thinks that he is not accountable before anyone. The sense of accountability has gone.
