MAN’S POWERLESSNESS

Man’s condition in this world is extraordinary. He finds himself alive here, with an individual existence of his own, but this existence is a gift, for he has not bestowed it on himself. Man requires those many things to live that comprise the life-support system, but he cannot create any of these on his own. Man desires eternal life, but every person who takes birth on earth dies at an appointed time. It is beyond man’s capacity to stave off the arrival of death.

Man is, in a complete sense, a powerless creature. He is entirely dependent on an external Power to fulfil all his needs. This aspect of man shows that in this world, he is only a taker and that, on the other hand, there is someone else here—the Creator—who is a Giver, on whom man is dependent for everything. This equation should lead man to think about the reality of his existence and shape his life accordingly. He should recognize both his own and the Creator’s actual position.

Briefly put, if man reflects on his case with seriousness, he will find that in this world, he is in the position of a servant, and God is in the position of his Master. That person alone deserves to be called an actual human being who discovers this reality using his intellectual abilities. All the eternal successes will be decreed upon him on this basis.

Conversely, a person who fails to discover this truth is no better than an animal in human form. Such a person faces nothing but eternal loss.

The person who discovers this reality will, in a very natural way, respond to it in a manner that reflects these words of the very first chapter of the Quran:

“All praise is due to God, the Lord of the Universe” (1:2)

These words express gratefulness to that Almighty Being who is the Sustainer of all the worlds and the One who compensates for all the limitations of human beings. This acknowledgement can produce a veritable revolution inside a person if he is overwhelmed with an intense love for God and fear of God. This person is referred to as a believer in the Quran who has discovered God.