Al-Araf (The \r\n Heights)
\r\n Chapter 7: Verse 172-173 \r\n ![](\"/_img/quran-issue298.gif\") The \r\n Covenant Made During Pre-Creation
\r\n “When your Lord drew forth \r\n from the loins of the children of Adam their descendants and made them \r\n testify concerning themselves. (Saying): 'Am I not your Lord?' They said, \r\n 'Yes, we testify to it.' (This) in case you say on the Day of Judgement, \r\n 'We were unaware of this'. Or in case you say, 'It was our ancestors who \r\n made partners (with Allah) and we are only their descendants. Will you \r\n then destroy us for what those liars did?'”
\r\n These verses confirm the fact that everyone \r\n is responsible for belief in God and on the Day of Judgement \r\n excuses will not be accepted. \r\n Since Allah made all human beings swear to His Godhood when He created \r\n Adam, this oath is printed on the human \r\n soul even before it enters the fetus in the fifth month \r\n of pregnancy. So when a child is born, it has with it a natural belief \r\n in Allah. This natural belief is called in Arabic the 'Fitrah'. If the \r\n child were left alone, it would grow up aware of Allah in His unity, but \r\n all children are affected by the pressures of their environment whether \r\n directly or indirectly. So, just as the child's body submits to the physical \r\n laws which Allah has put in nature, its soul also submits naturally to \r\n the fact that Allah is its Lord and Creator. But its parents try to make \r\n it follow their own way and the child is not strong enough in the early \r\n stages of its life to resist or oppose its parents. The religion which \r\n the child follows at this stage is one of custom and upbringing and Allah \r\n does not hold it to account or punish it for this religion. When the child \r\n matures in youth and clear proofs of the falsehood of its religion are \r\n brought to it, the adult must now follow the religion of knowledge and \r\n reason. \r\n The covenant which every man made to Allah during pre-creation was that \r\n he would recognize Allah as his Lord and not direct any form of worship \r\n to others besides Him. This covenant is fulfilled by sincerely believing \r\n in Tawheed (Allah's Unity) and putting that belief into practice in daily \r\n life. Tawheed is put into practice by avoiding all the acts of Shirk (setting \r\n up partners with Allah) and by closely following the last messenger whom \r\n Allah sent as a practical and living example of life based on the principle \r\n of Tawheed. Because man has declared that \r\n Allah is his Lord, he must then consider righteous deeds to be only those \r\n defined by Allah and His prophet (SA) as being righteous, and evil deeds \r\n likewise. \r\n Source:
\r\n \"The Fundamentals of Tawheed\" - Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips, pp \r\n 45-53
\r\n [Submitted by Zeeshan Mahmood, Mississauga, Canada] |