Maulana Wahiduddin Khan | Speaking Tree Blog | October 24, 2022
The chapter Al-Tin (The Fig) of the Quran is a description of the human personality. It is a relatively short chapter of just eight verses, but it has a great lesson. The translation of this chapter is as follows:
The Fig is a witness and the Olive is a witness, and Mount Sinai is a witness, and this secure land is a witness that We have indeed created man in the best of moulds, then We cast him down as the lowest of the low, except for those who believe and do good deeds—theirs shall be an unending reward! What then after this, can make you deny the Last Judgement? Is not God the greatest of the judges? (95:1-8)
According to this chapter, man has two quite opposite futures. On the one hand, he is doomed to utter failure and on the other hand he will be rewarded with the best eternal reward. One section of humanity will have the worst fate, while another section of humanity will have the best possible fate.
In fact, God has created man with great potential and, at the same time, He has given him complete freedom of choice. It is this freedom that divides people into two categories—those who misuse their freedom and the others who use it properly.
The potential that man has, is bestowed directly by the Creator, but it is the duty of man himself to turn this potential into a reality. Herein lies the destiny of man. People, then, are necessarily of two categories: firstly, the failures and secondly, the successful ones.
Some achievers are said to be self-made men but, according to the divine scheme described in the Quran, everyone is a self-made man. In terms of potential, everyone is born to become a self-made man. It means that the principles of destiny are laid down by God Almighty but the making of human destiny is in the hands of every man and woman.
Man was given freedom by his Creator. This is a great divine blessing for man. As a matter of fact, it is God Almighty alone who can dispense the good things of life. He is the only giver being in this universe. But God Almighty wanted to bestow His blessing on man as a form of credit rather than as a unilateral blessing.
The human personality is a unique phenomenon in the universe. No creature, material or non-material, has this gift of freedom of choice that man has. This gives man the highest status in the whole universe. Man must have a correct understanding of this exceptional privilege and use it properly. With its proper use a man becomes a superman, but one who misuses the opportunities opened up by freedom will be reduced to a level lower than that of the animals.
The crux of this divine scheme is that man should apply his reason and common sense, he should follow his conscience, he should discover the laws of nature, he should study the divine scriptures revealed to the prophets, he should try to find out his purpose in life and God Almighty’s design regarding his creation. After taking into account all these facts, he should build his future.