The Qur’an For All Humanity
Internal Witness
~ 73 ~
Every person is gifted by birth with a special faculty
called al-nafs al-lawwamah, or conscience, which
functions freely within him. Uninfluenced by either
impulse and reasoning, it tells man what is wrong,
and what is right, what should be done and what
should not be done.
This conscience functions as if it were God’s court.
It warns man in advance of his errors. It tells him
repeatedly what attitude or behaviour is proper and
what is not. Yet in spite of this, man becomes
oblivious of God. He leads his life as if, on
Doomsday, he were not going to be taken to task for
his words and deeds.
One who adopts such an attitude denies his own
nature. His own inner self gives a warning within
him, but he is not ready to listen to it. The truth is
that the human conscience proclaims in advance
what the divine decree will be on Doomsday. If
man were to lend an ear to the voice of conscience,
he would learn, prior to death, what is going to
confront him in the life after death.
