Today the world is becoming more and more sensitive to environmental pollution. Cleansing the atmosphere and human surroundings from things that are detrimental to any form of life has assumed unprecedented importance. This is of course a very healthy development. In the limited life span we all have, our quality of life should be as high as possible. However, there is another form of pollution to which God wants us to become sensitive to as well. It can be called ‘moral pollution’.
Just as the filth around us pollutes our environment, the evil found within and around us also stains our environment. Eyes may not see it, yet it cannot be concealed from the mind’s vision:
… Things that come out of the mouth come from the heart and these make a man ‘unclean’. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’. (Matt, 15:17-19)
If environmental pollution is detrimental for man’s physical being, moral pollution is detrimental for his spiritual being. A body which is morally polluted is perhaps dirtier than a place which is environmentally polluted. It is only a question of recognizing this reality. Man tends to forget it and the Gracious Allah constantly reminds him of it.
Purification of the soul, consequently, has remained the objective of divine religions, for it is their verdict that only purified souls will enter the everlasting abode of Paradise. So, we must all vie to root out moral pollution if we are to enter this blissful life.