Ali 'Imran · Madani · ayah 83 of 200
Ali 'Imran 3:83
أَفَغَيْرَ دِينِ ٱللَّهِ يَبْغُونَ وَلَهُۥٓ أَسْلَمَ مَن فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ طَوْعًا وَكَرْهًا وَإِلَيْهِ يُرْجَعُونَ
“So is it other than the religion of Allāh they desire, while to Him have submitted [all] those within the heavens and earth, willingly or by compulsion, and to Him they will be returned?”
Saheeh International
Essence
Why seek any way but Allah's, when everything in the heavens and earth has submitted to Him, willingly or not, and all return to Him?
A reflection
The man who answers to no one
An entrepreneur tells an interviewer that he answers to no one. Halfway through the next sentence, a coughing fit stops him. He waves for water. For a full minute, his lungs decide what happens next.
'To Him has submitted whoever is in the heavens and the earth.' A classical commentator explains the ayah's sweep. The believer submits to Allah with heart and body. The one who denies Him submits too, unwillingly, because he lives under a power he cannot resist or escape.
Think about what that includes. Your heart beats without your permission. You fall asleep whether you planned to or not. You age at a pace you did not choose. The sun rises on time over every rebel and every saint. Even the most defiant human being is, in nearly every part of his existence, already submitted.
That is a humbling picture for the ego. We imagine our independence is large. In fact, it is a small island of choice in an ocean of obedience. The galaxies obey. The cells obey. Only a narrow strip of the human will is left free to say yes or no.
And the ayah closes: 'and to Him they will be returned'. Even the island will be handed back.
Pride says: I answer to no one. Every breath says otherwise. The wise person stops arguing with his own lungs, and brings the small free part of himself into line with everything else.
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