Are Our Eyes Open but Our Hearts Asleep? Guidance and Will in Surah Al-A‘raf

1 February 2023

People see, hear, and think every day. They study for years and master their work. Yet they may fail to notice the greatest wrong in their own lives.

Question: Does having open eyes mean that we truly see reality?

The warnings beginning with verse 174 of Surah Al-A‘raf call us to reflect on the difference between hearing knowledge and living according to it.

Hearing a Verse and Learning from It

Verse 174 of Surah Al-A‘raf states that the verses are explained so that people may return to the truth. The following verses describe the example of a person who was given the verses yet turned away from them.

When this person followed their own desires, what they knew was not enough to keep them on the right path. The account emphasizes the gravity of being dragged along after one’s desires.

Question: Are we postponing a truth we know simply because it does not suit us?

A shopkeeper knows honesty matters. But faced with the possibility of high earnings, they may conceal a product’s defect.

A person reads the Qur’an but does not consider what they should do about injustice in their family. Another finds helping others admirable, yet constantly produces excuses when encountering someone in need.

In all of these there is knowledge, but behavior does not follow the same direction.

Instead of merely memorizing a verse, let us connect what it says with our own decision. Let us consider which habit in our lives is questioned by what we read.

Knowledge should be used to seek what is right, not to justify everything our self wants.

People may hear the verses yet keep them outside their lives. This is not limited to failing to read the Book; it also concerns reading and then abandoning the standard one knows at the point of wrongdoing.

When we encounter words that do not suit us, we may immediately seek another explanation. Yet we should first ask ourselves: Which outcome have I already chosen, so that I am now trying to make what I read fit it?

When we place our own expectation above the verse, understanding it becomes harder. Seeking what is right and merely finding a sentence supporting our own idea are not the same thing.

We can acknowledge that a person has knowledge. But let us not give up our right to question what they say and why. For knowledge to benefit us, we need to try to understand it.

What Are Our Desires Magnifying?

It is natural to want a home, work toward advancement in one’s job, or strive to provide for one’s family. But we may continually magnify a desire and tie our whole life to it.

A student thinks only of obtaining a diploma. They never question why they will practice their profession or whom they will benefit.

Upon hearing of a high salary, an employee may postpone considering the nature of the work, working conditions, and their own principles.

Someone else begins checking stock, gold, currency, and car prices every hour. Concern over earnings grows so much that they do not even make time to talk with their family.

Question: Which subject do we think about most throughout the day?

The things occupying our minds may also affect our choices over time. That is why we should question not only what we gain, but also what we push into the background to gain it.

A spouse, child, or job being valuable does not require making them life’s sole purpose.

When we lose moderation, we may experience unrest within that same blessing. Once we obtain what we want, we may then act out of fear of losing it.

Question: Do we want to have something, or do we think we cannot live without it?

To restore balance, we must recognize what we have exaggerated. Setting limits for ourselves does not mean belittling the blessing we have.

Sometimes we learn only about a car’s accelerator. We do not know how the steering wheel, brake, engine, and other parts affect one another.

We may be like this in a matter too. We memorize a word’s definition but cannot connect it with other responsibilities in our lives.

Let us try not to separate the Qur’an’s concepts from one another. Let us consider subjects such as faith, worship, charitable spending, patience, truth, and justice as a whole.

If people pay attention only to their own earnings, they may not see their neighbor’s trouble. If they focus only on worship’s outward form, they may disregard the wrongs in their relationships with people.

Question: What connections are we making between the truths we know?

Guidance and the Responsibility to Choose

Verse 178 of Surah Al-A‘raf reminds us that guidance belongs to Allah, and those who lose their way are at a loss. We need to consider this verse together with people’s choices.

Sometimes people postpone their own effort by saying, “After all, Allah will guide me if He wills.”

But we have been given reason. We can read, ask, and acquire new knowledge. When we recognize a mistake, we can change our direction.

Question: While saying we want the right path, what are we doing to learn and practice it?

A person may be afraid to ask questions about religion. They may have been told since childhood, “Do not investigate too much.”

Yet asking in order to learn what we do not understand does not mean immediately adopting a wrong idea.

We can compare translations of a verse, examine its context, and research a word we do not know. While making this effort, let us also be careful not to present our own interpretation as a definitive judgment.

Asking for guidance and seeking what is right should not be separated. Trying to practice what we learn is also part of this search.

They Have Eyes but Do Not See

Verse 179 of Surah Al-A‘raf speaks of those who do not use their hearts to understand, who have eyes but do not see, and ears but do not hear.

Let us not read this warning merely to accuse others. We, too, can question in our own lives whether we see a truth.

Two people live side by side in a family. One repeatedly expresses their needs. But the other hears only what they want.

A child expects attention from their parents. The parents meet all the child’s material needs but do not make time to listen to what the child says.

Question: We hear our loved one’s voice, but do we understand their trouble too?

The same question applies to working life. A customer explains a problem. We, however, focus only on selling a new product.

Our eyes functioning may not be enough to see something. We also need to give our attention and reason to the matter.

When reading the Qur’an too, let us try to connect the verses with our own lives. Let us not immediately close off the point we cannot understand.

If the truth we hear never touches our behavior, we should reconsider our own attentiveness.

The verse’s warning about eyes and ears also calls us to use reason. While recognizing an event’s visible aspect, people should also reflect on cause-and-effect relationships.

People may care only about what they see in the material world. They may evaluate every decision through money, position, and appearance. In this case, paying attention to other people’s needs and their own morality may become difficult.

But being interested in the visible world is not wrong in itself either. The real issue is what purpose we make the blessing we see serve, and what behavior we choose with it.

When looking at a child, let us not think only of their expenses. Their development and learning to exercise their own will matter too.

When listening to a coworker, let us not look only at how much they earn for us. Let us not forget that before us is a person with needs and responsibilities.

Praying and Making Use of the Means

Sometimes, when experiencing a problem, we think only of praying. Sometimes we say, “I will work and solve everything on my own.”

We need balance between these two extremes too.

If we want to make rice, we need to prepare suitable ingredients and cook it correctly. If we added too much water, we adjust the amount next time.

Question: Why do we expect the outcome to change while continually reaching a wrong outcome through the same causes?

When we make a wrong decision at work, we can investigate its causes. If the same argument keeps recurring in a relationship, we can try to change how we speak.

While praying, we can also see our own weakness clearly. If we have noticed an excessive attachment to money, we can ask for help to maintain the right boundaries in this matter.

If we see that we favor one child over their siblings, we can ask to be fair while also trying to correct our behavior.

We cannot claim that every difficulty we encounter is the punishment for a particular sin. But it is also possible to evaluate our own mistakes where we struggle.

People need to pray, learn, and demonstrate the necessary behavior.

Question: Which truth that we know but do not practice can we bring into life today?

We may not be able to change all of society in a single day. But we can reconsider the choices in our own lives. First directing a question at ourselves similar to the harsh criticism we direct at others may be a more useful beginning.

We can read a verse with understanding. If we have wronged someone, we can apologize. We can set a limit on an excessive desire that governs us.

There is always a new choice before a person. If we did not practice today the truth we learned yesterday, we can recognize this and begin again. Without waiting for others to praise us or shifting our mistake onto someone else, we can take a small but real step.

Knowledge should not merely be a pile of information we grow in our minds, but an opportunity that makes us more responsible.

O Allah, protect us from closing our eyes and ears to the truth. Give us beneficial knowledge, the strength to choose what is right, and the sincerity to live what we learn.

Asking for guidance is valuable; seeking it and living according to it are also our responsibility.