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In the name of God, the Kind, the Merciful
A systematic study of the Holy Qur'an-09
By
Dr Javed Jamil
MAN: AIM AND NATURE
In Islam, man occupies the central position in universal system. Man is the supreme creation of God; he is His viceroy or deputy on the earth. The universe is governed by God; every creation submits to His Will by following the Laws of Nature established by Him. It is only Man and Jinn that have been bestowed upon with a free will, which though is subject to the will of God. Having given man a free will, and the intellect and physical capability to use that free will, man has been given the charge of the earth; he has been created for and is expected to govern it in accordance with the guidelines of God. He is advised to work within the framework of rights, duties and prohibitions, elaborated by God through His messengers. Yet, he is free to even transgress those limits. And it is on the basis of how he sticks to the God's bounds that he will be tried. Man is therefore accountable for his activities; if he follows God's injunctions, supreme bliss awaits him when he returns to Him; if he violates them or wanders aimlessly, the eternal hell will be his destination.
If it has been said that God recorded everything in the Hidden Tablet before the creation of the universe, it does not mean that Destiny governs every human act. Had it been so, man would not have been responsible for his acts. Recording of the events by God only means that His Knowledge is absolute; He does not depend on the event for knowing it; He knows everything that will ever occur in the universe. While it is true that nothing can happen without God letting it happen, letting happen implies only permission, not approval. When man commits an error, it is not because God approves or commands it; but because he has let him do it; for he has been given free will and intelligence to decide what he wants to do.
In the name of God, the Kind, the Merciful
MAN IN THE QUR'AN
· Does man think that he will be left aimless. (75: 36/Z)
· When your Lord said to the angels: I am placing on the earth one that shall be My deputy..... (2: 30/Z)
· It is He who hath made
You (His) agents, inheritors
Of the earth: He hath raised
you in ranks, some above
Others: that He may try you
In the gifts He hath given you:
For thy Lord is quick
In punishment; yet He
Is indeed oft-forgiving,
Most merciful. (6: 165/A)
· Be sure We shall test you
With something of fear
And hunger, some loss
In goods or lives or the fruits
(of your toil), but give glad tidings to those
Who patiently persevere,
Who say, when afflicted
With calamity: "To God
We belong, and to Him
Is our return".
They are those on whom
(Descend) Blessings from God,
And Mercy,
And they are the ones
That receive guidance. (2: 155-157/A)
· You shall be tried in your possessions and your persons, and be subjected to the insults of those to whom the Scriptures were given before you and of the polytheists. But if you endure with fortitude and guard yourselves against evil, you shall prove your mettle. (3: 186/Z)
· Lo! Allah wrongeth not mankind in aught; but mankind wrong themselves. (10: 44/P)
· Each man shall reap the fruits of his own deeds: no soul shall bear another's burden. In the end you shall all return to your Lord, and He will inform you about that in which you differed. (6: 164/Z)
· It is We Who have
Placed you with authority
On earth and provided
You there in with means
For the fulfilment of your life:
Small are the thanks
That ye give! (7: 10/A)
· O ye children of Adam!
Let not Satan seduce you
In the same manner as
He got your parents out
Of the Garden, stripping them
Of their raiment, to expose
Their shame for he
And his tribe watch you
From a position where ye
Cannot see them: We made
The Evil Ones friend
(Only) to those without faith. (7: 27/A)
· No soul can believe, except
By the will of God, (10: 100/A)
· Verily this is no less
Than a Message
To (all) the worlds:
(with profit) to whoever
Among you wills
To go straight:
But ye shall not will
Except as God wills,
The Cherisher of the Worlds. (81: 27-29/A)
· He helps whom he will, And he is Exalted in Might, Most Merciful. (30: 5/A)
· O man ! What has seduced thee from
Thy Lord Most Beneficent?
Him who created thee,
Fashioned thee in due proportion,
And gave thee a just bias;
In whatever form He wills,
Does he put thee together.
Nay! but ye do
Reject Right and Judgement! (82: 6-9/A)
· No misfortune can happen on earth or in your souls but is recorded in a decree before We bring it into existence: That is truly easy for God, in order that ye may not despair over matters that pass you by, nor exult over favours bestowed upon you; for Allah loveth not any vainglorious boaster,- such persons as are covetous and commend covetousness to men. And if any turn back (from Allah's Way), verily Allah is Free of all Needs, Worthy of all Praise. (57: 22-24/A)
· Every man's fate
We have fastened
On his own neck.
On the Day of Judgement
We shall bring out
For him a scroll
which he will see
Spread Open.
(It will be said to him:)
"Read thine (own) score:
Sufficient is thy soul
This day to make out
An account against thee." (17: 13-14/A)
* Who receiveth guidance,
Receiveth it for his own
Benefit: Who goeth astray
Doth so to his own loss:
No bearer of burdens
Can bear the burden of another... (17:15/A)
· By the snorting runners, which strike fire with their hoofs, and which attack at dawn, and thereby raise dust, and split the gathering (enemy)! Surely man is ungrateful to his Lord. To this he shall himself bear witness. And truly on account of his love of wealth he is niggardly. Is he not aware that when those in the graves are raised and what is in their breasts is laid open, their Lord on that day will be Knowing? (100: 1-11/Z)
· When trouble toucheth a man,
He crieth unto Us
(In all postures) lying down
On his side, or sitting,
Or standing. But when We
Have solved his trouble,
He passeth on his way as if
He had never cried to Us
For a trouble that touched him!
Thus do the deeds of transgressors
Seem fair in their eyes! (10: 12/A)
· If we give man a taste
Of mercy from Ourselves,
And then withdraw it from him
Behold he is in despair
And (falls into) blasphemy.
But is we give him a taste
Of (Our) favours after
Adversity had touched him,
He is sure to say,
"All evil has departed from me:"
Behold! he falls into exultation
And pride;
Not so do those who show
patience and constancy, and work
Righteousness; for them
Is forgiveness (for sins)
And a great reward (11: 9-11/A)
· And ye have no good thing
But is from God; and moreover,
When ye are touched by distress
Unto him ye cry with groans;
Yet, when he removes
The distress from you, behold!
Some of you turn to other gods
To join with their Lord
As if to show their ingratitude
For the favours we have
Bestowed on them! Then enjoy
(Your brief day); but soon
Will ye know (your folly)! (16: 53-55/A)
· When a wave covers them
Like the canopy (of clouds),
They call to God,
Offering him sincere devotion.
But when He has delivered them
Safely to land, there are
Among them those that halt
Between (right and wrong).
But none reject Our sign
Except only a perfidious
Ungrateful (wretch)! (31: 32/A)
· Now, as for man,
When his Lord trieth him,
Giving him honour and gifts,
Then saith he, (puffed up).
"My Lord hath honoured me."
But when He trieth him,
Restricting His subsistence
For him, then saith he
(In despair), "My Lord
Hath humiliated me !" (89: 15-16/A)
· Whatever good, (O man!)
Happens to thee is from God;
But whatever evil happens
To thee, is from thy (own) soul. (4: 79/A)
· Whatever misfortune
Happens to you, is because
of the things your hands
Have wrought, and for many
(Of them) He grants forgiveness.
Nor can ye frustrate (aught),
(Fleeing) through the earth;
Nor have ye, besides God
Any one to protect
Or to help. (42: 30-31/A)
· Verily, with every difficulty there is relief. (94: 6/A)
· Yet man prays for evil as fervently as he prays for good. Truly, man is ever hasty. (17: 11/Z)
· Indeed man was created impatient. When evil befalls him, he is despondent; but blessed with good fortune he grows niggardly. (70: 19-21/Z)
· Impatience is the stuff man is made of you shall before long see My signs: do not ask Me to hasten them. (21: 37/Z)
· I do call to witness
This city;
And thou art a freemen
Of this city;
And (the mystic ties
Of) Parent and child;
Verily We have created
Man into toil and struggle.
Thinketh he, that none
Hath power over him?
He may say (boastfully):
Wealth have I squandered
In abundance!"
Thinketh he that none
Beholdeth him?
Have we not made
For him a pair of eyes?
And a tongue,
And a pair of lips
And shown him
The two highways?
But he hath made no haste
On the path that is steep;
And what will explain
To thee the path that is steep?-
(It is:) freeing the bondman;
Or the giving of food
In a day of privation
To the orphan
With claims of relationship,
Or to the indigent
(Down) in the dust.
Then will he be
Of those who believe,
And enjoin patience, (constancy,
And self-restraint), and enjoin
Deeds of kindness and compassion. (90: 1-17/A)
· Greedily you lay your hands on the inheritance of the weak, and you love riches with all your hearts. (89: 19-20/Z)
· The mutual rivalry
For piling up (the good things
of this world) diverts you
(From the more serious things),
Until ye visit the graves,
But may, ye soon shall
Know (the reality). (102: 1-3/A)
· Say: Each one doth according to his rule of conduct, and thy Lord is Best Aware of him whose way is right. (17: 84/P)
· By the Night as it
Conceals (the light);
By the Day as it
Appears in glory;
By (the mystery of)
The creation of male
And female;
Verily, (the ends) ye
Strive for are diverse.
So he who gives
(In charity) and fears (God)
And (in all sincerity)
Testifies to the Best,
We will indeed
Make smooth for him
The path to Bliss.
But he who is a greedy miser
And thinks himself
Self-sufficient,
And gives the lie
To the Best,
We will indeed
Make smooth for him
The path to Misery;
Nor will his wealth
Profit him when he
Falls headlong (into the pit). (92: 1-11/A)
· Your riches and your children May be but a trial:
But in the Presence of God,
Is the highest Reward. (64: 15/A)
· By (the taken of)
Time (through the Ages),
Verily Man
Is in loss,
Except such as have Faith,
And do righteous deeds,
And (join together)
In the mutual teaching
Of Truth, and of
Patience and Constancy. (103: 1-3/A)
· By the Fig and the Olive, and the Mount of Sinai, and this City of security,- We have indeed created man in the best of moulds; then do We abase him (to be) the lowest of the low,- except such as believe and do righteous deeds: For they shall have a reward unfailing. (95: 1-6/Z)
· Were they created out of the void ? Or were they their own creators. (52: 35/Z)
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