Zeal and Enthusiasm Described in the Qur'an: Who Belongs to a Society of Ignorance

Ignorance is usually understood as being uneducated and uncultured. However, the ignorant people depicted throughout this guide are those who are ignorant about the religion of Islam, about the infinite might and attributes of Allah Who created them, and about the Qur’an that has been revealed to mankind. Such people live according to information imposed on them by a society full of misconceptions rather than facts revealed in the Qur’an. Allah defines people of ignorance as those "whose forefathers were not warned, so they are unaware."

The lives of people who are unaware of the Qur’an and have no knowledge of the real nature of worldly life, the truth about death, and the after-death experiences of Hell and paradise are compatible with their ignorance. Consequently, the matters that make them feel happy, eager and excited are based upon flawed and erroneous beliefs.

People of ignorance are enthusiastic only about worldly goals…

"...Those who took their religion as distraction and amusement and whom the worldly life deluded."

As the verse suggests, people in a society of ignorance are greatly deluded about the life of this world. Despite being aware of its brief and imperfect nature, they prefer this temporary life to an eternal life in the hereafter because they expect to obtain worldly benefits more easily and harbor mistaken doubts about the existence of the next world. This erroneous rationale assumes that the world is within easy reach, while the hereafter is far away. It is, no doubt, a very shallow and irrational kind of reasoning. After all, man’s life in this world is confined to a very brief period of time. A lifespan lasting six or seven decades, half of which is spent in childhood and the advanced years of old age, is indisputably brief compared to the eternal life of the hereafter. Furthermore, even before the completion of those six or seven decades, one may die for some reason. At any moment he may find his life, which he assumed to be well in his hands, suddenly taken away, and may, at an utterly unexpected time, find himself entering his eternal life in the hereafter, although he had assumed it to be very distant.

The heedless people of ignorance strive to make the most of their worldly lives during this short period rather than earning Allah’s acceptance and His reward of paradise. Consequently, the issues over which these people show zeal are limited to the minor goals pertaining to this world. In fact, the feelings they imagine to be enthusiasm and excitement are nothing but greed.

Passionately attached to this life, they feel great excitement towards everything from which they expect to derive benefit and consequently, better living conditions. Accordingly, people feel a great desire to become wealthy or to have a prestigious status or career. In order to attain such a goal they make all forms of self-Zeal and Enthusiasm Described in the Qur’an sacrifice and willingly endure every hardship. However, their lives pass in both moral and physical torment.

The daily lives of these people, whose targets are limited to earthly desires, abound with incidents that reveal their understanding of zeal. For example, to earn a prestigious diploma, which would bring him recognition, a student may immerse himself in books for years. Aware that this is conducive to success, he willingly spends sleepless nights and avoids socializing, if necessary. A typical day begins for him with an early morning commute and is spent in tremendous effort, which he endures with pleasure. Yet, he would decline to make the same sacrifice to help a friend since it brings him no perceivable worldly gain. What is underlined here is that although the majority of people know how to accomplish a task with zeal and enthusiasm, they will undertake it only if it serves their own interests. They do not demonstrate the same ambition for something that would earn them the pleasure of Allah, and show indifference if a worldly benefit is not forthcoming. The mentality peculiar to ignorance, which is based only on worldly benefits, can be portrayed with the following example. An executive whose company is on the edge of bankruptcy devotes all his energy, wisdom, means and time to work out the problem. But his employee does not feel the same eagerness to save the company and thus is unlikely to find a good solution because he is not the person who will suffer direct loss when the company goes bankrupt. As seen, worldly benefits generally underlie the zeal and determination felt by members of ignorant societies. The extent of benefit is often indicative of the degree of ambition felt.