responsible for all that it does, feels or thinks. It has to bear the
consequences of its acts and it has to carry its own burden. The
Qur’an is clear on this point:
For every self is that which it has earned, and against it only that which
it has worked (2:286).
Again:
No self will in aught avail another, nor will intercession be accepted from
it, nor any counterpoise be taken, neither shall they be helped ( 2 : 48 ).
This, in brief, is the Law of Requital. If a man achieves success, it
is not because luck favoured him, but because he had acted in the
right way. If he fails, he cannot put the blame for it on Fate, for
failure is the direct result of his own wrongdoing.
Reverting to the Qur’anic chapter Ikhlaas, the first verse, as has
been shown, emphasises the attributes of Ahadiyyah or Oneness.
The second verse refers to the Divine attribute of Samadiyyah or self-
dependence. The term connotes independence, self-reliance and
self-sufficiency. “Samad” is the being which depends only on its own
self and on nothing else, a being which is eternally enduring and
absolutely free. God possesses this attribute in the highest degree,
but man, with a self of his own, can also acquire it in some measure.
He can exercise free choice and can become independent of
external circumstances. “Do what ye will,” says the Qur’an (41:40).
Again: “Whosoever will, let him believe and whosoever will, let him
reject” (18:29).
In the entire creation, man alone enjoys real freedom. Freedom is
the indispensable condition of moral life. Morality is irrelevant to a
being whose actions are completely determined by forces outside
itself. Man is capable of taking the initiative. He can freely choose
any one of two or more alternative courses of action. He can bend
his efforts to the attainment of any goal on which he has set his
heart. For these reasons, he responds to the call of duty and engages
in moral endeavour. Of course, man does enjoy God-like freedom:
his freedom is subjected to various stresses and limitations.
Nevertheless, he is free in the sense that his actions are self-
determined, that they flow from his rational nature. This is the true
interpretation of the freedom man enjoys. Man is responsible for
his actions because they reflect his basic motivational pattern and
reveal his essential characteristic. Hence he is the subject of moral
Islam: A Challenge to Religion 79