The Importance of Conscience in the Qur'an: Conscience and the Qur'an Show Man the Real Purpose of Life

We created man from a mingled drop to test him, and We made him hearing and seeing.

We Guided Him on the Way Whether He is Grateful or Ungrateful Surat Al in San

He who reads the above verses will understand that Allah created life to test man. He will immediately think about his own life, as well as the life of others. Most of the people around him are constantly rushing and struggling for the life of this world. They have very detailed plans, all concerning worldly things: the school they will go to, the job they will get, their marriage, their children, the house they will live in, the car they will buy, how high their salary is, where to spend the new year, what presents they will get on their birthday, their retirement, the holidays they will go on, etc. Everyone has such plans and goals in mind, though interestingly enough, no one takes the time to think of the real purpose of their presence in the world. The conscientious man witnesses this behaviour and understands it for what it is: heedlessness and folly. It is Allah Who created man, gave him life and lets him live on. Allah made the purpose of creation very clear: 'To be a slave to Him.' The only thing that will make man happy is to bow in submission to Allah in accordance with the purpose of his creation, and to dedicate everything he owns to Him in order to gain His approval. Yet most people, as if they do not know this fact at all and as if they have come into this world only to enjoy it, live on heedlessly and greedily. On the other hand, a man thinking with his conscience sees that the majority of people are falling into a dangerous state of negligence. Thus he comes to realise that other people cannot be a reference for him, and that his following other people, saying, 'Most of them do this,' will prevent him from following the book of Allah and taking the Qur'an as his only guide.

The man who comes to realise that he was brought into this world to be tested by Allah, will then move on to another stage of thought. If we are tested in this life, then death cannot be the end. There must also be a result to this test. However, there is no result in the life of this world. Amongst all the people who have lived in the past, there were tyrants, dissolute people and murderers, as well as the messengers of Allah and other people of very high conscience who dedicated their whole lives to Allah. There were also poor and miserable people who were subjected to oppression. Those in the past are now all dead and gone; both the good and the bad are buried in their graves. Today, there is nothing left of them but some skeletal remains. Allah, the Owner of Eternal Justice, would not let the life of this world be resolved in this way.

In short, man's conscience will tell him that Allah's Eternal Conscience will pay every man in full for what he has done. Since the accounts are not completely settled in this world, then there must be a place to where this is deferred.

People who think through their conscience will also find the answer in the Qur'an. Allah states in the Qur'an that He has deferred the settling of the accounts until after death, when everyone will be fully paid for the things they have done in this world: Each and every one of you will return to Him.