Introduction to the Study of The Holy Quran — Page 312
312 compulsion in this last sphere for the reason that his spiritual progress is not directly related to the operation of the law of nature. He has been given free choice of action in the sphere of the Law of Shariah inasmuch as he can become the object of divine favour and bounty only by acting upon the Law of Shariah and no reward can be earned unless there is free choice in the matter of action. What a man is under compulsion to do can earn him no reward. The Quran recognizes that man’s spiritual welfare and progress is affected by his material surroundings and to the extent to which it is so affected limitations are placed upon his actions, but it also teaches that man’s actions are appraised by God with reference to his background and environment. For instance, if a millionaire spends a small fraction of his wealth in the service of humanity and a poor man possessing only the equivalent of that small fraction spends the whole of it in the service of his fellow-beings, they will not, in the eyes of God, be entitled to an equal reward. The millionaire devoted a thousandth or a hundred-thousandth part of his wealth to the winning of the pleasure of God and the poor man gave his all for that purpose. The reward earned by each will be in proportion to the sacrifice made by each. God looks not to the volume of a man’s actions but appraises them against their true background. He does not overlook the handicaps to which a man is subject and which limit the scope of his actions nor the conveniences which a man enjoys and which facilitate his actions. Evolution of Spiritual Universe Completed in the Holy Prophet We learn from the Quran that as the material universe has developed gradually, a similar gradual process of development was prescribed for the spiritual universe. That is why the perfect code of laws was not revealed at the inception of the universe. Revelation was sent down to man in consonance with the stage of development reached by him. Eventually man arrived at a stage when he could bear the responsibility of the perfect Law of Shariah. God in His wisdom then caused to appear the most perfect human being in the person of the Holy Prophet of Islam and revealed to him the perfect Law of Shariah and the perfect Scripture. That perfect Law is Islam and that perfect Scripture is the Quran. The evolution of the spiritual universe was completed in the person of the Holy Prophet. As man is the central point of the material universe and the respective Prophets were the central points of the nations to which and the ages for which they were sent, the Holy Prophet of Islam is the central point for the whole of mankind. The plan of the universe, therefore, put forward by the Quran is that the first central point of the universe is man. In their different spheres mankind revolve around their respective Prophets, the Prophets revolve around the Holy Prophet of Islam and he, in turn, revolves round and leads the whole universe to God and the spiritual universe is, thus, carried to its perfection.