Hūd

وَلَوْ شَآءَ رَبُّكَ لَجَعَلَ النَّاسَ اُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً وَلا يَزَالُونَ مُخْتَلِفِينَ

118. “And had your Lord willed, He would have made mankind a single people: yet they cease not differing.”

Allah’s way of treatment in creation of men is based on liberty, and freedom in choosing their own ideas and beliefs. Man’s choice and freedom to choose his way of life and ideas has been frequently referred to in the Glorious Qur’an. That is, although Allah leads man towards Himself, He does not impose His will upon him by force, and He has not commanded the sublime Prophet (S) to compel people, He has only demanded him to remind people of their duty, and show them the right path.

The holy Qur’an in this regard says:

“Therefore do thou give admonition, for you are one to admonish”.

“Thou art not one to manage (men’s) affairs.” ¹²

Thus, Allah reveals the virtuous path in such a way that human nature, discriminating between good and evil, recognizes them from within itself, and for this reason, from out ward, He sends the prophets (as) to guide mankind. It is the man himself who must fully and voluntarily select his own way, the Path of Truth or the path of evil and wrongdoing. Therefore, He has alluded to one of the prominent traditions in the course of creation which is the basis of other affairs that relates to human beings.

It is the individual differences relating to the mind, the body, personal views, zeal and love as well as the issue of man’s freedom of will. The Qur’an remarks that if Allah wanted He could have created a single nation out of mankind (but He did not do such a thing) and human beings have always had differences to settle. This is emphasized in order to show that His insistence for obeying His commands does not reflect a lack of ability to put everyone on one track and on one predetermined path. It stands to reason that such a faith would be of no use.

Nor would such a homogeneous, unified and compulsory faith based upon involuntary motives lead anywhere, it would reflect no personality distinctions, no means of development and growth, and have no basis for rewarding the good. Man’s supreme value essentially lies in his freedom of will which differentiates him from other existing beings. Different tastes, different ways of thinking, indeed, differences of personality and intellectual makeup all form parts of one society, providing multiple aspects of those dimensions that make man who he is and it is that which gives him a distinct status.

It is also natural that once freedom of will comes in the scene, differences regarding ideas and schools of thought must exist.

Footnotes

1. 12. Surah Al-Ghashiyah, No. 88, verses 21& 22