Monday, 11 May 2026 (24 Dhuʻl-Qiʻdah 1447 AH)
Question: How does Islam rule concerning one who was born, grew up, and then died in some corner of the earth, far away from the call of the Messengers – one who, throughout his life, never heard any mention of them, and to whom their news and call were never conveyed? Is he judged to abide eternally in the Fire like the rest of the disbelievers, or does he have a different ruling from theirs?
Answer – and Allah is the One who grants success and help: Allah, exalted is He, created the human being and granted him hearing, sight, and a heart (fuʾād). The nature of hearing is the perception of audible things and distinguishing them; the nature of sight is the seeing of visible things and distinguishing them; and the nature of the fuʾād is to think, reflect, feel amazement, reject, approve, find good and find evil, and so on.
Thus, the fuʾād, by its very nature, constantly reflects upon what it sees and hears: “From where did it come? How did it come? Who brought it into being? Where is it going?” and so on; and it does not come to rest until it reaches the truth.
This reflection begins in the human being from the time he becomes discerning – and this is what practically every person finds in himself in his childhood.
On the basis of what we have mentioned, the proof of Allah, exalted is He, stands against this person who is far from the call of the Messengers, by virtue of what Allah has placed in him of hearing, sight, and a fuʾād which drive him towards knowledge of Allah, driving him in such a way that he does not need to force himself to engage in reflection; rather, reflection and thinking come to him spontaneously.
If this far-off person responds to what the natural disposition of the intellect drives him to, and affirms it – so that he believes in the great, all-knowing, all-wise Creator – then he is not judged by the rulings of the disbelievers; rather, he is judged to be saved from the Fire, for Allah does not burden a soul beyond its capacity.
But if he does not respond – instead deceiving himself and opposing his intellect and the natural disposition upon which Allah has created people – then he is among the disbelievers, and is judged by their rulings.
Furthermore, the proof for what we have mentioned, namely that reflection and thinking come spontaneously without affectation, is His saying, exalted is He: “We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth.” [Fussilat:53] and His saying, exalted is He: “Have those who disbelieved not considered that the heavens and the earth were a joined entity, and We separated them and made from water every living thing? Then will they not believe?” [Al-Anbiyāʾ:30] and His saying, exalted is He: “Have We not made the earth a container of the living and the dead?” [Al-Mursalāt:25–26] and the like of that is plentiful in the Qur’an.
If it is said: If the matter were as you have mentioned, Allah, exalted is He, would not have commanded (people) to reflect, as in His saying,: “Say, ‘Observe what is in the heavens and earth.” [Yūnus:101]
We say: That comes by way of reinforcing and strengthening what is already settled in the natural disposition of the intellect. Hence, in many places in the Qur’an there comes (the expression): “Will you not then take heed?” – indicating the existence of the innate proof within the intellects, and that they need, in order to believe in Allah, only to turn back in remembrance to what is already settled in their minds of affirmation and knowledge.
Yes, what we have mentioned of reflection and thinking is the initial reflection which leads to faith in Allah and belief in Him. After that, reflection may become obligatory – and that is in order to remove doubts and misgivings, or to increase one’s knowledge of Allah and to strengthen one’s belief in Him.
Moreover, Allah, exalted is He, has encouraged His remembrance in an unrestricted way, saying: “O you who have believed, remember Allah with much remembrance, and exalt Him morning and afternoon.” [Al-Aḥzāb:41–42] The prayer is remembrance; recitation of the Qur’an is remembrance; and so on.
If it is said: What is the meaning of the report which states: “There is no worship like reflection”?
We say: The reflection intended in this report is:
1. Reflection upon created things, because of what that leads to of feeling the greatness, power, majesty, and awe of Allah.
2. Reflection upon the blessings with which Allah has favoured the human being – both great and small, outward and inward – and listing them and thinking about how many they are, because of what that leads to of thanking and praising Allah, exalted is He.
3. Reflection upon sins and their abundance; reflection upon one’s negligence in obeying Allah; negligence in remembering Him; little thankfulness to Him; the forbearance of Allah, exalted is He, toward him; reflection upon how frequently he forgets and is heedless of feeling the greatness and majesty of Allah; reflection upon how little awe he has of Allah – all because of what that leads to of repentance and seeking forgiveness.
4. Reflection upon the extreme weakness of the human being; upon his poverty, need, and dependence; that he has no power and no strength except through Allah; that he does not possess for himself harm nor benefit; that he is not independent of Allah for even the blink of an eye; and that he is in extreme need and distress before his Lord, and so on – all of that so that he may rely in all of his affairs upon his Lord, and ask Him and call upon Him with the supplication of one in dire need.
5. Reflection upon the condition of the human being in this world – weakness and strength, poverty and wealth, health and sickness, death and life, and so on – because of what that leads to of safety from being deluded by this world and trusting in it, and so that he may beware of being deluded and of the outcome of those deluded by it.
6. Reflection upon the inevitable end: death, the reckoning, Paradise, and Hellfire – because of what that leads to of less attachment to this world and its adornment, of less greed and covetousness for it, and also of strengthening the motive toward acts of obedience and strengthening what diverts one from desires, and so on.
And [it includes] other kinds of reflection which call to magnifying and exalting Allah, declaring Him holy, praising Him, proclaiming His greatness, affirming His Oneness, obeying Him, and so forth.
Because of the benefits that we have mentioned which result from reflection, it was given that exalted rank above the rest of the acts of worship, and rightly so; for through it the doors of all good things are opened – it is their foundation and their source.
Source: Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.3