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The Greatest Concern: Faith, Anguish and Conveying the Message
Soul-searching in the light of the Prophet's example
Look at what preoccupies a person, and you will see how great their concern is. As the concern grows, everything else shrinks and, in the end, is forgotten. So what is the greatest concern of our age, and how deeply do we take it to heart?
This piece follows the video above, scene by scene. The main text is written for everyone; the diagrams, comparisons and Quranic verses in translation can be found in the expandable boxes.
I — The shadow of great concerns
A great burden casts everyday matters into shadow
The size of the concern before us determines what occupies our minds and how much of the world we forget. The greater the concern, the more completely everything else slips away.
📖 Two examples
A physical threat: No one at risk of losing a leg stops to chat about what is cooking for dinner that day.
A family crisis: Someone whose spouse has gone missing will not care about polishing their shoes; that is simply the nature of things.
II — The greatest concern of our age
Every age has a great concern of its own
In some ages, building civilizations came to the fore; in others, conquering the world; in others still, securing material prosperity. In the age we live in, however, the greatest concern is to pull people out of the whirlpool of their own desires, bring them to faith, and make Allah's purpose a living reality.
📖 Diagram: the ladder of concerns
The higher you climb, the heavier the concern. At the summit stands the saving of people's faith.
III — The mirror of conscience
Two hearts facing the same scene
A generation spun out of control, people drifting away from religion... Anyone who feels deep anguish in their heart at this sight has a living conscience. Lethargy, indifference and numbness, on the other hand, reveal that the heart and conscience have stopped doing their work: a sign of spiritual decay.
Beneath the numbness lies a hidden truth: a secret doubt about where this road finally leads. The first and most visible sign of faith is the desperate struggle to save those who are being lost. Where that struggle is missing, the very foundation of faith has been shaken.
📖 Diagnostic table: two responses and the root causes
| A living conscience | Numbness | |
|---|---|---|
| Response | Deep anguish and sorrow in the heart | Lethargy, indifference and numbness |
| Diagnosis | Proof that one's innate faculties (fitrah) remain intact, guided by reason and the heart | A loss of fitrah: heart and conscience cease to function; spiritual decay |
Three root causes of numbness
- Not fully believing in the resurrection (hashr)
- Not believing that we will face a divine reckoning and be weighed on the Scales (mizan)
- Doubting that eternal bliss and eternal Hell truly exist
IV — The Prophet's anguish
"I don't know... My concern is so great!"
From the moment he opened his eyes to this world, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) held the saving of people's faith to be the greatest concern of all, and for the sake of this cause nothing worldly held any value for him. When people said to him, "Your head has been gashed, your tooth broken, you have been driven from your homeland, and you have spent all your wealth and your wife's too!" he had only one reply: "I don't know... My concern is so great!"
You are close to destroying yourself, to perishing of grief, because they do not believe.
Surah Ash-Shu'ara, verse 3
This verse is the highest expression of the prophetic conscience and of a heart full of faith. It is Allah's own affirmation of the suffocating grief felt for every soul that cannot be saved.
V — The story of Abu Talib
Forty years of protection, one sentence left unsaid
For forty years, Abu Talib shielded the Prophet from every deadly danger. Yet he did so not because he believed in his prophethood, but out of kinship, affection and the bond of blood. Had he done it for the sake of prophethood, the ice in his heart would have thawed, and he too would have melted into the ocean of faith.
As Abu Talib lay on his deathbed, the Prophet sat at his side: "Uncle! I am not asking much of you. Just say La ilaha illallah — there is no god but Allah — so that I may intercede for you on the Day of Judgment." On the other side, the idolaters pressed him: "Will you turn away from the religion of your forefathers, the religion of Abd al-Muttalib?" Held captive by his prejudices, Abu Talib did not make his last words the declaration of divine oneness, as a Muslim would. Instead he said, "I die upon the religion of Abd al-Muttalib," and let the chance slip away forever.
When Abu Talib passed away, the Prophet was shattered, as though the dome over his head had come crashing down, and he said, "I will keep asking forgiveness for you as long as I am permitted." Then the divine limit was made clear: You cannot guide whomever you wish. The divine will looks not at ties of blood, but at whether a heart turns toward Allah. The believer's duty is to convey the message; guidance lies in Allah's hands alone.
📖 The anatomy of forty years, and the divine limit
| Action | For forty years he shielded the Prophet from every deadly danger and looked after him. |
| Motive | Not faith in his prophethood, but kinship, affection and the bond of blood. |
| Analysis | Had he done it for the sake of prophethood, the ice in his heart would have thawed and he too would have melted into the ocean of faith. |
| Deathbed | Determined not to leave such protection unrepaid, the Prophet kept his last and most hopeful vigil at his uncle's bedside. |
The divine limit (Surah At-Tawbah, verse 113): It is not fitting for the Prophet and the believers to ask forgiveness for the idolaters, even if they are their own kin, once it has become clear that they are destined for Hellfire.
Human effort has its sphere of influence; guidance lies within the divine limit, beyond our reach.
VI — The paradox of devotion
Not even worth as much as a party leader?
A party loyalist will go tirelessly from village to village, town to town, gathering votes for their leader's cause. The believer, meanwhile, professes loyalty to the Lord of the Worlds and His Messenger, yet can stay indifferent as people abandon morality and drift away from religion.
In your eyes, are Allah and His Messenger not worth as much as a party leader? If you are not going from village to village telling people about Allah, it can only mean that our hearts have decayed.
📖 Comparison: effort for this world and for the next
| The party loyalist | The believer | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | A party leader (any Tom, Dick or Harry) | The Lord of the Worlds and His Messenger |
| Action | Goes tirelessly from village to village, town to town, to gather votes. | Stays indifferent as people abandon morality and drift away from religion. |
VII — The weight of a single soul
Better than red camels
At Khaybar, after healing the aching eyes of Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), the Prophet handed him the banner with this command: "Speak of Allah to everyone who crosses your path!" On one side of the scales lie red camels, whole herds and a vast fortune; on the other, a single person finding guidance through you. To be the means by which one human being comes to faith is better than all the spoils and riches of this world.
The same scales weigh disasters, too. A whole country razed to the ground is a small matter next to a single person straying from their religion.
📖 Weighing disasters: material destruction and spiritual collapse
| Material destruction (the Izmir earthquake) | Spiritual collapse (straying from religion) | |
|---|---|---|
| Type of loss | A whole city razed to the ground; physical deaths | A single individual drifting away from religion and faith |
| Ultimate fate | Provided they had earned Allah's good pleasure, the dead are counted as martyrs and go straight to Paradise. | Losing the Quran and Allah forever; an eternity in Hell. |
VIII — The believer's equation for conveying the message
Anguish is your driving force, conveying the message your action, and surrender your limit
All these stories converge on a single point: the heart feels, action follows, and surrender knows its limit. Where all three overlap lies the believer's true stance.
📖 Diagram: where the three circles meet
Heart (anguish): Feeling a prophetic sorrow and a pang of conscience in the face of unbelief; refusing to grow numb.
Action (effort): Taking up the banner like Ali and going from village to village to tell people about Allah, with a devotion far beyond any political loyalty.
Limit (surrender): As in the story of Abu Talib, leaving the outcome — guidance itself — to Allah alone; knowing the limits of your own power.
Share in the great truth.
Take our Prophet's cause to heart; this is what Allah desires. Make your decisions in the light of your reason and your conscience. Spread the truths you have heard, and let them be heard far and wide. Stand united around this great concern, so that you may live together and be raised together in eternity.
May Allah, in His grace, forgive us and guide us to the Straight Path.
The verses in translation
📖 Verses quoted in this piece
Surah Ash-Shu'ara, verse 3: You are close to destroying yourself, to perishing of grief, because they do not believe.
Surah At-Tawbah, verse 113: It is not fitting for the Prophet and the believers to ask forgiveness for the idolaters, even if they are their own kin, once it has become clear that they are destined for Hellfire.