Maulana Wahiduddin Khan | The Sunday Guardian | November 15, 2015The Prophet said: "I have never seen anything more strange than people sleeping, while they should have been running away as fast as they could from hell fire. I have never seen anything more strange than people asleep while they should have been running as fast as possible towards heaven." How dreadful the punishment of hell and how ignorant man is of this reality! How wonderful are the delights of heaven and how strange not to be eager to attain them. Surely this is the strangest thing in the whole world. These people who are asleep will be awakened to the reality of life only after death. [Highlight1] Today people are lost in the world, leading their lives as if there were no superior power above themselves, although every day death comes to announce that man is confronted with a reality which is beyond his control. How helpless is man, yet how powerful he imagines himself to be. Man breaks his promises; he does not pay people their due; he does not bow to the truth; he accuses others but fails to admit his own mistakes; he turns away from the weak and hails the strong; he bases his life on his desires rather than on principles; he persecutes the downtrodden and cowers before the mighty; he concentrates on himself rather than on God. Fear of hell and the desire for heaven do not dominate his life; he is guided by worldly apprehensions and desires alone. Man continues in his evil ways and forgets that in doing so, he is removing himself further from paradise and drawing closer to hell. This is the tragedy of man; he does not care for that which he should most desire and does not fear that which should strike terror in his heart.
Related Articles
Article
Sunday Guardian | March 10, 2024
During the final days of the Prophet Muhammad, two Arabs, Musaylema ibn Hubayb of Yamama and Aswad ibn Kaab Ansi of Sana‘a claimed Prophethood. Musaylema sent a letter to the Prophet in…
Article
In the early years of the Prophet Muhammad's mission, a man who had come to Makkah on a pilgrimage was asked on his return to his country what was new in Makkah. "Muhammad has claimed prophethood," he answered, but the…
Article
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan | Speaking Tree website | Sep 4, 2017When the Prophet emigrated from Mecca, the keys of the Ka'aba were with Uthman Ibn Talha. They had been in his family since ancient times. Before the…
Article
Umar Accepts Islam | TOI | The Speaking Tree | 18.9.20111-Umar bin-Khattab was an important man in Makkah. He was very rich. He was brave. But he was also stubborn. Umar refused to accept Islam. He troubled the Muslims…
Article
Prophet Said be Realistic | Maria Khan | TOI | September 9, 2010The Prophet's Mecca strategy was based on realism. Realism is an essential part of the teachings of Islam.When the Prophet of Islam started his mission in…
Article
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan | The Sunday Guardian | Jul 07, 2019Abdullah ibn Umar tells of how the Prophet once took him by the shoulders and said: "Live in this world as though you were a wayfarer." Of our passage through…