The Religion of Nature
Islam is the religion of nature. By accepting Islam, man becomes God’s servant both in the physical and ethical sense. He gives God his total obedience.
A man who wishes to travel across the sea will not do so if he walks on dry land. He does not go on foot straight into the sea as if he were on terra firma. Instead, for the occasion, he will hire a boat, sit in it, and continue on his journey.
By such behaviour, he acknowledges that he is living in a world made not by him but by his Creator and that the world is subject to God’s laws. Man is, therefore, obliged to lead his life in complete accordance with this external world made by God, at least regarding matters of a physical nature. Had man thought himself to be the Creator of this world; he would have walked straight into the water as he walked across the land. Man has opted for this conformance with the laws of the world of nature in fifty per cent of his life. He never deviates from it. However, he has abandoned this confor-mance in the other fifty per cent of his life.
There are two aspects to a man’s life, one is physical and the other ethical. In the physical aspect of his life, man has submitted to God, as have the rest of the animate and inanimate objects in this world. However, in the ethical aspect, he follows the dicates of his conscience—or desires—instead of God’s commands. Instead of the posture of submission, he adopts the stance of rebellion. How is this contradiction to be resolved? The only solution to this problem is that a man becomes God’s servant one hundred per cent: he gives Him his total obedience.
Since the result of deviation from nature in the material world immediately comes to light, man conforms to natural laws in the material aspect of his life. However, the result of any deviation does not immediately become known in the ethical world, so man defies God’s laws.
If a farmer does not follow the proper cultivation method, he cannot expect to reap a complete harvest. Similarly, one who does not obey the moral code in this world will find that only remorse and deprivation will be his lot in the Hereafter.
