Man's
position in the Qur'an
By Amanulla Vadakkangara
Man is the masterpiece of Allah's creations. He has bestowed upon
him countless blessings and bounties. He has arranged everything on earth and Heavens for
his convenience and comforts. The Holy Qur'an refers to the esteemed position of Man in
several places. Let us examine some of the important remarks of Allah on Man.
In Sura Al Baqara Allah presents His intention of creation of Man
in the form of conversation between Him and the angels. Allah says: "Just think when
your Lord said to the angels: Lo I am about to place on it one who will spread mischief
and shed blood while we celebrate your glory and extol Your holiness? He said: 'Surely I
know what you do not know".
Thus far Man has been summoned to serve and obey God on the
grounds that God is his creator and sustainer, that in His grasp lies man's life and
death, that He alone is the Lord Who rules over the entire universe in which he lives. In
view of this, the only attitude which can be deemed appropriate for man is one of service
and subjection to God.
The same idea is presented in the following section, but
supported on slightly different grounds - namely that God created Man as His vicegerent.
In this capacity, man is obliged not merely to serve and worship Him, but also to act in
accordance with His instructions and guidance. The Qur'an warns that if man allows himself
to be misled by his archenemy, Satan, he will be guilty of the most serious rebellion
and will have to face the consequences of his action.
In this connection the Qur'an defines precisely the true nature
of man and his correct position in the universe. It also enlightens us to a period of
man's past which is otherwise inaccessible. What the Qur'an tells us here, with its
practical consequences, is of far greater value than knowledge derived by unearthing bones
and pottery, and piecing together scattered fragments of information with the help of
conjecture.
The word malak in Arabic means 'messagebearer'. Angels are not
depersonalized and abstract forces, they are beings with personalities of their own and
are employed by God for the administration of His universe. They are His faithful
servants. Some people have incorrectly considered them to be, in some way or another,
God's partners in His Lordship and Godhead, while others have considered them to be His
Kinsfolk, turning them into gods and worshipping them.
'Khalifa' or vicegerent is one who exercises the authority
delegated to him by his principal, and does so in the capacity of his deputy and agent.
Hence, whatever authority he possesses is not inherently his own, but is derived from, and
circumscribed by, the limits set by his principal. A vicegerent is not entitled to do what
he pleases, but is obliged to carry out the will of his master. If the vicegerent were
either to begin thinking himself the real owner and to use the authority delegated to him
in whatever manner he pleased, or if he were to acknowledge someone other than the real
owner as his lord and master and to follow his directions, these would be deemed acts of
infidelity and rebellion.
This was not said by way of objection or protest. It was said
rather by way of inquiry and in order to satisfy their curiosity; it is inconceivable that
the angels could object to any of God's decisions. The word 'vicegerent' suggested to them
that the proposed species of creation would be placed on earth with some authority. It was
incomprehensible to them how a species of being which had been invested with discretionary
power and authority could conform with the overall order of the universe, which is based
on absolute and involuntary subservience to the will of God. They thought that investing
anyone with authority any part of the universe would lead to mischief and disorder. It is
this aspect which the angels were curious about.
This does not mean that the angels considered themselves suitable
for 'vicegerency'. They merely wanted to point out that God's orders were already being
carried out fully, that they `- the angels - were engaged in doing His will and that
according to His Divine will the entire universe was kept in a state of absolute purity;
moreover, God's glory was constantly being extolled and His holiness celebrated. Since all
these things were being done, they wanted to ask what gap was still considered to exist
that called for the creation of a new species of being to fill it.
The word Tasbih has two meanings: (i) to proclaim glory and (ii)
to exert oneself earnestly and energetically. In the same way, Taqdis has two meanings;
(i) to celebrate or proclaim holiness and (ii) to purify.
This was an answer to the latter doubt expressed by the angels.
The angels were told that the reason for the appointment of a vicegerent was best known to
God alone and could not be understood by them. Despite the services rendered by the
angels, something over and above their work was still required. God decided, therefore, to
create a new species of being in the world and to invest it with some authority.
"Then Allah taught Adam the names of all things, and
presented them to the angels and said: 'If you are right (that the appointment of Man as
vicegerent will cause mischief) then tell Me the names of these things.' They said: 'Glory
to you! We have no knowledge except what You taught us. You, only You, are Allknowing,
Allwise.' Then Allah said to Adam: 'Tell them the names of these things'. And when he
had told them the names of all things, Allah said: 'Did I not say to you that I know
everything about the heavens and the earth which are beyond your range of knowledge and I
know all that you disclose and all that you hide?"
The nature of man's knowledge is such that he acquires
information of different things through their names. Hence it might be said that the sum
total of man's knowledge consists of the names of things. To teach Adam the names of all
things means, therefore, imparting the knowledge of those things.
It seems that the knowledge of each angel and each genre of angel
is confined to its own sphere of competence. The angels appointed to administer, let us
say, things relating to air have full knowledge about this subject but have no knowledge,
say about water, and so on and so forth. Man's range of knowledge, however, is
comprehensive. Even if man's information in a particular area may be narrower than that of
the angel directly concerned with it, the total range of his knowledge has a
comprehensiveness which has not been granted to the angels.
"And when we ordered the angels: 'Prostrate yourselves
before Adam', all of them fell prostrate, except Iblis." He refused, and gloried in
his arrogance and became one of the defiers. This demonstration of Adam's capacity was an
answer to the first of the doubts the angels had expressed. In this manner, they were made
to realise that God had not only bestowed some authority upon man, but had also endowed
him with knowledge. Fear of mischief and disorder through man's appointment as vicegerent
is only one aspect of the matter. The other aspect is constructive and offsets man's
potentiality for spreading mischief. For the wise will not sacrifice a major good for fear
of a minor harm.
This signifies that all the angels whose jurisdiction embraces
the earth and that part of the universe in which the earth is situated were ordered to
devote themselves to man's service. Since man had been invested with authority on earth
the angels were told that whenever man wanted to make use of the powers with which he had
been invested by God, and which God of His own will had allowed him to use, they should
cooperate with him and enable him to do whatever he wanted to do, irrespective of right
and wrong.
This can be understood with reference to the manner in which
government employees are required to work. When a sovereign appoints a governor or a
magistrate, all government employees under his jurisdiction are dutybound to obey him.
As long as the sovereign permits the governor or magistrate to exercise authority on his
behalf, people are required to obey him, irrespective of whether he exercises this
authority or not. But as soon as the sovereign indicates to those employees that the
governor or magistrate should be barred from doing something, the effective authority of
the governor or the magistrate comes to an abrupt end. In fact, were the sovereign to
issue the order that the governor be dismissed or imprisoned, the same employees who until
then had been moving to and fro at his bidding would not feel hesitant in putting
handcuffs on him and taking him to prison.
God's order to the angels to prostrate themselves before Adam was
of a similar nature. It is possible that prostration signifies the fact of their becoming
yoked to man's service. At the same time it is also possible that they were ordered to
perform the act of prostration itself as a sign of the envisaged relationship between
angels and man. In my view the latter seems more plausible.
"And We said: 'O Adam, live in the Garden, you and your
wife, and eat abundantly of whatever you wish but do not approach this tree or else you
will be counted among the wrongdoers."
This indicates that before man was sent to earth - the realm of
his vicegerency - Adam and Eve were kept in Paradise in order to test them and their
proclivities. A tree was chosen for this test and they were told not to approach it. They
were also told that if they did approach it they would be reckoned as wrongdoers in the
sight of God. It is unnecessary to delve into a discussion about what tree was and what
was the particular reason underlying the prohibition to approach it. The actual reason for
the prohibition was not that any particular evil inhered in the tree which could harm Adam
and Eve, but rather to test how far they would follow the instructions of God and overcome
the temptations of Satan. Anything that served this purpose was good enough, and this is
why God has mentioned neither the name of the tree nor its attributes.
Moreover, for this kind of test Paradise was the best possible
place. What God wanted to impress on man was that the only place that befits man's station
is Paradise, and that if man turns from the course of obedience to God as a result of
Satanic allurements, he will remain deprived of it in the Next Life even as he was
deprived of it once before. The only way he can recover his true status and reclaim the
lost Paradise is by resisting effectively the enemy who is always trying to drive him off
the course of obedience to God.
To be continued Insha' Allah
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