Praise be to Allah.
Allah has created man and given him reason, and He has sent down to him Revelation and sent to him Messengers to call him to the truth and warn him against falsehood. Then He has left him to make his own choice.
“And
say: ‘The truth is from your Lord.’ Then whosoever wills, let him believe; and
whosoever wills, let him disbelieve.”
[al-Kahf
18:29 – interpretation of the meaning]
Allah
commanded His Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to
convey the truth to all of mankind. Then they have the choice to do as they
wish. If a person obeys, he benefits himself, and if he disobeys, he harms
himself, as Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Say:
‘O you mankind! Now truth (i.e. the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad), has come
to you from your Lord. So whosoever receives guidance, he does so for the good
of his own self; and whosoever goes astray, he does so to his own loss; and I
am not (set) over you as a Wakeel (disposer of affairs to oblige you for
guidance).’”
[Yoonus
10:108]
Islam
is the religion of the natural state of man (fitrah), the religion of reason
and thought. Allah has distinguished the truth from falsehood. He has enjoined
all that is good and forbidden all that is evil. He has permitted good things
and forbidden evil things. There is no compulsion in religion because the
benefits or harms come back upon the created being, not upon the Creator. Allah
says (interpretation of the meaning):
“There
is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from
the wrong path. Whoever disbelieves in taghoot (false gods) and believes in
Allah, then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that will never
break.”
[al-Baqarah
2:256]
And
Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Whosoever
does righteous good deeds, it is for (the benefit of) his ownself; and
whosoever does evil, it is against his ownself. And your Lord is not at all
unjust to (His) slaves.”
[Fussilat
41:46]
Guidance
is in the hand of Allah. If Allah willed, He could guide all of mankind, for
there is nothing that He cannot do on this earth or in the heavens. Nothing
happens in His Dominion except that which He wills.
“Say:
‘With Allah is the perfect proof and argument, (i.e. the Oneness of Allah, the
sending of His Messengers and His Holy Books, to mankind); had He so willed, He
would indeed have guided you all.’”
[al-An’am
6:149 – interpretation of the meaning]
But
in His Wisdom, Allah has created us with the ability to choose, and He has sent
down to us guidance and the Criterion. So whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger
will enter Paradise and whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger will enter
Hell, as Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Verily,
proofs have come to you from your Lord, so whosoever sees, will do so for (the
good of) his ownself, and whosoever blinds himself, will do so to his own harm,
and I (Muhammad) am not a watcher over you.”
[al-An’am
6:104]
The
Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has no part in guidance;
all that he and the Muslims have to do is to explain and convey the message,
and show them guidance but they cannot force people to follow it, as Allah said
to His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) (interpretation of
the meaning):
“And
had your Lord willed, those on earth would have believed, all of them together.
So, will you (O Muhammad) then compel mankind, until they become believers?”
[Yoonus
10:99]
And
Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And
the duty of the Messenger is only to convey (the Message) plainly.”
[al-‘Ankaboot
29:18]
Guidance
to the truth is in the hand of Allah alone and no human being has any share in
that, as Allah said to His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)
(interpretation of the meaning):
“Verily,
you (O Muhammad) guide not whom you like, but Allah guides whom He wills. And
He knows best those who are the guided.”
[al-Qasas
28:56]
Allah
guides whomsoever He wills and sends astray whomsoever He wills. He has told us
that He guides those who obey Him and turn to Him, as He says (interpretation
of the meaning):
“While
as for those who accept guidance, He increases their guidance and bestows on
them their piety.”
[Muhammad
47:17]
But
whoever disobeys Allah and turns away from Him, Allah will not guide him, as He
says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Truly,
Allah guides not him who is a liar, and a disbeliever.”
[al-Zumar
39:3]
Allah
is Omniscient and knows what has happened and is happening and what is yet to
come. Allah knows the believers and the disbelievers, and what they will do,
and He knows what their fate will be in the Hereafter. He has written all this
in al-Lawh al-Mahfooz (the Preserved Tablet), as He says (interpretation of the
meaning):
“And
all things We have recorded in a Book.”
[al-Naba
78:29]
Allah
has created man with the ability to choose, and He has created him able to do
both, either believe or disbelieve, as He says (interpretation of the
meaning):
“Verily,
We showed him the way, whether he be grateful or ungrateful.”
[al-Insan
76:3]
Man
has the choice in terms of his reason only; if he loses his reason by which he
is able to distinguish between the alternatives of good and evil, truth and
falsehood, then he is not accountable. Hence according to Islamic sharee’ah
(law), the pen is lifted from the insane person (i.e., he is not accountable)
until he recovers his senses, and from the child until he reaches the age of
understanding, and from the sleeper until he wakes up. None of these people are
accountable until they gain or recover the reason by which they may distinguish
between the alternatives of faith and disbelief, truth and falsehood, and so
on.
Whatever
direction a person takes, there will be reward and punishment. If he obeys,
there will be Paradise:
“Indeed
he succeeds who purifies his ownself (i.e. obeys and performs all that Allah
ordered, by following the true Faith of Islamic Monotheism and by doing
righteous good deeds.”
[al-Shams
91:9 – interpretation of the meaning]
And
if he disobeys, there will be Hell:
“And
indeed he fails who corrupts his ownself (i.e. disobeys what Allah has ordered
by rejecting the true Faith of Islamic Monotheism or by following polytheism,
or by doing every kind of evil wicked deed.”
[al-Shams
91:10 – interpretation of the meaning]
The
choice of one of these two ways is something about which a person will be
questioned by the Lord of the Worlds. Hence it is clear that faith or
disbelief, obedience or disobedience, is a matter of personal choice. Allah has
made reward and punishment dependent upon this choice:
“Whosoever
does righteous good deeds, it is for (the benefit of) his ownself; and
whosoever does evil, it is against his ownself. And your Lord is not at all
unjust to (His) slaves.”
[Fussilat
41:46]
Whoever
loves Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and
desires good in this world and in the Hereafter, let him enter Islam, and
whoever turns away from that and is content with this world and has no interest
in the Hereafter and does not submit, then his abode will be Hell. The
individual is the one who will benefit or harm himself. There is no compulsion
to choose either. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Verily,
this (Verses of the Quran) is an admonition, so whosoever wills, let him take a
Path to his Lord (Allah).”
[al-Insan
76:29]
And Allah knows best.
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