Chapter(surah) 76 : Man (insaan)
The theme of this Chapter is to inform man of
his true position in the world and to tell him that if he understood his true
position rightly and adopted the attitude of gratefulness, he would meet with
such and such good end, and if he adopted the way of disbelief, he would meet with
such and such evil ends
In this Surah, first of all man has been
reminded that there was a time when he was nothing; then a humble beginning of
him was made with a mixed drop of sperm and ovum of which even his mother was
not aware; even she did not know that he had been conceived nor anyone else
seeing the microscopic cell could say that it was a man, who in future would
become the best of creation hon the eart.
After this, man has been warned, so
as to say: "Beginning your creation in this way We have developed and
shaped you into what you are today in order to test and try you in the world.
That is why, unlike other creatures, you were made intelligent and sensible and
were shown both the way of gratitude and the way of ingratitude clearly so that
you may show, in the interval that you have been granted here for work, whether
you have emerged as a grateful servant from the test or an unbelieving, Un-
grateful wretch!". Then, just in one sentence, it has been stated
decisively what will be the fate to be met with in the Hereafter by those who
emerged as unbelievers from this test.
This shows man's real position in the world
and the position of the world for man. He is not like the trees and animals
that the object of his creation be fulfilled on the earth itself, and he should
die and perish here after he has played his appointed role over a period of
time according to the law of nature. Furthermore, this world is neither a place
of punishment for him, as the monks think, nor a place of rewards as the believers
of the law of transmigration think, nor a place of entertainment and enjoyment,
as the materialists think, nor a battlefield, as the followers of Darwin and
Marx think, but in fact it is a place of test and trial for him. That which he
regards as his age, is in fact the time given him for the test. Whatever powers
and capabilities he has been given in the world, the thing, that have been
placed under his control and authority, the various positions and capacities in
which he functions, and the relationships that he enjoys with other men, all
these are the countless papers of the test and this test continues till the
last breath of his life.
The result is not to be announced in this world but in
the Hereafter when all his answer-books will have been assessed, decision will
be given whether he has come out successful or failed. And his success or
failure wholly depends on what he thought of himself while he functioned here
and how he answered the papers that were given him here.
If he believed that he had no God, or that he
was the slave of many gods, and while answering the papers thought that he was
not to be held accountable before his Creator in the Hereafter, his whole
lifework went wrong. And if he regarded himself as the slave of One God and
worked in the way approved by God, with the accountability of the Hereafter
always in view, he stood successful in the test.
In man's own self and outside him, from the
earth to the heavens, there lie scattered in the universe countless such signs
which clearly show that all this could not happen without a God, nor could
there be many gods to create this life and control and administer it. Likewise,
these very signs, inside man and outside him, clearly point also to the
Resurrection and Hereafter. If man shuts down his eyes on them, or refuses to
ponder over them intelligently, or avoids to admit the truths which they point
out, he himself would be to blame. For Allah has shown no negligence in laying
out every possible sign of the truth for the guidance of man.
To reinforce these means of guidance Allah
sent Messengers and revealed Books in the world for the purpose of giving clear
and definite guidance to man; in these Books it was clearly explained what is
the way of gratefulness and what is the way of ungratefulness and unbelief and
what will be the consequences of following either way. The teaching brought by
the Prophets and the Books has spread throughout the world in countless
perceptible. and imperceptible ways, on such a large scale that no section of human
population has remained unaware of the concept of God and the Hereafter, of the
distinction between good and evil, and of the moral principles and legal
rulings presented by them, whether it knows or does not know that it has
obtained this knowledge only through the teachings of the Prophets and the
Books they brought.
Even those who disbelieve in the Prophets and the Books
today, or are unaware of them, also are following many of those things which
have reached them actually through their teachings while they do not know what
is the real source of these teachings.
In the second section, addressing the Holy
Prophet (upon whom be peace), three things have been stated: first, that "it is in fact We Ourself Who are revealing this Qur'an piecemeal
to you, and this is intended to inform the disbelievers, not you, that the
Qur'an is not being fabricated by Muhammad (upon whom be
Allah's peace and blessings) but it is "We Who are revealing it, and it is
Our Own wisdom which requires that We should reveal it piece by piece and not
all at once."Second, the Holy Prophet has been told: "No matter how long ,it may take for the decree of your
Lord to be enforced and no matter what afflictions may befall you in the
meantime, in any case you should continue to perform your mission of
Apostleship patiently, and not to yield to the pressure tactics of any of these
wicked and unbelieving people."The third thing he
has been told is: "Remember Allah day and night,
perform the Prayer and spend your nights in the worship of Allah, for it is
these things which sustain and strengthen those who call to Allah in the face
of iniquity and disbelief."
Man is granted authority to
the extent that he may decide to adopt any one of the different courses
available for passing life here. This is the freedom of choice that Allah has
given him. For example, when a man confronts the question of earning a living
for himself, he finds many ways before him of which some are lawful, as for
example lawful kinds of labor, service, trade and business, industry, or
agriculture, and some are unlawful as thievery, robbery, picking pockets,
prostitution, trading in money (on interest), gambling, bribery and unlawful
kinds of services and business, etc. The decision to adopt any one of these
ways has been left to man's own free choice as to how he would like to earn his
living. Likewise, there are different modes of morality. On the one side, there
are the good qualities, like honesty, nobility, decency, justice, pity,
sympathy and chastity, and on the other, the evil traits like wickedness,
meanness, tyranny, dishonesty, and frivolity. Man has full freedom to adopt any
mode of morality he likes. The same is the case with religion; man has many
ways open before him in this regard also-atheism and denial of God, polytheism
and idol-worship, different combinations of monotheism and polytheism, and the
un-alloyed creed of God-worship which is taught by the Qur'an.
In these also
the decision to choose has been left to man as to which of these he wants to
adopt. But after man has exercised this freedom of choice whether he can
practically also do the same which he wants to do, depends on Allah's Will, His
leave and His grace. If the Will of Allah be to let the man do what he has
willed or decided to do, then alone can he do it; otherwise he cannot do
anything without Allah's Will and His leave, however hard and seriously he may
try to do it. Therefore, Allah has kept this in His own power whether He may
allow or disallow the man to follow the right or the wrong path that he chooses
to follow or not. The person who, giving up error, wants to adopt the right way
is also granted righteousness only by Allah's leave and will. However, the
condition is that the decision to give up error and choose guidance should have
been taken by the man himself; otherwise just as Allah does not make anybody a
thief or murderer or atheist or polytheist forcibly, so also He does not make
anybody a believer forcibly.The question of guidance also is no exception to
it. Allah alone knows on the basis of His knowledge and He alone determines on
the basis of His wisdom as to who deserves to be guided and who does not.
In
conclusion, it has been said: This is an Admonition: whoever wills may accept
it and take a path to his Lord. But man's own will and desire is not everything
in the world. No one's will and desire can be fulfilled unless Allah (also) so
wills. And Allah's willing is not haphazard: whatever He wills, He wills it on
the basis of His knowledge and wisdom. He admits into His mercy whomever He
regards as worthy of His mercy on the basis of His knowledge and wisdom, and He
has prepared a painful torment for those whom He finds unjust and wicked.
