Speaking Tree Blog | December 26, 2023
The stark reality of our existence in this world is that there is no ideal. There is no ideal world, ideal society, government, person, or character. In this imperfect world, flaws are inherent. According to the Quran:
Man was created to see which of us is best in deed. (67:2)
The very reason for our existence is this test. If it was a perfect world, there would be no test. A pre-requisite for this test is our freedom or freewill given by God Almighty. This free will has given us the opportunity to create strife and conflict as well as peace, harmony, and progress. Strife is the price we have to pay for free will.
Striving, sacrifice, giving, and forgiving are only possible in an imperfect world. In an ideal world, these things do not exist. Life is not always fair. The injustices done by man against man and our reactions or responses of patience, anger, fighting, hope, prayer, etc., are possible only in an imperfect world. Perfect justice and fairness towards even the smallest of deeds will only be achieved in the hereafter, where rewards and punishments are given depending on how we fare in the ‘test’ of life.
Whoever has done the smallest particle of good will see it; while whoever has done the smallest particle of evil will see it. (The Quran, 99:7-8)
As a feature of this ‘test’, man is created in a society where every person is different from the other. Every cell in one person is different from that of another. No two individuals are alike. These differences lead to different ideas, disagreements, and divergence; generating challenges that lead to progress and intellectual development. Progress and development are a result of these differences and not in spite of them.
Invariably this also leads to strife which has to coexist with progress. If this was not so, how could those individuals be selected who given the chance of conflict and oppression, choose peace and progress? Come, let us discover our place and position in this creation plan of God.
Source: Spirit of Islam, May 2013
