Remaining in Darkness While Thinking There Is Light: Guidance and True Peace
30 August 2021
Why Do We Feel Incomplete as Our Possessions Increase?
Sometimes, viewed from the outside, a person has many things. They have a roof over their head, work that provides a living, and loved ones beside them; yet they feel an indescribable lack within. They wait for something to change. They think they will find relief if they get a better job, replace their car, or move where they want. But when they reach one goal, another appears. Then we need to stop and ask ourselves: What am I really looking for? Am I trying to meet my needs, or do I want to silence my inner unrest by continually acquiring new things?
The hypocrisy described in this part of Surah Al-Baqarah should not be read solely as an issue concerning certain people who lived in the past. The verses also prompt us to consider the distance between what people say and how they live. If I say I believe in Allah and the Hereafter, how does this belief appear in my choices? What do I do when accepting the truth conflicts with my interests? Let us ask these questions to evaluate our own lives honestly, not to label others. Judging a person’s inner world is not our duty; taking responsibility for our own behavior, however, is a duty before us all.
The Things We Forget When Saying “I Earned It”
Working, making an effort, and producing are valuable. But when people begin to attribute their success solely to themselves, another door opens. As they say, “I worked, I earned, I did it,” they may cease to see the opportunities given to them. They forget their health, the knowledge they were able to learn, the people they met, and the opportunities that came their way. Then, when they see someone in difficulty, they immediately judge instead of trying to understand that person’s circumstances. Yet not everyone starts from the same place; not everyone’s strength, burden, and obstacles are the same. Taking pride in our effort does not justify belittling someone else.
Gratitude corrects our perspective precisely here. Without denying the resources I have, I remember that I am not their absolute owner. Helping someone else becomes the expression of this understanding in life. When I give, it is not merely something leaving my pocket; I learn to step outside self-centered thinking. People need to examine what fear lies where they resist sharing. Am I taking precautions for the future, or can I not let go because I consider what I possess life’s only security? Recognizing this distinction is a more useful beginning than blaming ourselves.
Is Every Gain Really a Profit?
Verse sixteen of Surah Al-Baqarah speaks of those who purchase misguidance in exchange for guidance. The comparison with trade prompts reflection: What am I giving in return as I acquire something? I may earn money, receive applause, or feel a brief sense of superiority. But if the price is my honesty, compassion, or someone else’s rights, am I truly gaining? If I calculate only the money left in hand, I may fail to see the essential thing I have lost. The standard the verse places before us is to take the moral dimension of gain into account as well.
Guidance does not mean merely possessing knowledge of what is right; it also means consenting to let that truth direct us. Sometimes people know what they should do but act differently because it does not suit them. They produce new justifications to defend their mistake. In this way, they begin to make their own choice appear right to themselves. What we need in response is not to claim that we never make mistakes, but to be able to turn back when we recognize one. A mistake we honestly acknowledge today may prevent us from becoming further lost in the same mistake tomorrow. Let us keep the door of repentance and correction open for ourselves.
What Light Remains When the Fire Goes Out?
Verse seventeen gives an example through the situation of someone who lights a fire. The surroundings become illuminated, then the light disappears, and they are left in darkness. In the lesson, this example is considered through a person’s placing their trust solely in temporary supports. If I say, “I am strong while I have money, valuable while my work continues, and secure while everyone likes me,” my whole life may be shaken when one of these changes. Because I have not merely lost a resource; I have also tied my sense of worth to that resource. I have mistaken a temporary illumination for a light that will show my way in every circumstance.
There is no need here to consider wealth, work, or family worthless. Each is an important blessing in our lives. The issue is whether we make the blessing life’s sole meaning. A believer also grieves in loss, suffers pain, and may need support. Faith does not make a person unfeeling. But turning to Allah helps them remember, even within pain, that life has not become entirely meaningless. We cannot judge a person’s faith based on the sadness or psychological distress they experience. The question to direct at ourselves here is this: Am I nourishing, during comfortable days, the values that will sustain me when I struggle?
If I Get This Too, Everything Will Be Complete
A young person may think all their troubles will end when they marry. After marriage, they wait to own a home; then comes a child, a higher income, or another opportunity. People can set goals in their lives and work toward them. However, if they tie all their peace to the fulfillment of a future condition, they always experience today as incomplete. The happiness they continually seek behind the next door makes it harder to notice the life they have. Yet gratitude does not mean giving up goals. It means also seeing today’s blessings while moving toward a goal; it means not disregarding what exists while thinking about what does not yet exist.
When desires grow excessive, they can also affect our judgment. Someone else’s car, home, or success is no longer merely information about their life; it begins to appear as proof of our own worthlessness. As comparison increases, peace decreases. In this situation, giving ourselves some distance is helpful. Why do I want this? Do I have a real need, or am I trying to change my position in others’ eyes? If, while pursuing a desire, I lose my family’s peace, my honesty, or my ability to make sound decisions, I should reconsider that desire’s place in my life.
Hearing Is One Thing, Truly Listening Is Another
As we consider the description concerning hearing, speech, and sight in verse eighteen, let us not think only of physical senses. People may hear without listening; they may see without accepting a truth. If they prepare their answer before the other person has finished speaking, or regard every warning directed at them as an attack, they may be closing the door to understanding. This also appears in our daily relationships. Instead of truly trying to understand what our spouse, child, or friend is saying, we try to preserve our own position of being right. Then we wonder why the same problems repeat.
Truly listening does not mean accepting everything said as correct. It means first trying to understand, then evaluating fairly. I can ask whether there is an aspect of a criticism that would benefit me. Saying that I have realized I was wrong does not diminish me. On the contrary, it preserves my possibility of changing. We need the same openness while reading the verses. If we search only for sentences that confirm what we know, we may miss the warnings that would change us. Allowing the truth we read to touch us may require more courage and sincerity than speaking about it.
Silencing the Noise Does Not Remove the Reality
Verse nineteen presents a powerful scene of rain, darkness, thunder, and lightning. Covering one’s ears to avoid hearing the feared sound does not remove the danger. When we bring this example into our lives, we can consider our habit of escaping uncomfortable truths. Does immediately dismissing a word that reminds us of death, not thinking about being held accountable, or not wanting to discuss the consequences of our actions truly protect us? Or does it merely enable us not to think for a while? A matter we postpone does not resolve itself simply because we are not looking.
Today, there are many opportunities to distract our attention. We can move from one screen to another, from one news item to another image. With the same phone, we can access the Qur’an or occupy ourselves for hours. There is no need here to consider every opportunity for rest and entertainment bad. The real issue is balance and priority. Is there room in our day to think, read, listen to a person, and evaluate our behavior? If we fill every gap with sound, it may become harder to hear what is happening within us. Sometimes a brief silence brings more awareness than acquiring something new.
Do We Walk Only When the Way before Us Is Lit?
Verse twenty describes people who walk when the lightning illuminates their surroundings and stop when darkness falls. This example makes us consider a commitment dependent on circumstances. Do I stay close to what is right while everything goes as I wish, but withdraw when I need to pay a price? Honesty is easy when it brings gain; remaining honest when the possibility of loss arises is a more serious choice. Patience means being able to continue putting effort into the path we know to be right even when we do not obtain immediate results. Changing direction at every difficulty may leave us in the same place while we think we are progressing.
The verse’s reminder of the faculties of hearing and sight also calls us to gratitude. While listing what we do not possess, let us not overlook the resources we have. While saying, “I do not own a home,” may I also see that I have a place to shelter. This does not mean belittling housing difficulties or problems making a living. It means recognizing the existing blessing while working to resolve a real need. Gratitude and effort are not opposites. When they are together, people both appreciate what they have and work fairly for something better.
Let the Love We Express Appear in Our Behavior
There is a connection between saying “I believe” and undertaking the responsibility that faith requires. We can understand this through human relationships as well. If I say I love my family, what am I doing in response to their needs, troubles, and trust? Not everyone has the same financial means or capacity to work; we cannot measure love solely by earning money. But where our strength allows, it is possible to make an effort, show interest, listen, and share responsibility. Sincerity appears in these small but real actions before grand words. Our devotion to Allah should also find expression in our everyday choices.
A behavior that is easy for one of us may be difficult for another. Some share easily but struggle to manage their anger; some are accustomed to regular worship but impatient when listening to people. These differences can be opportunities to learn from one another, not to belittle each other. Within the family, too, if we focus only on changing the other person, we miss our own area for growth. Of course, not every disagreement is simple; but beginning every conversation with the thought “I am already right” also pushes a solution further away. Being able to look first at our own part helps us act more justly in relationships.
By What Standard Are We Seeking Peace?
We cannot place peace on a scale and measure it; we cannot buy a kilogram of happiness. Despite this, we sometimes think we will reach it solely by multiplying material things. Material resources make life easier and meet our needs, but they do not, on their own, satisfy the whole of a person’s search for meaning. Comfort obtained by going against our conscience can create another unrest within us. Therefore, let us look not only at what we possess but also at how we live. How we treat people, which value we do not abandon, and where we turn in difficulty are questions that determine the quality of our lives.
Remembering death is also meant to correct our standard, not to darken life. We can reconsider the place within a lifetime of a rivalry, a display, or a hurt that seems very great today. Knowing that we cannot keep any possession forever teaches us to use it more consciously, rather than irresponsibly. Awareness of the Hereafter extends even to what we do when no one sees. People’s not knowing does not make an injustice right. Remembering that we will give account is a powerful call to be more careful about others’ rights.
Correcting Our Direction Begins Today
Verse twenty-one addresses all people with the call to worship their Lord, who created them and those before them. This call reminds us not to make what is temporary the absolute center of life. Let us have work, family, and goals; but let none of these take precedence over justice and truth. Serving Allah does not mean withdrawing from life; it means knowing by what standard we will act within life. We need this standard when gaining, losing, loving, and deciding. In this way, we can stop seeking light solely in favorable circumstances.
Change, too, is not completed all at once. Someone who sows wheat in the soil today does not expect a harvest tomorrow; they make an effort, tend it, and allow time. We also need patience with our own habits. Reading a little every day, correcting a mistake, fulfilling a right, and bringing a desire into balance may seem small, but they change our direction. What matters is not declaring ourselves perfect but continuing sincerely along the path. May our Lord grant us the ability to live the truth we see, recognize the blessings given, and not lose our lasting direction among temporary lights.