The Holy War — Page 219
Proceedings—Debate 2 June 1893 219 fulfil His Own need, has created all that exists for the benefit of man to illustrate His Mastery, His Creativity, His Grace, and His Mercy. Firstly, by virtue of His guardianship—i. e. , as required by Him being the Creator—He brought this world into being and then by the dictates of His Graciousness He bestowed upon them all that they needed. Then, by virtue of His attribute of Mercy, He blessed their efforts and hard work, and then—on account of His attribute of Mastery— He assigned them responsibilities. And He made them responsible for enjoining good and forbidding evil and upon this, affixed warnings and promises. He simultaneously made this promise that whoever turns to repentance and seeks forgiveness after treading upon the path of sin, will be forgiven. Then He will deal with them in accord with His prom- ises on the Day of Judgement. What connection does the objection of mercy without recompense have with all this? And what connection is there with the establishing of rights and petitioning for justice from God Almighty in an arrogant manner? The true philosophy underlying all this is exactly what has been laid out in S u rah al-F a ti h ah , as Allah the Exalted says: 1 ُدْمَحْلَا ِهّٰلِل ِّبَر َنْيِمَلٰعْلا۰۰ ِنٰمْحَّرلا ِمْيِحَّرلا۰۰ ِكِلٰم ِمْوَي ِنْيِّدلا۰۰ Now look, here it was apparently thought that after mentioning رحمٰن [ Ra h m a n —Gracious] and رحیم [ Ra hi m —Merciful] it would have been in keeping with the mention of these attributes to have brought here the word العادل [ Al-‘ A dil— The Just], so that after Mercy men- tion of Justice should be made. God Almighty, however, turning aside from justice has here chosen to mention His attribute of ِكِلٰم ِمْوَي ِنْيِّدلا [ M a liki-Yaumid-D i n —Master of the Day of Judgement] so that it may be known that it is not permissible to demand rights from Him nor 1. All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all the worlds, the Gracious, the Merciful, Master of the Day of Judgment ( S u rah al-F a ti h ah, 1:2–4). [Publisher]