Allah The Exalted — Page 117
All a h the Exalted 1 1 mandments. Everyone bows down to the heavenly king- dom in some form or the other. It is true that having regard to the purity and corruption of human hearts, heedlessness and remembrance of All a h prevail in the earth by turns, but this ebb and flow does not occur by itself, but only in obedience to the Divine will. That hap- pens which God wills. The alternation of guidance and error proceeds like the alternation of day and night ac- cording to the light and command of God and not by itself. Despite this, everything hears His voice and glori- fies Him. But the Gospel says that the earth is empty of the glorification of God and the reason is indicated in the sentence that follows, namely, that the kingdom of God has not yet arrived on the earth. That is why God's will has not been put into effect on the earth as it operates in heaven. The teaching of the Qur’ a n is altogether contrary to this. The Qur’ a n states clearly that no thief, murderer, adulterer, disbeliever, disobedient one, rebellious one or offender can commit any evil upon the earth unless he is authorised from heaven. Then how can it be said that the kingdom of heaven does not operate upon earth? Does some adverse possession stand in the way of the en- forcement of God's command on the earth? Indeed not. God Himself made one law for the angels in heaven and another one for man on the earth. In His kingdom of heaven, God has given no choice to the angels. Obedi- ence is inherent in their nature. They are not able to disobey. They are not subject to error or forgetfulness. But human nature has been given the choice of obedience and disobedience. As this choice has been given from above, therefore, it cannot be said that because of a dis- obedient person, God's kingdom has been excluded from the earth. God's kingdom is in operation all the time and