Unlike any other creature in the Universe, man is free in this world. God has not placed any curbs on him. But this freedom is for the purpose of putting man to the test, and is not meant to encourage him to lead a life of permissiveness, like the animals and then just pass away one day. Rather its purpose is that man should lead a morally upright life of his own free will, thus demonstrating that he is of the highest moral character.

One who conducts himself in this matter should be reckoned as God's special servant who, without any apparent compulsion, chose to be a man of principle; who, without being subjected to any external force, did of his own free will, what his Lord would have desired. This liberty accorded to man gives him the opportunity to gain credit for being the most superior of all God's creatures.

All the things in this world are God's subjects. The stars and satellites rotate in space entirely at their Lord's bidding. Trees, rivers, mountains, and all other such natural phenomena function according to the unchangeable ways of God laid down by Him in advance. Similarly, the animals follow exactly those instincts instilled in their species as a matter of Divine Will. Man is the only creature who has been given, exceptionally, the gift of power and freedom.

I am also asked if there is destiny, then where is the 'free will'? The fact of the matter is that God has provided the infrastructure to man in the form of life support system and the different situations that present themselves to man. This is the destiny part of the matter. Man is, however, free to respond to all these different situations. That is his free will or freedom.

This freedom has opened doors of two kinds for man, one leading to success and the other to failure. If, on receiving freedom an individual becomes arrogant and insolent, it will mean that he has failed to pass the test.

But if on the other hand, he remains modest and humble, bowing to his Lord's will on all occasions, he will have made the right use of his God-given freedom: he will, without any compulsion, have bound himself by divine principles. One who chooses this course will succeed in the test of freedom. He will be handsomely rewarded by God as no other creature. Held to be the chosen servant of God, he will remain in an everlasting state of blissfulness and blessedness.

So, we can say that in the present world, man finds himself totally free. However, this freedom does not belong to him as a matter of right, but is rather a test paper for everyone. What man has to do is to acknowledge truth of One God, and surrender to him - not by compulsion but by his own choice. This surrendering before the truth of One God is without doubt the greatest sacrifice that any man can make. Acknowledging the truth of One God is, like making oneself smaller not only to God but to others as well.  But this is the very virtue, which will raise man to the highest position. It will take him to the very entrance of Paradise.

The second important thing in this set of requirements is to lead a principled life. Generally what happens is that man's character is moulded by his emotions - anger, revenge, jealousy, hatred, rivalry, etc. These are the negative feelings that shape man's personality. But what man ought to do is to become disciplined in such matters. He should not build his character under the influence of external incentives, but by his own decisions he should establish it on the basis of higher principles. This is what is called as Divine character.

Another question that I am often asked is "If God cannot control man's action, then how is He All-Powerful"? There is no doubt that God is All-Powerful. However, since He has decided to put man to the test, He has given man a free will. As if there was no free will, there would be no test. So, in order to test man, God has withheld His power when it comes to man and given him freedom to respond in any way that he wants. God, is however is maintaining a record of all of man's thoughts, speech and deeds and will hold him accountable for them on the Day of Judgment, on which day, all of mankind will see the power of God.