Those Who Think Deeply: The Duas of the People of Understanding and the Crime of Ceasing to Think

Occasion: Transcript of an Isha khatira delivered on August 26, 2026 Source: Transcript of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif, watch the original video on YouTube

As we promised, we continue with the supplications that God Almighty described in this surah.

God says that in the creation of the earth and the heavens there are signs that provoke deep thinking in the minds of the people who have a sound mindset.^[1] We explained the difference between qalb and 'aql. So what are these people doing? God says they remember God standing and sitting. They are not merely repeating words without thinking about their meaning. They are actually thinking about what they say, and what they say is a kind of reflection on what they see. They look at things and try to work out what they are, why they exist, and they think deeply about the wisdom of God in placing this table in this place, this man sitting here, this computer, this iPhone. They are thinking about everything.

The genius never rests

What is the difference between a normal person, a smart person, an intelligent person, a genius? The genius is not just repeating the information he received at school. When you hear that word it means a different kind of mentality: a person who is thinking twenty-four hours a day and gives his mind no break. Am I right? And God is telling me that these people think around the clock. When we have such a person, we can hope for a good future, not only for him but for the whole world. When we talk about the Nobel Prize, or those huge prizes, who deserves them? Such people. And God is telling us about them.

We usually try to connect the verses with the surah: why do these verses come in this surah? Let us finish first what God said here.

"You did not create this in vain"

They say: Our Lord, You did not create this without a purpose.^[2] It means God created that thing for a reason. What is the reason? What should I do: stay away from it, or jump in and try to find out the reason for its existence? At that point we find ourselves the first people to create, because this is the reason: we need to do something, we need to figure it out. We would find ourselves the first in chemistry, in physics, in biology and all of that; we would find ourselves the leaders of the whole world, because God taught us the mentality of the Muslim. We are not people who stop, lock down, stay away, lie back, stay home. We are people who work, starting from this area, from thinking, until the action comes out of our bodies.

Their eyes look around all the time, thinking about everything. But why do they do it? What is the reason? They are worried about the Fire that comes at the end of this life. The Fire comes because of mistakes; the punishment comes because of mistakes. What kind of mistake are they worried about? You know that crime: stopping thinking. Once we stop thinking, we are committing that crime, and we deserve the Fire.

Some people say: once we are praying and fasting, we are safe on the Day of Judgment. But all of these are ways and tools that make you strong enough to do something in this world.

The power of the night

Take an example. I was teaching the students just now, and we said that God revealed the Quran in the Night of Power.^[3] What is the power of that night? The Quran. And that night is better than a thousand months. Why? Because of the Quran. A thousand months equal about thirty thousand nights. If you want to be better than thirty thousand people like you, you need to stick with the power, meaning the Quran.

If you have the Quran, you will be surrounded by light. Everything you need, God will give it to you. Once you have that book in your chest, in your heart, once you stick with that power, you will have the full power. And what is the meaning of "until the end of the night"? If I stick with the Quran, I will be at peace up to the end of my life. This is an easy way to understand a different way of living with the Quran.

Now we are speaking about people who already live by the Quran. God says they look all the time at the reasons for the existence of the things in their life, and they are worried about the Fire, the consequences of the action. And when someone is worried about the consequences, he takes care of his actions and his words and everything that comes out of him. He worries about what he is doing in his whole life.

Homework

Your homework is to continue, or complete, reading up to the end of this surah. It is not a big homework. Tonight, at home, open the last page of Ali 'Imran, study it, and try to taste the sweetness there. I ask God to guide all of us to the straight path and to help us understand.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: The transcript does not include the Arabic recitation. The speaker appears to be commenting on Sūrat Āl ʿImrān: ﴿إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلَافِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ لَآيَاتٍ لِّأُولِي الْأَلْبَابِ ۝ الَّذِينَ يَذْكُرُونَ اللَّهَ قِيَامًا وَقُعُودًا وَعَلَىٰ جُنُوبِهِمْ وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ﴾ [آل عمران: 190–191]. The identification rests on the speaker's reference to "the last page of Ali 'Imran"; it is given for reference only. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: The meaning corresponds to ﴿رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقْتَ هَٰذَا بَاطِلًا سُبْحَانَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ﴾ [آل عمران: 191]; the speaker paraphrased it in English. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: The speaker refers to Sūrat al-Qadr: ﴿إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ﴾ ... ﴿لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ خَيْرٌ مِّنْ أَلْفِ شَهْرٍ﴾ [القدر: 1, 3]. His phrase "until the end of the night" is a reference to the surah's last verse, whose Arabic is missing from the transcript.