Author: Abdul Hai Lay'yan
Religious Needs Assessment of Human Beings in the Light of Islamic Teachings (Part 13)
Religious Insights Influential in Human Success
Therefore, O human being, you have a Creator who fashioned you in a beautiful form, honored you, and made you His vicegerent on earth so that you might attain the highest and noblest objectives.
Sound intellect cannot accept that these intricate and microscopic details, at the time these verses were revealed, could have come from anyone other than the Creator of humankind—the One who knows the human being better than he knows himself, and is more capable of making him understand his own self. For indeed, a human being cannot truly know himself except through Him. For this reason, the greatest problem of a human being in his ignorance is his lack of knowledge of his own reality: “وَلَا تَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ نَسُوا اللَّهَ فَأَنسَاهُمْ أَنفُسَهُمْ”(1) Translation: “And do not be like those who forgot Allah, so He made them forget themselves.”
The Status of the Human Being Among the Inhabitants of the Earth
Allah the Exalted says: “وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً قَالُوا أَتَجْعَلُ فِيهَا مَن يُفْسِدُ فِيهَا وَيَسْفِكُ الدِّمَاءَ وَنَحْنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَ قَالَ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ * وَعَلَّمَ آدَمَ الْأَسْمَاءَ كُلَّهَا ثُمَّ عَرَضَهُمْ عَلَى الْمَلَائِكَةِ فَقَالَ أَنبِئُونِي بِأَسْمَاءِ هَؤُلَاءِ إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ * قَالُوا سُبْحَانَكَ لَا عِلْمَ لَنَا إِلَّا مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ * قَالَ يَا آدَمُ أَنبِئْهُم بِأَسْمَائِهِمْ فَلَمَّا أَنبَأَهُم بِأَسْمَائِهِمْ قَالَ أَلَمْ أَقُل لَّكُمْ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ غَيْبَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَأَعْلَمُ مَا تُبْدُونَ وَمَا كُنتُمْ تَكْتُمُونَ * وَإِذْ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ اسْجُدُوا لِآدَمَ فَسَجَدُوا إِلَّا إِبْلِيسَ أَبَى وَاسْتَكْبَرَ وَكَانَ مِنَ الْكَافِرِينَ(2)” Translation: “And when your Lord said to the angels: Indeed, I am placing a vicegerent on the earth. They said: Will You place in it one who will spread corruption therein and shed blood, while we glorify You with praise and sanctify You? He said: Indeed, I know what you do not know. And He taught Adam the names—all of them. Then He presented them to the angels and said: Inform Me of the names of these, if you are truthful. They said: Glory be to You! We have no knowledge except what You have taught us; indeed, you are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. He said: O Adam! Inform them of their names. And when he informed them of their names, He said: Did I not tell you that I know the unseen of the heavens and the earth, and I know what you reveal and what you conceal? And when We said to the angels: Prostrate before Adam, they all prostrated—except Iblis; he refused, acted arrogantly, and became one of the disbelievers.”
Some Lessons Derived from These Verses
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Honoring the human being among the assembly of the chosen (the higher realm) even before his creation.
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The appointment of Adam and his descendants as successors (vicegerents) on earth after other creatures already existed on it (such as the jinn, who inhabited the earth before humans).
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Assigning the mission of cultivating and developing the earth to Adam and his children.
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Revealing the virtue of the human being due to the knowledge Allah granted him and the honor with which He distinguished him.
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Making the human being aware of his transgressing enemy (Iblis).
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Preparing and training the human being with the experience of learning before descending to earth. (3)
The vicegerency (khilāfah) of the human being on earth is built upon firm and solid foundations. The purpose of this vicegerency is not dominance or competition with the animals of the earth; rather, its status is far higher than that. And the human being will reap the harvest of his efforts in this world in the stage that follows worldly life.
Discussion Two: After the Life of This World
The great civilization that mankind has built and the vast society with which the earth has been filled are intertwined with great issues that will never be resolved by human beings in this worldly life. Instead, it is necessary that these matters be settled in another realm, with justice and fairness among them.
That stage must be a place where the control of affairs is not in the hands of any individual or group of human beings; for if it were so, the situation would return to what it was in their worldly life. Rather, the authority must be solely in the hands of their Creator and Owner—the One who brought them into existence—so that He may judge between them in truth: “الْمُلْكُ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِّلَّهِ يَحْكُمُ بَيْنَهُمْ” (4) Translation: “The sovereignty on that Day will belong to Allah; He will judge between them.”
Human Responsibility and the Necessity of Divine Judgment
A human being is responsible for his actions, voluntary stances, and the consequences that arise from them: “وَلَا تَقْفُ مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِ عِلْمٌ إِنَّ السَّمْعَ وَالْبَصَرَ وَالْفُؤَادَ كُلُّ أُولَئِكَ كَانَ عَنْهُ مَسْئُولًا” (5) Translation: “And do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge. Indeed, the hearing, the sight, and the heart—each of these will be questioned.”
Furthermore, in worldly life, people have wronged one another and shown hostility to such an extent that it is inconceivable that their Creator and Sustainer would not settle matters between them. Allah the Exalted says: “إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَالَّذِينَ هَادُوا وَالصَّابِئِينَ وَالنَّصَارَى وَالْمَجُوسَ وَالَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَفْصِلُ بَيْنَهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ” (6) Translation: “Indeed, those who believe, and those who are Jews, and the Sabians, and the Christians, and the Magians, and those who associate others with Allah—indeed, Allah will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection. Surely, Allah is Witness over all things.”
In this verse, Allah—the Creator of all people—declares that all groups on earth: the believers, the People of the Book (Jews, Christians, and Sabians), the Magians, and the polytheists, will all be gathered on the Day of Resurrection, and He will judge between them with His just ruling. He will recompense them according to their deeds, which He has preserved, recorded, and witnessed.
To be continued…
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References:
- Surah Al-Hashr, Verse 20.
- Surah Al-Baqarah, Verses 30–34.
- Ibn Jarir al-Tabari, Jami‘ al-Bayan fi Ta’wil al-Qur’an, Vol. 1, p. 439;Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Ansari al-Qurtubi, Al-Jami‘ li Ahkam al-Qur’an, Beirut: Dar Ihya’ al-Turath al-‘Arabi, 1965 CE, Vol. 1, p. 302;
Imad al-Din Abu al-Fida’ Isma‘il ibn Kathir, Tafsir al-Qur’an al-‘Azim, Vol. 1, p. 216.
- Surah Al-Hajj, Verse 56.
- Surah Al-Isra, Verse 36.
- Surah Al-Hajj, Verse 17.
- Abdurrahman ibn Nasir al-Sa‘di, Tayseer al-Karim al-Rahman fi Tafsir Kalam al-Mannan, p. 535.
