The laws which man must follow, if he is to succeed in this world and the next are the same as those which are applied to the rest of the world. The difference is that man adopts these laws of his own free will, whereas they have been forced upon the rest of the universe.
The Quran Says:
Give full measure and full weight, and do not deliver short. Do not corrupt the land after it has been set in order. This is for your own good, if you are true believers.(7:85).
According to this verse, the world made by God is a perfect world, where everything is set in order. Everything in it functions as it ought to. This disciplined system provides a model for man. He should follow the pattern of nature in all his actions. Only then can he establish a just and peaceful society. His refusal to follow nature’s pattern results in a corrupt society, and a degeneration of a previously orderly system.
The secret of our success on earth lies in our ability to act in accordance with nature. Man has shown great prowess in his ability to exploit nature for technological and scientific ends; yet he has not put the simple lesson of nature to work in his life. An understanding of nature, and harmony with the world around us, has had startling effects on human progress in the material world. This success has not been repeated in the human world because man has not applied the laws of nature to his own life. Just as harmony with nature is the key to material advance so it is the key to the reform and well-being of the human soul. Islam, one might say, is an ethical application to human society of the same divine norms which are observed by the rest of the world as natural laws.
Man’s deviation from universal norms can be illustrated by an example. When the U.S. gained its independence from foreign political domination, a newly liberated American is said to have gone out to celebrate his freedom in his own way. He strutted exuberantly down the street, swinging his arms in a carefree manner, and ignoring other pedestrians. Eventually he hit a passerby on the nose.
The passer-by was enraged and said: “What is this foolhardiness? What makes you walk in this frivolous manner, swinging your hands about in this way?” “America is free,” the man replied. I’m free to do what I want and walk as I wish. “Well”, replied the passer-by, “your freedom ends where my nose begins.”
The passerby’s response was, in fact, the voice of man’s true nature, calling out for the establishment in human society of the universal norms. All astronomical bodies revolve in their own orbit. No star or planet leaves its orbit to enter another. As a result the vast order of the universe has functioned without deviation for billions of years. This is the law of nature. Man instinctively wishes to be guided by this universal law. The American passerby’s response was an expression of this desire.
In a world which has been forcefully subjugated to the will of God, only man has a will of his own. The problems which he encounters in life are in fact the price that he has to pay for his freedom. The entire universe conforms to the will of God, and functions in a system of exemplary harmony. Man, however, misuses his freedom and strays from the path that God has laid down for him. All his problems can be traced to this fundamental deviation.
There are multiple problems facing man today: the nuclear arms race, the danger of a third world war and the inevitable holocaust that would ensue the economic recession which has led to unprecedented unemployment in the industrial countries, inflation, crises in industrial relations, exploitation of backward countries by technologically advanced nations, and pollution, global warming, to name just a few. All these problems can be traced to one fundamental source: man’s misuse of his freedom. Man does not keep to his own sphere; he does not restrict his freedom to the area which has been allotted to him. He continually infringes upon the domain of others; he is not ready to confine himself to the sphere where the ‘nose’ of the other begins.
Source: Al-Risala English, April 1984
