What is the blindness in islam? Who is the ignorant person in islam?
Today, the technology has developed but contemplation has receded. Thinking that they explain everything in the name of science by simple explanations, the disbelievers tease the believers’ contemplation. By staying away from faith and devotion to Allah, what a great foolishness and eclipse of reason is to try to explain manifestations of divine might by coincidence and evolution.
Allah Almighty invites man to contemplate the reflections of divine power and might in 137 places in the Qur’an.
Allah Almighty describes and criticizes man’s impertinent conceit as follows:
“When we give him a taste of some Mercy from Ourselves, after some adversity has touched him, he is sure to say,
“This is due to my (merit): I think not that the Hour (of Judgment) will (ever) be established; but if I am brought back to my Lord, I have (much) good (stored) in His sight!”
But We will show the Unbelievers the truth of all that they did, and We shall give them the taste of a severe Penalty.” (Fussilat, 41: 50)
In spite of benefitting from all these blessings and seeing and contemplating this universe, one’s denial of Allah can only be explained by the blindness of the hearts. Our Lord expresses this as follow:
“Do they not travel through the land, so that their hearts (and minds) may thus learn wisdom and their ears may thus learn to hear? Truly it is not their eyes that are blind, but their hearts which are in their breasts.” (al-Hajj, 22: 46)
Necip Fazil calls to the heedless people as follow:
I was surrounded from every side, to whichever direction I look
Wouldn’t there be one who surrounds if there is one surrounded
Who is the craftsman painter who draws this face?
Wouldn’t there be anyone who sits before and asks the mirrors?
As Allah Almighty has given the name “hearts blind” to those who cannot see the truth, he gives the name “spiritually dead” to those who do not respond to the invitation to the truth. This is mentioned in the Qur’an as follows:
“Nor are alike those that are living and those that are dead. Allah can make any that He wills to hear; but thou canst not make those to hear who are (buried) in graves.” (Fâtir, 35: 22)
In order to avoid ending up with this consequence, the believers should hold on to contemplation, invocation and devotion.
In order to succeed in this, one should not be defeated by his habits. For example, if a man who is blind from birth suddenly starts to see, he will probably be shocked by what he sees. As he did not see before, the seas, trees, flying birds etc. would astonish him. He would say “How beautifully my Lord has created!” and feels admiration.
People who meet thousands of such beauties in everyday life usually are not aware of them as he does not contemplate. They are like solid rocks and deserts over which the April showers full of blessings flow, but they cannot get any benefit from them.
A famous painter draws scenes from the universe that Allah has created and expresses them in his paintings. The galleries are opened to exhibit his paintings. People go to see them and pay fortunes to buy them.
“As known, so far, no bird has ever tried to build more nests than its neighbor. Until now, no fox felt sorry for having only a single hole to hide.”
The painter is praised by saying “What a great artist!”. However, the real artist is the One who has created both the painter and the scenes that the painter looks at while painting. The real artist is our supreme Creator who created the man and the messenger of Allah.
The heedless man does not admire the art of the Supreme Artist as much as he admires the painter’s work.
However, the wise souls look at without losing their admiration the magnificent and real scenes which change every moment throughout the 24 hours and which are the work of the brush of mightiness. The array of bright colors that are exhibited at dawn and sunset… The colorful violets, lilies and roses that come into existence from the coal-black soil… The seas, rivers, mountains and valleys… In short, if man looks at himself and the universe through the eyes filled with love, it is impossible not to feel astonished in the presence of divine might and marvels.
Necip Fazil calls to the heedless people as follow:
I was surrounded from every side, to whichever direction I look
Wouldn’t there be one who surrounds if there is one surrounded
Who is the craftsman painter who draws this face?
Wouldn’t there be anyone who sits before and asks the mirrors?
By opening gates for contemplation, Mawlana Jalaluddin al-Rumi invites the eyes and the hearts to awakening:
Until now, no squirrel has died of worry because it was not able to gather walnuts enough for two winters, and no dog has had sleepless nights as it was not able to collect bones for its old ages.” O man! Watch and get rid of your heedlessness. Do not be deceived by the kids’ toys.
“Whereas you see the movement of the millstone. Take a closer look and see the stream water that moves the millstone!”
“You saw the soil and the dust in the air. Look at the wind that uplifts them!”
“You see that the pot of opinion is boiling. Look through the eyes of perception at the fire that boils the pot!”
“O foolish man! Which one is more plausible? The existence or nonexistence of a maker of all these pavilions and palaces?”
“O my son! Which one is more plausible the existence of a clerk who writes the lines that you see or nonexistence of a scribe of the writings that adorn the walls and fill the pages, line by line?…”
“O man! Can you show me anything in this universe that comes into existence by itself? Separate a self-sprouting plant from the soil and see if it is grown by itself or not!…”
Contemplation is not a unidirectional matter. It is not just about the comprehension of the existence of a Creator. There are various aspects of contemplation.
Let us contemplate, for example:
Everything is active at every moment in the universe, which is in a way a commentary of man. Everything from atoms to the planets is in a constant effort.
Source: The Universe, The Qur’an And The Human, Osman Nuri Topbaş, Erkam Publications