Dr. Muhammad Maroof Shah
The Quran declares that man has been created in trouble (90:4) and that it was a foolish act on man’s part to accept the crushing burden of personality or amanah (or trust of the world) (33: 72). The Satanic question mark on man’s excellence and angelic irreverent skepticism of his moral worth (in the story of genesis in the Quran) seems to have been vindicated. Satan, according to the Quran, found true his judgment about a rebellious humanity (34:20).
Impressive record of human vices, human folly, infidelity, waste and irresponsibility seems to vindicate the satanic reservations about Adam and his descendents as Shabir Akhtar notes in his A Faith for All Seasons. Most people deserve hell due to their kufr or ingratitude to God. Human history, from Cain onwards, is mostly bad news. This is eloquently testified by the Quran. Human history, judged from the prophetic standards, seems to record a fall and inspires irredeemable pessimism. Man has great capacity to resist the heaven’s summons and actively desires to thwart God’s purpose.
Attainment of virtuous destiny which requires the patient struggle, the hard climb (Quran 90:11) is very difficult for most men. “There persists within human nature that inner, regrettably often dominant, tendency to evil, the fruits of which are gathered in the Quranic world of unheeded messengers and the sombre ruins of the subverted cities.” Satan is always tempting man as he flows in his arteries, said the Prophet (S.A.W).
The following account, reproduced from Shabir Akhter, sums up the Quranic view of man. This is the vicegerent of God and inheritor of divine kingdom, worthy of the immortal life, nobler than angels, made in the image of God, is built of not only the noblest stuff but also the vilest of clay.
He is more often than not inclined to evil and reduced to the “lowest of the low and gravitating towards the ground” (Quran 7:176). Although he is the epitome of God’s fair handiwork, semi divine, angels have prostrated before him and God has reposed tremendous trust in him. According to the Quran, he is also created weak (4:28) and his nature conceals a permanent emotional restlessness, (70:19), is made of haste (17:11), is impetuous, weak willed, foolish and shortsighted.
The human constitution as ordained by Allah’s free decree contains a natural tendency to wrong doing (12:35). The Quran’s charge is that human beings often fail to cultivate and discipline a faculty that would serve to remind them of their normative endowment. In their heedlessness, men associate false divinities with Allah. “Most of my servants are given to rejection (kufr) of God” declares the Quranic God repeatedly.
It is men’s response to the call of the minaret, whether in penitent submission (Islam) or in impenitent rejection (kufr), that will decide the final outcome of the human drama that will vindicate the wisdom of God….Unfortunately, however, rejection and perverse heedlessness litter the human saga. We have here the irrefutable testimony of the sacred volume itself.
The picture is a lugubrious one, of an incorrigible humanity addicted to sin and ingratitude, never turning in repentance until their cup is full (34:15-19) An admittedly forbearing sovereignty will not tolerate disobedience and obduracy. God warns; men disregard; and again. And then, Allah’s judgment comes suddenly while the sinners sleep the sleep of heedlessness: morning finds a generation fallen prostate in its habitation (7:78).
However, there is the other side of the story also.
There is, the Quran tells us … piety too, including conspicuous piety . Many human beings have responded sometimes enthusiastically, to the heavenly summons; indeed a whole community now and again surrenders and pays heed (10:99). God’s servants include men of unusual moral integrity; over them Satan has no authority. God’s judgment about them was true.
If Sin and rejection don’t tell the whole story, they tell most of it. “Few indeed of my servants,” laments the Quran time and again, (e.g., 34:13) “are grateful.” “Most men accept anything and everything but faith (17:89).” Man has foolishly accepted the trust (amanah) of the world (53:72). For most people the vast panorama of evil defeats all human comprehension, especially if one is a theist. As Shabir Akhtar puts it:
An assessment of the actual record of human behavior may lead one to deny, absurdly the wisdom of God; yet to affirm the ultimate wisdom of the divine being is, in effect, to deny the realities of human nature and history. One could, of course, short circuit critical thought here by pontificating that such an admittedly peculiar circumstance finds resolution purely within the province of the mystery (ghayb) of Allah’s doings.
But the puzzle itself remains. And it is located on a high level of seriousness for it is, in a way, the central riddle of religious thought.” “The fact that there is a strong capacity in men for active opposition of the prophetic cause has long been a source of theological puzzles.
That man mostly misuses his freedom is apparently incompatible with all-wise, omniscient or good God. The significance of sin – of zulm in koranic vocabulary must be assessed in relationship both to demands of religious morality and to resources of human nature under divine tuition.
God has created man frail and with inherent proclivity to sin and yet he is expected to fulfill the deeply exacting demands of religious faith. It is only to be expected that all have sinned, all have fallen short of the glory of God. Is it a matter of surprise that a strict application of koranic justice would not ‘leave a single soul unpunished on earth’ (16:6, 35:45).
God’s fazl or grace and redemptive power must interfere and come to man’s rescue.
Author can be mailed at Marooof123@gmail.com
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