The Essence of Islam – Volume II — Page 472
472 Essence of Islām II awarding good recompense to the virtuous and ill recom- pense to the vicious. Were it not for His attribute of awarding recompense, He would have kept silent and abstained altogether from bestowing recompense. Therefore, though it is true that the harm or benefit of man's actions reverts to him and the greatness and kingdom of God Almighty are neither increased nor decreased thereby, yet it is true and is a firm verity that His attribute of Rububiyyat demands that His servants should be firmly established in their position of His worshippers, and that if anyone should raise his head in the slightest degree out of arrogance, his head be imme- diately smashed. In short, there is a demand in God's Being for the manifestation of His Greatness, His God- head, His Supremacy, His Glory and His Kingdom, and recompense and the requirement of obedience and servitude and worship are the consequences of that very demand. For the manifestation of His Rubūbiyyat and Godhead, He has created this variegated world. Had His Being been free from this desire of manifestation, why should He have addressed Himself to creation at all? Who had coerced Him that He should create the universe and by establishing a relationship between souls and bodies should make this world the manifestation of His wonderful powers? He must have possessed a power of determination that moved Him to the creation of the universe. There are indications in His Holy Word, the Qur'an, which show that God Almighty created the universe so that He should be recognized through His attribute of creation, and after creation He showered His mercy and benevolence upon the world so that He should be recognized through His mercy and benevolence. In the same way, He instituted punishment and reward so that