A Powerful Pain Sweeps Over Us
Mahdi Kawrani — 2026.10.01
A powerful pain sweeps over us… not the pain of the body, but the pain of the soul, the pain of faith, the pain of fear for humanity, for our children, and for the generations that will come after us.
We are living in an era where materialism and secularism advance forcefully, infiltrating the details of life in endless ways. A world drowning in images, lights, screens, advertisements, entertainment, and tools of distraction and amusement—leaving the mind no prolonged opportunity to ask: Where are we going? Why were we created? What is our true purpose?
Humanity has become besieged by a massive deluge of information, though not necessarily a deluge of knowledge. Millions of news stories, clips, comments, images, opinions, trends, games, series, platforms, and notifications… so much information, yet it is frequently superficial, fragmented, rapidly consumed, draining attention and stealing from humanity what is most precious: awareness, time, and the capacity to ponder grand priorities.
At the same time, global elites and centers of power are moving along immense technological, economic, and cultural trajectories. The question is not merely: What is humanity capable of making? Rather, the more dangerous question is: Where could these human capabilities lead if they become divorced from faith, ethics, and the divine purpose?
We have entered the age of artificial intelligence, big data, behavioral engineering, behavioral prediction, and platforms competing for human attention. Now, we are heading toward Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), and perhaps toward systems with even greater capability, influence, and hegemony over the details of life. With development, modernity, and technology, the worldly spectrum, its lights, and its temptations expand before humanity in a manner unprecedented in human history.
In narrations, we find severe warnings regarding the tribulations of the end times, of vetting and sifting. Contents have been transmitted stating that people “shall be sifted, then sifted, then sifted,” regarding the intensity of tribulations, and concerning the trial of the Antichrist (al-Dajjal), the like of which has no equal. Narrations are also conveyed speaking of Iblis’s (Satan) joy over the emergence of wealth in the world; these texts, with varying degrees of authenticity in their chains of transmission, clearly express a profound meaning: that wealth, worldly life, and tribulations can transform from tools in human hands into instruments that enslave humanity and make it forget its Lord.
Therefore, the battle is not merely with desire, nor with wealth, nor with fame—it is the addiction to being lost.
It is a battle for the mind, the awareness, and the heart.
There are many titles crowding today to push humanity away from God: materialism, consumerism, individualism, immersion in entertainment, the worship of fame, the sacralization of the market, the reduction of human beings into mere consumers, the weakening of the family, the emptying of values of their meaning, moral relativism, constant busyness, digital addiction, the attention economy, media deception, the excessive consumption of information, relentless technology, and finally artificial intelligence, which may increase its presence in every detail of life.
This does not mean that every science, technology, or modernity is inherently evil; science is a blessing, and technology is a tool. However, danger begins when the tool becomes the ultimate goal, when the worldly life becomes the center, and when God, the Hereafter, the soul, and morality are relegated to the margins.
Herein lies our true pain.
Our generation suffered to preserve its religion and faith amidst these successive waves. Yet we fear that our children’s suffering will be even greater, and that our grandchildren’s suffering will be greater still.
What will happen to humanity decades from now, when the digital world becomes more deeply attached to the human mind, more capable of capturing its attention, influencing its choices, shaping its desires, and steering its behavior?
What will remain of humanity if it possesses everything, yet loses a heart that knows God?
We do not weep out of fear of the technological future alone; rather, we weep out of fear for our children’s faith, minds, awareness, innate disposition (fitrah), morals, and capacity to recognize the truth amidst a world of escalating noise, temptation, and distraction.
Our pain today is that we perceive something of the path down which humanity may tread, and we dread that our children will reach a time when distancing oneself from God is easier than ever before, and returning to Him is harder than ever before.
Therefore, it is not enough merely to warn.
We must cultivate a human being capable of living in the heart of technology without becoming its slave, of utilizing science without worshipping science, of benefiting from worldly life without letting worldly life dwell in the heart, and of possessing technology without being possessed by it.
We must restore to the mind its mission, to the soul its standing, to the family its sanctuary, to religion its presence, to morality its centrality, and to humanity its grandest purpose: to know God, to purify oneself, to reason, and to live a good, dignified, and just life.
If our time is difficult, we must raise a stronger generation.
If the tribulations are great, we must increase our awareness.
If the world raises its voices, we must raise the voice of faith.
And if the world fills our children’s minds with information, we must teach them wisdom, meaning, and insight.
For the true fear is not that the world advances. The fear is that the world advances while humanity loses its own soul.
O Allah, protect our children and our coming generations, steady their hearts upon faith, illuminate their minds with awareness and wisdom, do not make the worldly life their greatest concern, and do not let technology, wealth, fame, and pleasure veil them from You.
O Allah, we complain to You of the absence of our Wali (guardian), the multitude of our enemies, the smallness of our number, the severity of tribulations upon us, and the collusion of the times against us.
O Allah, do not leave us to ourselves, and do not abandon our children to this world.
And make us among those who traverse the age of tribulations with faith, reason, and insight, until Your relief arrives and the sun of Your coming luminous civilization dawns.
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