Heedlessness - A Spiritual Illness

Mushfiq Ahmad

Introduction

Allah ﷻ mentions clearly in the Holy Qur’an: 

“I created the jinn and humans for nothing else  but that they may serve Me. I desire from them no  provision, nor do I want them to feed Me.”   [Surah Al-Dhariyat 51:56-57]  

It means our creator has created us only for his  worship. In another verse He clearly says 

“Surely, Allah has bought their lives and their  wealth from the believers, in exchange of (a  promise) that Paradise shall be theirs. They fight  in the way of Allah, and kill and are killed, on  which there is a true promise (as made) in the  Torah and the Injīl and the Qur’ān. And who can  be more faithful to his covenant than Allah? So,  rejoice in the deal you have made, and that is the  great achievement.”  [Surah Al-Tawbah 9:11]  

From the above verse we can understand that  Allah ﷻ has made a transaction with the believers,  where he has purchased their lives and their  wealth, in exchange for which, they will have  Jannah. So, one should now spend his life and  wealth striving in the cause of Allah and  exhausting himself in the way of the Deen for the  success in this Dunya and hereafter. But  unfortunately, most of us are failing to do so  because of heedlessness. 

What is heedlessness?  

The word “ghafala (heedlessness)” and its  derivatives which also give the same meaning of  negligence or carelessness are mentioned over 20  times in the Holy Qur’an to guide us so that we  may be successful in this Dunya and the hereafter.  It is the principles of Holy Qur’an that anything  mentioned repeatedly, indicates something  important that we should pay attention to.  “Ghafala” has several meanings, but in this article,  the following definition will be considered: to  leave something out of negligence rather than  forgetfulness. Also, absence of something from  one’s mind and failing to pay attention is part of  heedlessness. In short, “Ghaflah”, or heedlessness  is a spiritual disease of the heart which could  manifest in many ways.  

For example, one may neglect his prayers out of  laziness or lack of caring rather than genuine  forgetfulness. Someone living his life rarely remembering the hereafter, so when death comes  suddenly while they are in a state of heedlessness,  they become surprised and beg to Allah ﷻ to give them some opportunity for good deeds. Practicing  religion results in good character. On the other  hand, a spiritual illness such as heedlessness  would influence one’s character and manners  negatively. 

The less conscious a person is of the fact that they  will be held accountable by Allah ﷻ for their words  and actions; the less intentional and thoughtful  they will become in all that they say and do.  Someone in a state of heedlessness might display  a lack of awareness for how their actions and  words affect others, whether subtly or  egregiously. They might for example, repeatedly  speak in a way that a family member or friend  finds hurtful without remorse or apology, even  after this has been communicated clearly to them. 

Allah ﷻ mentions in the Holy Qur’an: 

"Indeed, those who do not expect the meeting  with Us and are satisfied with the life of this world  and feel secure therein are those who are heedless  of Our signs" [Surah Yunus 10:7]  

Allah ﷻ also mentions, 

"[The time of] their account has approached for  the people, while they are in heedlessness turning  away." [Sura Al-Ambiya 21:1]  

The heedless person wants to live only for the  purpose to fulfill his desires and to not tire his  body except only for his desires. Whenever he spends money, he never considers pleasing our  creator but only for his enjoyments. He is heedless  even if it affects his religion. 

Identifying Heedlessness  

One such example is being lazy with prayers. It  could be, not only missing the prayers but praying  late or not going to the masjid because of laziness.  Disobedience is another sign. We live in a society  where we cannot disobey the law of social custom  in the name of so called “freedom” or “independence”. We need to remind ourselves  that disobedience, whether it be to parents or elders has a worldly cost to it and it is also sign of  heedlessness. 

We should understand that our religion is not  saying that we cannot have time for leisure. But  Islam wants us to find the correct balance for the  mind, body, and soul. We are not going to live  forever, so we should understand clearly that the  biggest asset we receive from Allah the almighty is  not money or wealth, in fact, it is time.

Cure for Heedlessness  

Now I would like to conclude with some ideas by which we could cure heedlessness in ourselves. 

A person should be conscious about his situation  and remind himself that the situation he is going  through could be, a blessing, a test, or a lesson  from Allah ﷻ. We must change our vision from  the Dunya to hereafter and thus will be able to  avoid heedlessness. We should learn about the  attributes of our creator from the Holy Qur’an and  Hadith. Whoever wants to be free from heedlessness and be successful in the hereafter  should know his creator before death. Avoiding bad company and staying with righteous people is  not only the cure for heedlessness but also  encourages you towards good deeds.  

Finally, we should make a habit of repenting to  our lord Allah ﷻ. Confessing our faults is the  gateway to good deeds. May Allah ﷻ save us from  the heedlessness and grant us his mercy to be  successful in the Dunya and hereafter. 

Mushfiq Ahmad

Alimiyyah graduate, Gas Engineer and student of Shaykh Faizulhaq Abdulaziz حفظه الله