God Expects Voluntary
Obedience from Humans
Almighty God created man and gave him freedom. Voluntary obedience to God’s will makes him deserving of eternal reward, and saves him from eternal punishment.
Chapter 33 of the Quran states: “We offered the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they refused to bear it, because they were afraid of it. But man bore it: he surely proved unjust and ignorant. God will punish the hypocrites, both men and women, and polytheists, both men and women, but God will turn in His mercy to believing men and believing women; God is most forgiving and most merciful.” (33:72-73)
Human beings and the universe – both are God’s creations. It is required from both to remain totally under God’s subjection. However, there is a difference between the two. The universe has accepted subjection to God as a matter of compulsion, whereas it is required of a person that he accept this subjection of his own free will.
The offering of ‘trust’ here means a transference of power, to be used at a person’s discretion. This power is something with which God has entrusted a person temporarily, by way of trial, so that he, of his own volition, should become obedient to God. Acceptance of this trust amounts to becoming God’s representative. One has to impose upon oneself what the stars and planets do under compulsion. In other words, surrender voluntarily to God’s will.
In this universe, only God is the Lord and all things are His subjects. But Almighty God willed that He should create independent creatures who, without any compulsion, would voluntarily do whatever God wanted them to do. This voluntary obedience constituted a great trial for mankind. The heavens, the earth and the mountains could not undertake it. However, human beings accepted it, in spite of the serious risks involved. Now a human being is God’s trustee in this world. He has to apply the rule of God to himself just as God applies it to others according to His will. Human beings are being put to the test and the present world is a vast examination hall.
God’s trust is an extremely crucial responsibility, because it gives rise to the problem of reward and punishment. Other creatures, being helpless, are bound to conform to the will of God. So there is no question of reward or punishment for them. But, a human being enjoys freedom and this being so, he is deserving of reward or punishment.
