"Do not follow what you have no established knowledge of. Indeed, all will be called to account for (their) hearing, sight, and intellect."
— Qur’an, Surah Al-Isra (17:36)
In an age where noise often drowns reason, where belief is outsourced and perception manipulated, this Holy verse of the Glorious Qur’an rings as both caution and command. It does not merely discourage ignorance. It forbids submission to unexamined thoughts, second-hand convictions, and blind conformity. It positions man as the sole custodian of his consciousness. Answerable not for what he inherits or absorbs by default, but for what he consciously chooses to affirm, to see, to say, and to become.
The Qur’anic verse pierces the illusion of moral outsourcing. Hearing, sight, and intellect, man’s primary faculties of knowledge, are not communal assets. They are individual trusts. No man can think for another. No crowd can substitute one’s personal duty to understand. No ideology, tradition, or emotion can exonerate the intellect that abdicates its function. The verse is not a recommendation for scepticism; it is a demand for internal sovereignty.
This principle finds parallel expression in James Allen’s As a Man Thinketh, a slender volume that has endured as a secular scripture of personal transformation. Allen’s thesis is radical in its simplicity: A man is literally what he thinks. His character, circumstances, and even his destiny are the sum total of his dominant thoughts. While Allen draws from traditional wisdoms and ancient civilisation, the essence of his message converges neatly with the Qur'anic imperative. You are responsible for your thoughts because thought is the seed of all speeches, all actions, and all consequences.
Yes, modernity and, by extension the social media, has democratized information but diluted discernment. In the age of algorithms, thinking has become a passive process. We scroll, we react, we imitate, but rarely do we reflect. Ideas are consumed like fast food; quickly, mindlessly, and with little awareness of their origin or nutritional value. The verse in Surah Al-Isra is not just timeless. It is urgently contemporary. It commands man to reclaim the act of conscious thought. To interrogate the ideas that animate his opinions, to trace the lineage of his loyalties, to sift emotion from evidence.
Borrowed thought leads to moral abdication. When individuals adopt beliefs because “everyone says so,” or because “that’s how it has always been,” they trade truth for comfort. They mimic the movements of others while forfeiting the integrity of independent judgment. In such a state, conscience becomes a function of conformity, not conviction.
Allen warns that thoughts are not idle. They are creative forces. A man who harbours resentment, fear, or dishonesty will inevitably speak and act from that poisoned well. If his thought is borrowed, his character will be artificial. An echo of others, not the expression of his own moral struggle. The Qur’an's declaration that man will be held accountable for his intellect is an indictment of this intellectual laziness. Responsibility does not end with action. It begins at the level of perception and intention.
Allen's metaphor of thought as seed and life as harvest is instructive. The farmer who sows weeds can not expect wheat. Likewise, the man who nourishes his mind with jealousy, pride, or apathy should not expect a life of peace, integrity, or purpose. Each thought, like a seed, contains within it a future. It may sprout slowly, unnoticed. But it will shape one’s character, choices, and fate.
The Qur’an’s holistic view of man as a moral agent rests on the same logic. The faculties of hearing, sight, and intellect are not inert. They are tools of discernment, channels through which knowledge enters and character is formed. To misuse them and expose the ears to slander, the eyes to vanity, or the mind to error, is to misguide the soul. Accountability, therefore, is not just a matter of outward deeds but of inward vigilance.
Modern culture often divorces thoughts from consequences. It treats opinion as entertainment, not obligation. Social media rewards reaction, not reflection. But the Qur’an reinstates thought as a sacred act, a moral frontier. Allen, too, insists that the man who masters his thoughts masters his destiny. He becomes “the lord of his soul, the captain of his fate”. Not through domination, but through discipline.
True freedom begins with the freedom to think. But with that freedom comes burden. You can not blame anyone for the thoughts you cherish. The intellect is sovereign. It can not be inherited or delegated. When the Qur’an says man will be called to account for his hearing, sight, and intellect, it affirms the dignity of moral agency.
This is where Allen’s work becomes almost prophetic. He does not propose that man simply “thinks positive.” He calls for the rigorous cultivation of noble, honest, and purposeful thoughts. It is not enough to reject falsehood; one must seek the truth. It is not enough to avoid evil. One must will what is good. Every noble achievement Allens writes was once a thought, cherished in solitude, protected in adversity, executed with resolve.
The Qur’an, too, celebrates the thoughtful man; not the most obedient, but the most awakened. Prophet Ibrahim (AS) questioned the idols of his people. Yusuf (AS) interpreted dreams not through superstition but reason. Musa (AS) confronted Pharaoh not with slogans but insight. The Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) spent years in meditation before revelation. Revelation did not come to a distracted man but to one accustomed to contemplation.
The real struggle is not between man and the world, but between man and his own thoughts. Every temptation begins as a suggestion. Every sin is preceded by moral laceration. And every virtue, too, is born from intention. Allen observed that man does not attract what he wants but what he is. His outer life is the mirror of his inner state. This is no different from the Qur’anic principle that “Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change what is within themselves” (13:11).
Change begins in thought. But thought must be active, not passive; examined, not assumed. Rationality is not the enemy of faith. On the contrary, faith without reason is superstition. The Prophet repeatedly urged his disciples to reflect, to ask questions, to weigh evidence. He never asked them to abandon thought, only to refine it through the lens of revelation.
To build a just society, we must first cultivate just minds. The crisis of our time is not merely economic or political. It is epistemic. People no longer know how to know. They confuse virality with truth, feelings with facts, and familiarity with wisdom. The verse from Surah Al-Isra is a wake-up call. It invites each man to become a critical thinker, a self-aware agent, and a guardian of his own mind.
Allen’s message complements this call. He exhorts man to become “the master-gardener of his soul,” planting thoughts that yield virtue, courage, and peace. He warns that indulgence in negative or idle thoughts is not innocent. It is self-sabotage. The Qur’an elevates this to a divine ethic: you will be held to account, not only for what you did, but for how you saw, heard, and reasoned.
