DECEMBER 21

Human Will

And We enjoined man (to show kindness) to his parents, for with much pain his mother bears him, and he is not weaned before he is two years of age. We said: ‘Give thanks to Me and to your parents. To Me shall all things return. But if they press you to serve besides Me deities you know nothing of, do not obey them. Be kind to them in this world, and follow the path of those who turn to Me. To Me you shall all return, and I will declare to you all that you have done’ (31:14-15).

After God, a man’s parents are the ones to whom he is most indebted. But where there is a clash between what his parents desire from him and God’s will, he must disregard the former in favour of the latter. However, even then it is incumbent on him to continue to serve his parents.

Man’s responsibility to his parents is to pay their dues, to respect them, always to speak gently to them, to fulfill their needs and to be of service to them in the fullest sense of the word.

Man’s obligation to God is to thank Him from the deepest recesses of his heart. He must acknowledge the godhead of God. All his feelings and emotions must be in acknowledgement of God’s blessings until at every moment he comes to remember God, his very existence becomes an expression of God Almighty and he is overwhelmed with thoughts of God.