Servitude and the nature and extent of freedom.
The essence of freedom is to be free of subservience to anyone other than God. To think that freedom is to discard God’s commandments is nothing less than considering oneself as the idol and giving subservience to desire.
Servitude and the nature and extent of freedom.
The essence of freedom is to be free of subservience to anyone other than God. To think that freedom is to discard God’s commandments is nothing less than considering oneself as the idol and giving subservience to desire. God says:
‘Consider the one who takes his own desires as his deity, and whom God has [therefore] let go astray despite his knowledge [of the truth], sealing his ears and heart and placing a cover on his eyes: who can guide such a person after God [has abandoned him]? Will you not, then, take heed?’ (45: 23)
Whoever justifies that man can do and say whatever he chooses, as he chooses and when he chooses, accepts that man is subservient to his own desire. Man is created as a subservient being: if he does not submit himself to God and worship Him, he will worship someone else, without doubt.
Had there been only one human being living on earth, God would not have legislated for him punishment for murder, false accusation and adultery; nor would He have required him to lower his gaze or to adopt a system of inheritance. He would not have forbidden him adultery, usury and other vile practices. God has legislated all these because man lives with other human beings. The greater the number of people, the more life needs controls. Had the moon been the only one in space would God have assigned it such an accurate existence? He has made it move so accurately in order to be part of the system that includes the sun, the earth, the planets and other celestial bodies. The greater their number the more control is required.
God says:
‘He covers the day with the night in swift pursuit. The sun, the moon and the stars are subservient to His command. Surely all creation and all authority belong to Him. Blessed is God, the Lord of the worlds’. (7: 54)
‘Neither can the sun overtake the moon, nor can the night outrun the day. Each floats in its own orbit’. (36: 40)
Islamic legislation is meant to regulate matters of religion and life. Whoever justifies violating God’s laws for himself incurs His punishment.
To embrace Islam is obligatory and to turn away from it is apostasy. As God says:
‘Whoever of you renounces his faith and dies an unbeliever, his works shall come to nothing in this world and in the world to come. Such people are destined for hell, wherein they shall abide’. (2: 217)
The Prophet says: ‘Whoever changes his religion should be killed’.1
To worship God is the ultimate purpose of creation and existence. Whoever allows himself to be turned away from it does not believe that it is the purpose of existence. How is it that a person prohibits the breach of the constitution or the laws of one’s country but justifies the breach of submission to God? To do so is to implicitly admit that one does not truly believe in the purpose of creation. But God says:
‘I have not created the jinn and mankind to any end other than that they may worship Me’. (51: 56)
The One who brought the humans and the jinn into this life to worship Him alone will certainly bring them into the life to come, so that they will account for their deeds and receive their reward or punishment. May God grant us the best of situations in life and give us the best of provisions. Peace and blessings be upon His prophet and those who follow him.
References
- Related by al-Bukhari, 2854.