THE FAILING OF INTELLIGENCE
IN today’s world, we see that most intelligent people shy away from devoting themselves to religion. What is the reason for this? It is the attraction of immediate gain. As the Quran says:
Truly, you love immediate gain and neglect the Hereafter.
THE QURAN 75: 20-21
Intelligent people easily find profitable jobs in worldly fields, whereas profit of the religious kind is linked to the next world. In this world, we can see wealth and honour and fame within our reach, whereas in espousing a religious cause, we feel that we have to wait for the reward in the next world.
Religious work is based on modesty rather than on pride or superiority.
Considering this, it would not be wrong to say that this idea of intelligence is quite different from that of wisdom. Such people, keeping their eyes on their immediate profit, overlook eternal profit. In exchange for the false and ephemeral happiness of this world, they deprive themselves of the true happiness of Paradise.
Another trait associated with this kind of intelligence is egoism, which has no place in religion. Religious work is based on modesty, rather than on pride or superiority. People who consider themselves intelligent in this way find it difficult to suspend their egos, and so they cannot reconcile their personal desires with religious work. Religious work can only be done by those who have surrendered fully to God. Even the slightest shortcoming in this regard renders them incompetent to perform religious work.
Forget what you have lost so that you can achieve what still remains.