OBSTACLES TO ACCEPTING THE TRUTH

their familiar world as the real one, even if that world is just an illusion with no true foundation. Another obstacle to accepting the truth is that a person often develops a fixed mental framework that, over time, becomes so inflexible that no change can take place within it. Only ideas that fit this framework and provide satisfaction without challenging its structure are accepted. Any concept that threatens to break this framework to make room for itself will be rejected outright without a second thought. For example, a person deeply involved in worldly pursuits, viewing them as the highest form of success, will likely not find appeal in a transformative religious idea. However, if you tell them that a specific dhikr (remembrance) offers great reward or that praying a few extra units at a certain time can atone for a year’s sins, they might adopt such a view of religion, adding it as a sacred supplement to their life. Similarly, you see people immersed in worldly comfort and pleasures, yet, because of their traditional mindset, they also desire a reserved place in paradise. They find the idea appealing that “Islam is the way to success in both this world and the hereafter.” In contrast, they would never accept a view of religion that involves crying and yearning, teaches detachment from the world, or sees sorrow as a believer’s sustenance.