Humans - As God's Caliphs on Earth (2/3)

Human Ability to Learn

Allah, praise to Him, made humans His caliphs on Earth, after they proved to Him their ability to learn, to accumulate knowledge, to process that knowledge, to make rules and laws on the basis of their knowledge, and to make use of what they have learned.

Allah, praise to Him, facilitated for humans to learn by making Earth abundant in food and resources and protected it from harmful cosmic effects. He surrounded it with several layers of atmospheres as protection and made its distance from the Sun ideal for life to flourish and progress. Thus, humans have enjoyed peaceful and comfortable conditions in most regions of Earth, which freed them to learn.

The Compassionate never left His creation alone or lonely to despair. He would intervene to improve His creation with fashioning in the right proportions and best imaging. He also instructed them to learn, use their knowledge for their benefit, and guided them to how they can achieve that.

God’s first word to humans was: “Read.” This was the first word, the Senior Angel, Jibril (Gabriel), peace to him, told to the Prophet Muhammed, peace and blessings of God be upon him. He actually repeated it three times to confirm its importance to humanity, as stated in the first five verses of Surah Al-‘Alaq.

“Read! In the name of your Lord, Who created, (1) Created the human (being), out of an alaqa (leech-like embryo), (2) Read! And your Lord is the Most Bountiful, (3) He Who taught with the pen, (4) taught the human (being) that which he did not know” (Surah Al-‘Alaq, 96: 1-5).

There are many verses, which deal with learning, knowledge, and science in the Holy Qur’an. These are cited in about twelve pages in the Qur’an Index. [1]     

Here are some examples of these verses. When we look at them, we find that Allah, praise to Him, states that He and His senior angel, Jibril, peace to him, are involved in teaching humans. The teaching happens directly, as in the case of Jibril and the Messengers of God, and indirectly by facilitating learning to the average person, as in the case of the scribe (See verse 2: 282 below).

“The Most Merciful, (1) has taught the Qur'an, (2) created the human (being), (3) taught him speech” (Surah Al-Rahman, 55: 1-4)

“Remember Allah, as He has taught you that which you did not know” (Surah Al-Baqara, 2: 239).

“It is an inspiration sent down (to him),(4) taught by one mighty in power (Jibril)”  (Surah Al-Najm, 53: 4-5).

“A scribe should not refuse to write as Allah has taught him” (Surah Al-Baqara, 2: 282).

Human Freedom of Choice

God’s trust in His human creation to be His representatives on Earth was also based on His knowledge of them as being capable to choose between right and wrong. Unlike angels, who are obedient to their Creator by creation (Surah Al-Tahreem, 66: 6), humans have the characteristic of choice between obedience or disobedience, making their own decisions.

“They (angels) do not disobey Allah in what He commands them, but do what they are commanded” (Surah Al-Tahreem, 66: 6).

Allah, praise to Him, wanted to enjoy seeing his human creation obey Him and observe His commands by choice. When He told His angels that He would make human His caliphs on Earth, they were surprised because of their knowledge of human corruption and violence (blood-shedding). But Allah, praise to Him, answered them saying He knew what they did not know, as stated in Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:30.

He knew that as some humans may choose to corrupt and shed blood, others will choose to obey His commands and do good to themselves, to others, and to their Planet.

Humans are born with this characteristic of being able to identify what’s right and what’s wrong. They are also born with the ability to choose which of the two paths they are going to follow. This freedom of choice is inherent, not learned. It’s part of the original DNA software inscribed by the Creator and blown into the fetus in its mother’s womb, as the verses tell us, as well as we are told by a well-known and strong Hadith by Prophet Muhammed, peace and blessings of God be upon him. [2]

Verse 3: 76 states that the human being is guided to the path of choice, which will show if he or she will be grateful to the Creator who guided him or her, or a disbeliever who won’t recognize this great blessing.

“We guided him (the human being) to the path (of choice, to see if he chooses to be) grateful or disbelieving” (Surah Al-Insan, 76: 3).

Verse 90: 10 is bluntly direct in stating that Allah has guided the human being to identify the two paths of right and wrong or good and evil. Then, He left him or her there to choose with free will which path to follow.

“Have We not made for him two eyes? (8) And a tongue, and two lips? (9) And guided him to the two paths (to choose from) (10)” (Surah Al-Balad, 9o: 8-10).

Verse 91: 8 states that Allah, praise to Him, has inspired the human self to know the paths of disobedience and piety. He praised those who keep the self-pure and warn those who corrupt it. [3]

“By the (human) self, and how He fashioned it, (7) by inspiring it to (to know the paths of) disobedience and piety. (8) Truly, whoever keeps it pure will succeed, (9) And whoever corrupts it will fail (10)” (Surah Al-Shams, 91: 7-10).

 (Continued)