The Dead-End Avenue

If you don’t know, perhaps there are questions that never even cross your mind. But who among us would truly choose not to know?

Isn’t innocence, too, a form of freedom? You can always say you don’t know. But once you do know, an important responsibility arises — one that people sometimes try to shrug off by pretending they know nothing.

It’s difficult to say which of these two states is more fulfilling. Yet standing at either extreme is never a good solution, especially since extremes meet far more often than we might think.

Those who know sometimes pretend to know nothing, while those who know nothing pretend to know everything.

If you travel through a city where the trees are red on one side and yellow on the other, you might feel compelled to choose between them, because both are equally inviting.

And yet, the Qur’an speaks clearly of choosing the straight path: a humble, uncorrupted way. A green road.

Knowing nothing and knowing too much seem to share the same affliction: arrogance.

And it is arrogance that wounds those who walk in between, trying to find answers to two different questions.

Qur’anic Sources

Surah 17 – Al-Isra, verse 36

Knowledge carries responsibility. Do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge, for the hearing, the sight and the heart will all be called to account.

Surah 31 – Luqman, verse 18

A reminder to remain humble and avoid arrogance and self-importance.

Surah 17 – Al-Isra, verse 37

Do not walk upon the earth with arrogance. Human beings must never forget their limitations.

Surah 1 – Al-Fatiha, verses 6–7

A prayer for guidance along the Straight Path, away from misguidance.

Surah 17 – Al-Isra, verse 9

The Qur’an as a guide to what is most upright and right.