The disposition of mankind relies on being
a servant to God and having faith in Him. Since man is unable
to meet his unlimited wishes and needs by himself, he naturally
needs to humble himself before God and turn to Him.
If the individual lives in accordance
with this disposition, he attains true confidence, peace, happiness
and salvation. If he denies this disposition and turns away from
God, he spends his life in distress, fear, anxiety and grief.
This rule, which is true for man, also
holds true for societies. If a society is comprised of people
who believe in God, it becomes a just, peaceful, happy and wise
society. Unquestionably, the opposite also holds true. If a society
is unaware of God, then the order of such a community is basically
ruined, corrupt and primitive.
When societies that have turned away from
God are examined, this fact is readily seen. One of the most
important results of irreligious thought is the abolishment of
the concept of morality and the development of completely corrupt
societies. Transgressing religious and moral bounds, and catering
exclusively to the satisfaction of human wishes, this culture
is a system of oppression in the fullest sense of the word. In
such a system, all sorts of degeneracies from sexual perversion
to drug addiction are encouraged. Eventually, societies that are
devoid of human love and are egoistic, ignorant, shallow and nonsensical
have grown up.
In a society where people live only for
the satisfaction of their own desires, it surely is not possible
to maintain peace, love and amity. In such a society, human relations
depend on mutual interests. An extreme feeling of distrust prevails.
When there is no reason for one to be sincere, honest, reliable
or well-behaved, nothing stands in the way of dissimulation, falsehood,
or betrayal. The members of such societies never acknowledged
the fear of God. Since they cannot "make a just estimate of God",
they are unmindful of the day of judgement and the day of account.
For them, hell is nothing more than an idea appearing in religious
books. None of them think that they shall have to give an account
of themselves in the presence of God after their death for all
the sins they have committed during their lives in this world,
or that they may ultimately be doomed to an eternal life of torment
in hell. Even if they do think about it, they suppose that they
will enter paradise after they "pay for their sins".
Thus they are led to spend their
lives doing their best to satisfy their own desires and needs.
This situation naturally brings on the
ethical degeneration and moral collapse that we see in many societies
today. In their own reasoning they suppose "we have come into
this world but once and will live for only 50-60 years and then
die, so let us get the best of things here". The thought system
based on this erroneous reasoning may bring with it all kinds
of injustice, prostitution, theft, crime and immorality. One subscribing
to it may become involved in all kinds of crime, homicide, or
fraud. When every individual thinks of nothing but the satisfaction
of his own needs and desires, everyone else––including his family
and friends––have secondary importance. Other individuals in society
have no importance whatsoever.
In a social structure that rests on interest
relations to a large degree, the mutual distrust of people hinders
the formation of peace both at the social and individual level
and it causes people to live permanently in a state of doubt,
unease and irresolution. Not knowing by whom, when or how misdeeds
will be committed in such a society, people live spiritually in
a condition of great fear and distress. General distrust and suspicion
cause them to lead very unhappy lives. In a society where all
kinds of moral values are disregarded, the outlook of people on
notions such as family, honesty and chastity is quite alarming,
for they have no fear of God.
In such societies, the lives of people
do not rely on mutual love and respect. Its members feel no need
to show respect to each other. They do not display a caring attitude
to each other without a good cause. Actually, they are quite right,
in terms of their ignorant reasoning, in behaving this way. They
are taught throughout their lives that they have evolved from
animals and that their souls will be lost forever upon their death.
They therefore deem it meaningless to respect a body of ape origin
that will rot under the earth and that they will never see
again. In their corrupt logic, "all the others as well as themselves
are to die and be buried under the earth, their bodies will decay
and their souls will vanish. So why would they bother to do good
to other people, and be self-sacrificing?" Indeed, these thoughts
permeate the subconscious of everyone who has no belief in God
or, therefore, in the hereafter. In societies with no belief in
God, there is no basis for peace, happiness, or confidence.
The purpose of all we have said is not
to suggest that "degeneration occurs in societies where there
is no belief in God, therefore there must be belief in God."
God must be believed in because God exists and whoever denies
Him commits a great sin before Him. Our intention in noting that
societies where belief in God does not exist become corrupt
is to emphasise that the fundamental viewpoints of these societies
are wrong. Wrong viewpoints lead to ill consequences. A society
that commits the biggest sin of denying God, is sure to suffer
the worst outcomes. These outcomes are worthy of attention because
they show how mistaken this society is.
The common characteristic of such societies
is their being deceived as a whole. Most of society share a common
character creates a "mass" psychology that reinforces the already-existing
disbelief. Even though the members of this society may study
physics, history, biology or similar sciences, they do not have
the sense and conscience to acknowledge the power and might of
God. And they are ignorant in that sense.
Because the members of an ignorant society
are not devoted to God, they go astray from His path in different
ways. They follow people who are incompetent servants of God
just like themselves, taking them as examples and adhering to
their ideas as absolute truths. Ultimately an ignorant society
ends up a closed society that increasingly blinds itself, becoming
further and further divorced from reason and conscience. As we
have stated at the beginning, the most notable aspect of this
system is that members of such a society act in consonance with
anti-religious indoctrination.
There is yet another point to
be remembered: every society and every person has the opportunity
to be rid of the indoctrination, way of life and philosophy of
ignorance. God sends them messengers who warn them and inform
them of the existence of God and the hereafter and who tell them
the real meaning of life. And along with His messengers He sends
righteous books that answer all the questions that are derived
from the very conscience of people. This is the law of God that
has existed since eternity. People will be judged according to
their own preferences.