Islam and Modern Life — Page 23
23 Man as God’s Vicegerent and the Subservience of the Universe The Quran in express words describes that man, that is to say mankind as such, no particular man, that man is God’s vicegerent upon earth. He is God’s steward. And that the universe is made subservient to man. And the word subservient, the original word us ed in the Quran in Arabic, has two aspects. One, that it is bound by a set of laws. It operates in accordance with those laws. And subservient, that is to say it is placed at the service of man to serve the beneficence and progress of mankind. Now, immedia tely therefore, a Muslim is again incited to a study of, to research into the laws which bind the various phenomena of the universe which operate in them, and then to discover what benefit can it serve for humankind. It lays the foundation of science and research. And as a matter of fact, those of us who unfortunately are beginning to be either bewildered or being frightened by this tremendous power being in the hands of man, what will he do with it? They are being puzzled and bewildered by a beginning, the end of which today is inconceivable, but the volume of it will go o n increasing manifold almost every year. It’s a thing to rejoice over, that God through His grace should have, and through the promises contained here, should have set in process the discovery by man, the greater and greater discovery by man of the operation of the laws of nature, and then to bri ng it into His service.