SURRENDER BY CHOICE

SURRENDER BY CHOICE A Conscious Decision G OD Almighty created the universe. In its vast space there are stars, galaxies, planets, the solar system, and countless other particles and so on. All these items of creation have adopted a culture of worship, which is total surrender to God, without the slightest deviation. It is this surrender to God that makes our universe a zero-defect universe. This fact is mentioned in the Quran in these words: “God created seven heavens one above the other in layers. You will not find any flaw in the creation of the Gracious One. Then look once again: can you see any flaw?” (67: 3) However, there was a “missing link” in this universe. The universe, with all its vastness, has surrendered to God under compulsion. Now, there was a vacant room for a creature that surrenders to God by choice. God Almighty created human beings to fill in this gap. Man was given total freedom. At the same time, he was given a thinking mind. It was required that man utilizes this mind and surrenders before God as a reality rather than as a matter of compulsion. When such a human being surrenders to God, it is as if he is saying, ‘O God, You are great and I am not great. I am accepting this fact as a reality, without the slightest compulsion.’ The fact is that man is the only creature throughout the universe who has been endowed with a mind, who consciously knows ‘I am what I am’. Although man has no power, as regards freedom, he is totally free without any restrictions. In other words, God is All-powerful while man is allpowerless in spite of having complete freedom. When man says: ‘O God Almighty, You are my Lord!’ he says this consciously, without any compulsion. This phenomenon is the greatest moment in the entire universe. o The universe, with all its vastness, has surrendered to God under compulsion. Now, there was a vacant room for a creature that surrenders to God by choice. God Almighty created human beings to fill in this gap. Man was given total freedom. At the same time, he was given a thinking mind.