Introduction to the Study of The Holy Quran — Page 306
306 The Quran teaches that for the regulation and adjustment of the attributes which affect mankind God has set in motion two laws. The first of these is: "My mercy encompasses all things;" 380 and the second is set out in the verse: "What has happened to you that you expect not wisdom and staidness from Allah. " 381 The latter verse means that whatever God does is based upon wisdom. One of the attributes of God mentioned in the Quran is The Wise, which also indicates the same thing. These two laws indicate that every manifestation of an attribute of God is for the achievement of a definite purpose or object. They also show that whenever there is a struggle between the laws demanding punishment and the laws necessitating the exercise of mercy, the latter will prevail and punishment will be subordinated to it. Contemplation of the operation of these two laws fills the heart of a Muslim with the love of God which pervades the whole of his being. A Muslim, for the purpose of creating love and devotion in his heart towards God, is not under the necessity of doing violence to his reason and of accepting the doctrine of Atonement and the crucifixion of a human being who bore the burden of all sins. It is enough for him that the Quran teaches that every manifestation of God’s attributes is governed by wisdom and has a definite purpose and object and that, being human, if he is on occasion guilty of a weakness or commits a fault and is then overtaken by remorse and contrition and makes up his mind to eschew all manner of error in the future, the love and forgiveness of God will completely cover him. This knowledge melts his heart and it is dissolved in an ecstasy of love for God. A Muslim realises that though God is the Creator and the Sovereign, He forgives the trespasses of His servants, overlooks their faults, and makes every manner of provision for their advancement. When He imposes a penalty, His object is not to inflict pain or to humiliate but to enable His erring servants to reform themselves and to march forward along the paths of progress. He realises that God is ever ready to accept true repentance and covers up the faults of His servants and through remorse and repentance wipes them out altogether. He finds that God, Who is the Lord of Majesty and Exaltation, hears the prayers of His servants and that His eagerness to draw near to His servants is many times greater than the eagerness of His servants to approach near to Him. Realising all this, his heart is filled with the love of God and he is driven towards Him in a paroxysm of love and devotion even greater than that which drives an infant to the arms of its mother; and God too inclines towards such a servant of His with love and tenderness many times greater than that of a mother who rushes to comfort her crying and distressed child. Man—the Centre of the Universe The Quran teaches that God desired to bring into existence a universe which should serve as a manifestation of His Majesty and His Light and that this was the cause of the creation of the universe. It says that God created the heavens and the earth in six periods. Before that God ruled over water. God’s object in creating the