WHY DO YOU DECEIVE YOURSELF?

Please stop sending this to sci.anthropology.paleo.

Thanks a lot.

________

Op 26-10-2008 18:05, in artikel
, Hamady
schreef:

http://www.harunyahya.com/books/fait...f/deceive1.php
Remembering the Purpose of Creation

If you are in the street, look around you. If you are at home, look
through the window. Think, too, about all the places on the face of
the Earth which you cannot see at this moment; the oceans, the lakes
and the mountains, the millions of people other than those you can see
and the millions of living creatures you never encounter in lifeŠ
Finally, leave the world and think about the universe, a boundless
space that accommodates hundreds of millions of galaxies with hundreds
of millions of stars, planets, comets and a great many more celestial
bodiesŠ

Now listen to your conscience sincerely and think. Why and how do all
these creatures and things exist? Living and non-living alike, how do
they carry on a harmonious existence together within such a flawless
system? What is the divine purpose behind this magnificence in the
universe and the superior characteristics which living things -
especially human beings - possess? What are all these things,
particularly man, the only being with consciousness on the face of the
Earth, doing in the world?

We are told the true purpose of creation in the Qur'an which Allah
sent down as a guide to His servants. This purpose is to serve our
Lord Who created us and allows us to live. Allah describes this
purpose in a verse of the Qur'an as follows:

Š I only created jinn and man to worship Me. (Surat adh-Dhariyat: 56)

So the world with all the features described above, and its seas,
lakes, oceans, flowers, trees, mountains and living things, is an
environment specially created by Allah to test whether or not people
fulfill this obligation. The universe and all the systems in it,
stars, planets and other celestial bodies, have been created so that
people may see the greatness and boundless mercy of our Lord and
praise His power. In the same way, each of the events which a person
experiences in life and all the places in which he finds himself are
parts of the test which he undergoes in the world. Allah informs us in
the following verse of the Qur'an that the purpose of creation and
placing people in the world is to test them:

We created man from a mingled drop to test him, and We made him
hearing and seeing. (Surat al-Insan: 2)

In this testing environment, a person is responsible for considering
Allah's instructions and prohibitions at every moment and acting in
such a way as to earn His approval. We are told in the Qur'an that
people who reject or evade this responsibility will be repaid for
eternity with the torment of Hell because of their enormous
ingratitude for all the blessings Allah provides.

In spite of this most people are strangely insensitive. Forgetting the
true purpose of their lives, they find different priorities for
themselves and adopt different aims. They struggle for months, even
years, for worldly purposes but they do not even want to think about
their responsibilities to Allah. They never consider the possibility
that the consequence in the Hereafter for irresponsibility in this
world is Hell. However, there is not a single person on the face of
the Earth who can claim to be unaware of these truths. Allah has shown
them to people in every age from that of Prophet Adam (as) onwards. He
has sent down the Book that announces Him and teaches how He should be
followed and He has sent His prophets. After all this, people cannot
plead ignorance. A verse of the Qur'an reminds us of this truth:

Messengers bringing good news and giving warning, so that people will
have no argument against Allah after the coming of the messengers.
Allah is Almighty, All-Wise. (Surat an-Nisa': 165)

The prophets sent by Allah, the books He has sent down and likewise
the advice given to people by the believers are all vehicles for this
teaching. Throughout history a great many believers have invited
others to join the religion of Allah and have warned them about the
Day of Judgment by pointing out the existence of Paradise and Hell.

Aside from these, let us suppose that a person says that he has never
heard anything about the true purpose of life, has never been advised
of this by anybody and has never read Allah's Book. As we stated at
the outset, by thinking about creation and the flawless systems around
him, such a person can still realize that these were brought into
being by an infinitely powerful Creator for a definite purpose. As a
living being who was himself created, he can understand his
responsibilities towards our Creator because Allah created people with
a conscience which tells them what is right and true. People who
evaluate what is around them by listening to the voice of their
conscience, can arrive at these truths. A story we are told in the
Qur'an about Prophet Ibrahim (as) is an outstanding and enlightening
example:

Because of that We showed Ibrahim the dominions of the heavens and the
Earth so that he might be one of the people of certainty. When night
covered him he saw a star and said, "This is my Lord!" Then when it
set he said, "I do not love what sets." Then when he saw the Moon come
up he said, "This is my Lord!" Then when it set he said, "If my Lord
does not guide me, I will be one of the misguided people." Then when
he saw the Sun come up he said, "This is my Lord! This is greater!"
Then when it set he said, "My people, I am free of what you associate
with Allah! I have turned my face to Him Who brought the heavens and
Earth into being, a pure natural believer. I am not one of the
idolaters." (Surat al-An'am: 75-79)

As we can see in the above story, Prophet Ibrahim (as) realized the
existence of Allah, the Creator of the heavens and the Earth, and
understood the need to serve Him solely by listening to his
conscience. We understand from this example that looking at their
surroundings through the eyes of the conscience is enough for people
to understand their need to serve Allah. However, in spite of this,
Allah in His goodness has provided people by various means with
detailed information about the purpose of their existence and how they
should serve Him. Without doubt this is a sign of Allah's boundless
mercy and compassion towards humanity, and a manifestation of His
name, Al-Hadi, the Guide showing people the true path. In the world,
Allah uses many methods of pointing this out to people and also gives
them time to understand these signs.

Despite all this, people, who fail to evaluate with open consciences
the signs and the manifest truths they see, make up the majority in
the world. Such people exhibit behavior which is completely heedless
of these truths even though this behavior will cause them harm in
their eternal lives in the Hereafter.

Look around you once again. Children, teenagers, men, women, old
people; most of them are going about their daily business as if they
will never be faced with death and the Day of Judgment. One is trying
to catch the school bus, another is hurrying towards his car to avoid
being late for work. One is busy shopping for guests who will arrive
in the evening, another making preparations for the arrival of the
grandchild who will be born in a few weeks. Of course, these are
things that everybody experiences in the normal course of daily life.
Obviously they are all extremely commonplace. The problem is that
people live through them in a completely heedless mental state and do
not stop to think that Allah is with them, that death is coming
quickly and that in the presence of Allah they will be called to
account for the years during which they forgot our Lord.

So how can people be so blind to these blatant truths in spite of the
countless signs of Allah's existence and the many signs of their
impotence in His presence? How can they close their eyes to the truth
like ostriches burying their heads in the sand - especially when they
will be afflicted with the harm this behavior causes?

Without any doubt this happens with most people not because they
cannot understand what they should do, but because they deceive
themselves even though their consciences can see what is right. We are
using the word "deception" because, as we have said, on this matter
these people do not have a problem of ignorance or inability to
understand. The problem is the level of commitment of these people to
worldly life and their failure to approach realities honestly because
of secret or open rejection of the Hereafter. Allah tells us in the
Qur'an about the existence of such people as follows:

I will divert from My signs all those who are arrogant in the Earth
without any right. If they see every sign, they will not believe in
it. If they see the way of right guidance, they will not take it as a
way. But if they see the way of error, they will take that as a way.
That is because they denied Our signs and paid no attention to them.
As for those who denied Our signs and the encounter of the Hereafter,
their actions will come to nothing. Will they be repaid except for
what they did? (Surat al-A'raf: 146-147)

Those who prefer the life of this world to the Hereafter, and bar
access to the way of Allah, seeking in it something crooked; they are
greatly misguided. (Surah Ibrahim: 3)

In another verse, Allah speaks of the heedless spiritual state into
which these people plunge themselves by deceiving themselves and
closing their eyes to the truth:

Mankind's reckoning has drawn very close to them, yet they heedlessly
turn away. (Surat al-Anbiya': 1)

It is blatantly obvious that a person will be faced with the Day of
Judgment and called to account for his actions during his life in the
world. Remaining completely heedless and making no attempt to escape
from this heedless attitude is the greatest senselessness and the most
unscrupulous behavior. It is Allah's will that in the Hereafter this
behavior will be justly repaid. Our Prophet (saas) also reminded
people of the existence and nearness of the Hereafter in these words:

Paradise is nearer to any of you than the strap of his shoe, and so is
the [Hell] Fire. (Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Volume 1, Number 387; Imam Ibn
Kathir, The Life of This World Is Fleeting Enjoyment)

If you do not wish to cause yourself eternal remorse for which there
is no comfort, be careful. Do not deceive yourself by devoting
yourself to worldly aims. The real purpose of your presence in the
world is not for you to have a successful career or become rich or
establish a happy home or have children. None of these is the real
reason for your existence. Your greatest purpose is to serve Allah and
earn His approval, His mercy and entry into His Paradise. Naturally,
during their life in the world people may be successful in business,
rise to a superior position, marry and have children and
grandchildren, or make an effort to accomplish these things, but only
on condition that they do not make them the sole aim of their lives in
the world, and that they are seeking Allah's approval at the same
time. A person who does otherwise will find at his death that
everything else loses its meaning and he will realize that serving
Allah is the only thing that is really important. Allah relates in a
verse of the Qur'an:

It is not your wealth or your children that will bring you near to Us
- only in the case of people who believe and act rightly; such people
will have a double recompense for what they did. They will be safe
from all harm in the high halls of Paradise. (Surah Saba': 37)

In other verses, Allah speaks of the situation of people who deceive
themselves in the life of this world with property and opportunities,
and forget the purpose of creation and who, as a result, are liable to
great suffering in the Hereafter:

[He will say:] "If only death had really been the end! My wealth has
been of no use to me. My power has vanished." "Seize him and truss him
up. Then roast him in the Blazing Fire." (Surat al-Haqqa: 27-31)