Man’s Powerlessness
In his book, The Mysterious Universe, the British scientist Sir James Jeans writes: “It appears that man has strayed into a world which was not made for him.” It would be more appropriate to say that, “Man appears to have strayed into a world which was not made by him, nor is he its controller.”
In this world the existence of human beings is very strange. Man finds himself in this world—not of his own volition—as a living existence. But this existence is a gift: he has not created himself. Man needs a healthy body. Only if he has a healthy body can he lead a full life, but having a healthy body is not within his power. For this, man needs many things which are collectively called the life support system. Only with the aid of this system can he lead a successful life, but to maintain this system is not in his power.
Man needs a favourable climate. With a favourable climate man can lead a life of peace and comfort. But, to maintain this favourable climate is not in his control. Man has the desire for an eternal life. But everyone who is born into this world dies at a certain point of time. It is beyond his power to keep death at bay. Man is in all respects a being who has many needs. But to fulfil his needs, he is entirely in need of an external power.
This aspect of human life is worth pondering upon. Man has been invested with power but not in any complete sense. For, even with such power as he has, there are many of his needs which he cannot fulfil on his own. These two contradictory aspects of human life compel man to think seriously and discover the reality of his existence and plan the building of his life according to this discovery.
Human experience tells us that in this world man is only a taker, vis-a-vis some other being who alone is the Giver. This relationship compels man to think about the reality of his life and then proceed accordingly. Given this state of affairs, he should place himself in the position where he actually belongs and he should acknowledge the position of the Other Being which He deserves.
To put it briefly, if man thinks seriously about his life, he will find that he is in a position of servitude in this world, while the Other Being is in the position of a deity to be worshipped. It is this discovery which is the real secret of man’s success. One who applies his intellect to discover this reality, is a genuine human being. He is destined to have every eternal success. On the contrary, one who fails to make the discovery of this reality is but an animal in human form. For him there will be nothing but eternal loss in this world.
One who discovers this reality will, as stated in the Quran, spontaneously utter these words: “Praise be to God, the Lord of the Worlds.” (1:2) This will show gratitude to the superior being who is the Lord of the whole world, who is there to compensate for human deficiency. This acknowledgement will produce a revolution within man when he experiences intense love for God. It is this individual who in the Quran is credited with being a believer.
