Quranic Foundations And Structure Of Muslim Society
9. MAN POSSESSES FREE WILL:
Viewing the conflict and the urge for moral betterment in human nature we are led to the conclusion that for realising morality and the moral ideal it is essential that Man should be free.
For realising morality, he should be free to choose between the two conflicting motives within his inner self, i.e., the motive of the fulfilment of Desire (command of nafs-al-ammarah) and the motive of the fulfilment of Duty (behest of nafs-al-lawwamah).
For realising the moral ideal, he should be free not only to choose between the above-mentioned conflicting motives within his own self but also to struggle in the social situation for transforming the world of human relations into a moral order in the face of the conflict that rages there.
We are, therefore, confronted now with the questions:
1. what is Freedom of Will?
2. how is Freedom of Will conceivable?
3. does the Holy Qur’an affirm Freedom of Will?
1. What is Freedom of Will?
Freedom of Will consists in the independence of the will of the moral agent from all internal restraint and external constraint in the choice of motive in the situation of moral conflict.
2.
How is Freedom of Will conceivable?
The question ‘how is Freedom conceivable?’ can be answered in this way. If, in the act of Creation, “being” (wajud) has been bestowed as an act of Grace on the shai’, i.e. the aimed-at-Idea, and Personality & Freedom of Will have been conferred upon Man as acts of Grace by the fiat of the Divine Will, the concept of necessity is eliminated with reference to human will and freedom becomes conceivable as a final and ultimate fact.
However, as emphasised earlier, the proper attitude in response to the question: how is human Freedom of Will possible?, is: somehow it is a fact; we may or may not be able to explain ‘how’ in the manner of exact sciences.[1] Indeed, it is only the speculative consciousness that stumbles; while moral consciousness affirms it as vehemently as the speculative consciousness stumbles.
That Freedom of Will is a fact is known to us intuitively. Indeed, it is deeply ingrained in our consciousness, on account of which we insist on moral responsibility and believe in the validity of moral approval and condemnation.
It may be emphasised that human freedom is restricted to the choice of the motive and does not extend to the consequence, which follows as necessity. It should, however never mean that the consequence is necessarily against the yearning of the moral agent.
3. Does the Holy Qur’an affirm Freedom of Will?
It may be observed at the very outset that the Holy Qur’an affirms the human Freedom of Will in clear terms. Its basic statement in this connection is:
“We (God) did indeed offer the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains; but they refused to undertake it, being afraid thereof: but Man undertook it,[2]—he [3] is indeed very unjust (to himself in not fulfilling his responsibility in respect thereof) and very ignorant (in respect of the evil consequences of not fulfilling his responsibility),—(with the result) that Allah has to punish the Hypocrites, men and women, and the Unbelievers (lit., polytheists), men and women; and Allah turns in Mercy to the Believers, men and women: For Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful.” (30:72-73).
According to the Commentators of the Holy Qur’an, “Trust” stands here for “moral responsibility, which is human sense of answerableness for all acts of thought and conduct. Its first and foremost pre-requisite is freedom of choice, which is the real function of a human being as a moral agent. The ‘trust’ referred to is obviously the trust of free choice or accountability.” (English Translation and Commentary of the Holy Qur’an by Maulana Abdul Majid Daryabadi, p. 680, n. 136).
We may now quote other important verses which clearly and directly affirm and proclaim the possession of freedom of will by Man,—namely:
“Do what you will (i.e. act as you choose in accordance with your free-will). Verily He (God) sees (clearly) all that you do.” (41:40).
“We have shown him (i.e., Man) the Way (of Right and Wrong); (now it rests on his will) whether to be grateful (by using the gift of free-will in the service of Good) or ungrateful (by serving Evil through his free-will).” (76:3).
“Say: The Truth is from your Lord; let him who will, believe, and let him who will, reject it.”[4] (18:29).
“That is the Day of Certainty. Whosoever therefore wills, let him betake unto his Lord a resort.” (78:39).
“… a warning to humankind,—to any of you that chooses (through his will) to go forward (towards Good) or to lag behind.” (74:36-37).
Man is, however, a created being. As such he cannot be independent of his Creator in anything. Even free-will is not possessed by him of his own right, unlike his Creator Who owns it in His own right. Man’s freedom of will has been conferred on him by his Creator as an element of Personality. Hence the human will functions as a ‘State within State’.
In other words, Man’s limited freedom functions within the absolute Freedom of the Creator’s Will. We will see later in this discussion that the Creator’s Will is not, and can never be, capricious, irrational, arbitrary and unjust, and does never interfere in the freedom of human will. How the human free-will functions as free-will while remaining within the Will of God?—this question relates to an ultimate fact which is beyond the powers of human reason to comprehend fully.[5] But logically it is valid, because, on the one hand, human reason demands that Man must possess free-will in order to be a moral all being, and moral consciousness affirms vehemently that he does possess free-will; and, on the other hand, if there is a Creator of the cosmos—as He is there, His existence being affirmed by reason and Revelation both—everything in the cosmos, including human will and its freedom, must be encompassed by Him [6] and cannot ever be conceivable as independent of Him.
It is this fact, and not the negation of human freedom of will, that has been emphasised in the following verses:
“Nay, verily this (Qur’an) is an Admonition: so let him who will (i.e., has the will to do so), heed it. But they shall not heed except as Allah wills (in His infinite Wisdom and that in accordance with His Universal Scheme): He is the Lord of Righteousness and the Lord of Forgiveness.”[7] (74:55-56).
“This is an Admonition: then whosoever (shall exert his) will, may choose a way unto his Lord. But you will not except as Allah wills [8] (in His infinite Wisdom and in accordance with His Universal Scheme); for Allah is full of Knowledge* and Wisdom.[9] He will admit to His Mercy whom He will [10] (in accordance with the requirements of His Gracious Nature and of the demands of Absolute & Universal Divine Justice); but the wrongdoers,—for them He has prepared a grievous Penalty (in accordance with the misuse of their free-will).” (76:29-31).
*i.e., “His supreme knowledge comprehends all conditions and circumstances”—a knowledge which He employs for the benefit of mankind.
“Verily this (i.e., the Qur’an) is no less. than a Message to (all) the Worlds (i.e., it is universal)—unto whomsoever among you wills to go straight:[11] but you shall not will except as Allah, the Cherisher of the Worlds, wills[12].” (81:27-29).
An important point to be noted here is that the expression ‘but you shall not will except as Allah wills’ is to be found in the Holy Qur’an only in the three verses quoted above. Another important point to be noted is that in all these verses, there is reference only to the acceptance of Spiritual Truth—to Good and not to Evil. This is so, because Good and Good alone has its source in God; and hence the pursuit of Good is not possible except when there is identity between the human will for Good and the Divine Will. Also, these verses mean that the acceptance of the Divine Faith can be possible only for those who possess, as moral beings, the good will. And because the will of Man cannot bear fruit without the assistance of the Divine Will—its freedom being limited to the choice of the motive alone,—no one as a spiritual being will receive the strength from the Divine Will to accept the True Faith unless he possesses good-will already as a moral being.
Here we may take notice of a verse wherein Divine Will has been mentioned with reference to the existence of evil. The verse is: “If’ Allah had willed (i.e., if it had been God’s Plan), they would not have taken false gods.” (6:107). But this verse does not say that God assists evil. It only says that, on the one hand, He has the power to eliminate evil, and that, on the other hand, He does not interfere when the wrong-doers adopt evil through their freewill. This point has been made clear emphatically in another verse which reads: “And they say: if it had been the Will of (God) Most Gracious, we would not have worshipped these (idols). They have no knowledge thereof; they are only guessing.” (43:20).
As for the Divine Plan in permitting the existence of evil, it relates to the provision of those conditions whereby alone can the moral and spiritual struggle be pursued, which, in its turn, form’s the foundation on which alone the evolution of human personality to greater and greater heights is possible. More of it on some other occasion. (In this connection see the author’s book on the Dynamics of Moral Revolution, to be published shortly).
We said in the foregoing that God’s Will is not, and can never be, capricious, irrational, arbitrary and unjust. There are numerous verses in the Holy Qur’an which emphasise this fact vehemently. For instance, the following:
“Verily Allah deals not unjustly with Man in anything. It is (actually) Man that wrongs his own soul.” (10:44)*
*Other (similar verses are: 2:57; 3:117; 7:160; 9:70; 9:80; 16:30; 16:118; 29:40; 30:9.)
This is a general statement which covers the human life. As for the Day of Judgment specially—the Day of final reward and punishment, the Holy Qur’an proclaims in unambiguous terms thus:
“Then, on that Day, not a soul will be wronged in the least, and you shall but be repaid the meeds of your past Deeds.” (36:54). Cf. 21:47.
Having negated injustice on the part of God, we may now quote the verse which affirms the law of Absolute Justice in God’s dealings with man:
“Never will I (God) suffer to be lost the work of any of you, whether male or female.” (3:195)
The Holy Qur’an affirms positively that no action of God can ever be irrational and arbitrary. It says:
“Verily, my Lord (Allah) is on the Straight Path.”[13] (11:56).
Further, the Holy Qur’an negates capriciousness absolutely when it speaks of the Perfect Knowledge and Wisdom of God on page after page. It proclaims:
“Verily Allah is Perfect in Knowledge and Perfect in Wisdom.” (76:30).
Then, besides perfection in knowledge and wisdom, God is Rabb-ul-‘Alameen [14] (the Cherisher of everything in the cosmos), alRahman [15] (Most Gracious), al-Raheem [16] (Most Merciful), al-Ra’uf [17] (Full of Kindness), al-Wadud [18] (Loving), al-Ghaffar [19] (Most Forgiving), Al-Hafeez [20] (the Protector). And He is even more than all that, because He is Zul-Fadl-il-‘Azeem [21] (the Lord of Abounding Grace) Who gives to man more than he deserves.
There are, however, certain verses in the Holy Qur’an which, if read unintelligently and without full reference to other connected verses, might give the wrong impression to the superficial reader that God guides & leads astray, and rewards & punishes, human beings arbitrarily and that, therefore, the human will enjoys no freedom whatsoever. But if we understand the meanings and implications of all such verses properly, we find that they nowhere negate the freedom of human will in the manner and in the measure that it has been conferred on Man by God. We give herein below some such typical verses, along with their proper connotation and explanation.
God says in the very early part of the Holy Qur’an:
“As to those who reject Faith (deliberately), it is all the same to them. Whether you warn them or do not warn them, they will not believe (because they have no will to believe). Allah has set [22] a seal on their hearts (by their being inured to disobedience and disbelief). and on their hearing and on their eyes is a veil ; and unto them shall be a torment mighty (as a just retribution for the misuse of the free-will conferred on them by God).”* (2:6-7).
At another place, we have been told:
“If Allah so willed (i.e., if it had been the Divine Plan), He could make you all one People.[23] But He leaves straying [24] whom He pleases, and He guides whom He pleases: and you shall certainly be called to account for all your actions.”(16:93).[25]
* Commenting on this Verse, Abdullah Yusuf Ali says: “Kafara, Kufr, Kafir and other derivative forms of the word, imply a deliberate rejection of Faith as opposed to a mistaken idea of God or faith, which is not inconsistent with an earnest desire to see the truth. Where there is such desire, the grace and mercy of God gives the guidance. But that guidance is not efficacious, when it is deliberately rejected, and the possibility of rejection follows from the grant of free-will. The consequence of rejection is that the spiritual faculties become dead or impervious to better influences.” (op. cit., p. 18, n. 30).
In understanding this verse, some people fall into the error of believing that human beings adopt the right and wrong paths, not on the basis of their free-will but because it is so willed for them by God. This means pure Determinism. But when we read the above verse, or any other verse of similar import, in conjunction with other relevant verses, we find that to deduce determinism from such verses is absolutely baseless.
The question is: Does God leave straying anyone for no fault of his, and does He guide anyone for no merit on his part? The Qur’anic answer is: No. It says clearly:
“And Allah will leave to stray the wrong-doers (in consequence of their misuse of free-will); and Allah does what He wills (i.e., His Will is not in subjection to the will of any body).” (14:27).[26]
It means that, inspite of being All-Powerful, God leaves straying only those who earn it through their transgression, which is based on their free-will. Then we are told:
“And He (i.e., Allah) guides unto Himself (i.e., to the Right Path) those who turn to Him in penitence.” (13:27).
Coming now to forgiveness and punishment by God, We are told thus:
“And Allah’s is the dominion of the heavens and the earth. He forgives whomsoever He will and torments whom He will; and Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful.” (48:14).[27]
Now God’s will to forgive is for the righteous: the Believers:[28]
“Allah has promised those who believe and practice righteousness that for them shall be forgiveness and a mighty reward.” (5:9).
“Oh you who believe! if you are careful of your duty to Allah (of which righteousness is an integral part), He will bless you with a Criterion (to judge between right and wrong), and will rid you of your evil thoughts and deeds, and will forgive you. For Allah is the Lord of Abounding Grace.” (8:29).
And God’s will to punish is for the wrong-doers: i.e., those who commit Zulm, whether spiritually or morally:
“Verily the wrong-doers! for them is grieveous Penalty.” (14:22).
Several other verses of similar import, consider also the verse:
“… nor is Allah going to punish them while they ask forgiveness,” (8:33).
“… and unto the Rejectors of Truth shall be grievous Penalty.” (2:104).
It means that reward and punishment come to human beings on the basis of their own free-will and not because of any arbitrary attitude on the part of God.
It is Man’s nature, however, that he would like to avoid the responsibility for evil, unless his will has been purified. That is why the idol-worshippers of Arabia said:
“… If it had been the Will of (God) Most Gracious, we would not have worshipped these (idols).” (42:20).
But God refused to accept this plea, because inspite the of the supremacy of Divine Will, He does not force the will of anyone into any channel—i.e., He does not interfere with anyone’s free-will. Hence, in the next part of the above-quoted verse, it has been said:
“They have no knowledge thereof (i.e., of the working of the Divine Will in the universe); they are only guessing. Have We vouchsafed to them any Book* before this, so that they are holding fast thereto?” (43:21).
* Here the emphasis is on the truth that the knowledge of the ultimate facts, of which the relation between God’s Will and the human will is one, belongs only to God, Who alone can enlighten human beings about them; and as for the human efforts, even of philosophers, to unveil them through speculative endeavour, their resultant opinions can never consistently claim the status of knowledge, and should, therefore, be rightfully termed as conjectures.
In other words, they have neither rational nor scriptural basis for the denial of their free-will and responsibility.
The upshot of the entire foregoing discussion is that the Holy Qur’an affirms freedom of will for Man in the moral domain. It is limited freedom, of course,—namely, it is limited to the choice of the motive and does not extend to the consequences of an action; but it is freedom all the same. And the Divine Will, which is supreme in the universe, sustains the human will but does not interfere in its working. The Divine Knowledge and Power arranges the consequences in the earthly life of Man in accordance with the Divine Plan, wherein the world is a Moral Order. Man shall, however, be rewarded and punished on the Day of Judgment (or, Final Accountability) in the measure and on the basis of his freedom of will. Says the Holy Qur’an:
“On no soul does Allah place a burden except according to its capacity. For it shall be the Good it earns (through the exercise of free-will) and against it the evil it earns (— again through free-will) (—all non-voluntary states of mind and actions being excluded from accountability).”* (2:286).
* Mark that this verse repudiates ‘original sin’, ‘universal redemption’ and determinism and it proclaims that every individual must, through the exercise of freedom of will conferred on him by God, work out himself the possibilities of his spiritual success.
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[1] The observation of the famous English philosopher, Locke, in respect of intuitive judgments is worthy of note. He says: “But God has not been so sparing to men to make them barely two-legged creatures and left it to Aristotle to make them rational … He has given them a mind that can reason without being instructed in syllogizing.” (Concerning Human Understanding, Book 4, Ch. 17).
Among the scholars of Moral Philosophy in the present time, Prof. William Lillie judges the same problem thus: “… it is certainly the case that direct or intuitive judgment plays a far larger part in normative sciences, and especially in ethics, than it does in the physical descriptive sciences”, (An Introduction to Ethics, p. 18).
[2] Speaking of the acceptance of the Trust by Man, Sir Muhammad lqbal observes: “In the case of man in whom individuality deepens into personality, opening up possibilities of wrong-doing, the sense of the tragedy of life becomes much more acute. But the acceptance of self-hood as a form of life involves the acceptance of all the imperfections that flow from the finitude of selfhood. The Qur’an represents man as having accepted at his peril the trust of personality which the heavens, the earth, and the mountains refused to bear.” (Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, London 1934, pp. 121, 122).
[3] The word “he” actually stands here for those among humankind who are unfaithful to the Trust.
[4] “Thus”, says Iqbal (op. cit., p. 151), “the element of guidance and directive control in the ego’s activity clearly shows that the ego is a free, personal causality. He shares in the life and freedom of the Ultimate Ego, who, by permitting the emergence of a finite ego, capable of private initiative, has limited this freedom of His own free-will.”
[5] What we can understand from the Holy Qur’an is that the human will is sustained by the Divine Will and the Divine Will assists the human beings in the light of the motive chosen by the human will, whether the motive is for good or for evil.
[6] Cf. the Holy Qur’an: 4:126.
[7] Commenting on this verse, A. Yusuf Ali says: “Righteousness as well as Forgiveness have their source in God’s Will. Man’s righteousness has no meaning except in relation to the Universal Will.” (The Holy Qur’an: English Translation and Commentary, p. 1647, n. 5808).
[8] “Man in himself is weak; he must seek God’s Grace, without it he can do nothing; with it he can do all. For God knows all things. and His Wisdom comprehends the good of all.” (A. Yusuf Ali, op. cit., p. 1660, n. 5861).
[9] i.e., “His Wisdom surpasses the insight of all finite beings”—a wisdom used to rectify the evils of the deviations of human will.
[10] A. Yusuf Ali says: “That is, according to His Just and Wise Plan. If the will is of the right, it obtains God’s Grace and Mercy. If the will of man rejects God, man suffer Penalty,” (op. cit., p. 1661, n. 5862).
[11] “i.e., such alone can profit by it. This repudiates the doctrine of Karma and determinism, in all its forms and varieties.” (Maulana Abdul Majid Daryabadi, op. cit., p. 938, n. 167).
[12] Commenting on this verse, A. Yusuf Ali says: “Cf. 74:55-56. God is the Cherisher of the Worlds, Lord of Grace and Mercy, and His guidance is open to all who have the will to profit by it. But that will must be exercised in conformity with God’s Will (verse 29). Such conformity is Islam. Verse 28 points to human free-will and responsibility; verse 29 to its limitations. Both extremes, viz: cast-iron Determinism and the idea of Chaotic Free-will are condemned.” (op. cit., p. 1697, n. 5996).
[13] According to A. Yusuf Ali, “the standard of virtue and righteousness is in the Will of God, the Universal Will that controls all things in goodness and justice.” (op. cit., p. 539, n. 1552).
[14] 1:2.
[15] 1:3.
[16] 1:3.
[17] 3:30.
[18] 11:90.
[19] 20:82.
[20] 11:57.
[21] 57:29.
[22] It may be noted that the Holy Qur’an refers all actions to God, because, according to it, nothing can occur outside His Knowledge and Power.
It is also important to note that the sealing of the hearts, by God is not the cause of disbelief but follows the deliberate rejection of Faith.
[23] For the Divine Wisdom in not willing it, refer to the author’s forthcoming book on according the “Dynamics of Moral Revolution”.
[24] Some translators have wrongly translated the word as “leads astray”. Commenting on this verse, Abdullah Yusuf Ali says: “God’s Will and Plan, in allowing limited free-will to man, is, not to force man’s will, but to give all guidance, and leave alone those who reject the guidance, in case they should repent and come back into Grace. But in all cases, in so far as we are given the choice, we shall be called to account for all our actions. ‘Leaving to stray’ does not mean that we can do what we please. Our personal responsibility remains.” (op. cit., p. 682, n. 2133).
[25] There are some other verses of similar import, e.g., 6:88; 14:4; 24:35; 74:31.
[26] Cf. 42:13.
[27] There are several other verses also of the same import.
[28] There are numerous verses in the Holy Qur’an which bear out this fact. We have quoted here only two.
to be continued . . . . .
Quranic Foundation & Structure Of Muslim Society In The End Times
