Is Creation Obedient to Allah or Disobedient?
Brief description of the dubiety
In some verses of the Holy Quran such as Surah al-Baqarah, verse 116 and Surah al-Room, verse 26, it is said that all of creation is obedient to Allah. However, some other verses speak about how human beings, and other creations or groups do not obey Allah. These two sets of verses appear to be contradictory, because it is not possible for all of creation to be described as obedient to Allah, and at the same time some of them are disobedient.
Detailed description of the dubiety
Contradictory Verses
Verses indicating the obedience of all of Allah’s creations
Surah al-Baqarah, verse 116 says: “And they say, ‘Allah has taken a son.’ Immaculate is He! Rather to Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth. All are obedient to Him.”
The root word for obedient in Arabic comes from qa-na-ta which means ‘to obey;’ [1] therefore this verse describes all of creation with the characteristic of being obedient to Allah. Other verses are similar in their meaning, such as Surah al-Room, verse 26 which states: “To Him belongs whoever is in the heavens and the earth. All are obedient to Him.”
Surah Ale Imran, verse 83 conveys a similar meaning: “Do they then seek a religion other than Allah’s, while to Him submits whoever there is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, and to Him they will be brought back?”
Verse 15 of Surah al-Rad says: “To Allah prostrates whoever there is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, and their shadows at sunrise and sunset.”
Surah Yaseen, verse 82 says: “All of His commands, when He wills something is to say to it ‘Be,’ and it is.” In this verse, it states that when Allah gives a command for something to come into being, that thing comes into being without it having any ability to disobey His command. This verse does not speak about the possibility of that thing disobeying the authority of Allah, which implies that it does not have the ability in this regards to defy the Almighty.
Verses which mention the disobedience of some of Allah’s creations
In numerous verses of the Quran, different creations have been shown to disobey the commands of Allah. These creations are from different groups and species. Consider the following verses as examples:
The disbelievers from the Bani Israel have been mentioned in Surah al-Maidah, verse 78 as follows: “The faithless among the Children of Israel were cursed on the tongue of Dawood and Isa, son of Mariam. That, because they would disobey and they used to commit transgression.”
Verses 90 and 91 of Surah Yunus references Firawn as follows: “We carried the Children of Israel across the sea, where Firawn and his troops pursued them out of defiance and aggression. When overtaken by drowning, he called out, ‘I believe that there is no god except Him in whom the Children of Israel believe, and I am one of those who submit [to Him]!’ [He was told,] ‘What! Now? When you have been disobedient up until now and were among the agents of corruption?!’”
The Quran, in Surah Mariam, verse 44, cites the words of Prophet Ibrahim where he deems Shaytan as a sinner: “Father! Do not worship Shaytan. Indeed Shaytan is disobedient to the All-Beneficent.”
Surah al-Baqarah, verse 93 also emphasizes on the fact that some people disobeyed Allah: “And when We took a covenant with you and raised the Mount above you [declaring], ‘Hold on with power to what We have given you, and listen!’ They said, ‘We hear, and disobey,’ and their hearts had been imbued with [the love of] the Calf, due to their faithlessness. Say, ‘Evil is that to which your faith prompts you, should you be faithful!’”
Verse 112 of Surah Ale Imran says: “Abasement has been stamped upon them wherever they are confronted, except for an asylum from Allah and an asylum from the people; and they earned the wrath of Allah, and poverty was stamped upon them. That, because they would defy the signs of Allah and kill the Prophets unjustly. That, because they would disobey and used to commit transgression.”
In verse 152 of the same Surah it says: “Allah certainly fulfilled His promise to you when you were slaying them with His leave, until you lost courage, disputed about the matter, and disobeyed after He showed you what you loved. Some of you desire this world, and some of you desire the hereafter. Then He turned you away from them so that He might test you. Certainly He has excused you, for Allah is gracious to the faithful.”
Surah al-Nisa, verse 42 says: “On that day those who were faithless and [who] disobeyed the Apostle will wish the earth was levelled with them, and they will not conceal any matter from Allah.”
Surah Hud, verse 59 says: “Such were [the people of] Aad: they impugned the signs of their Lord and disobeyed His Apostles, and followed the dictates of every obdurate tyrant.”
Surah al-Haaqah, verses 9 and 10 states: “Then brought Firawn and those who were before him, and the towns that were overturned, iniquity. Then they disobeyed the Apostle of their Lord, so He seized them with a terrible seizing.”
Surah Nuh, verse 21 says: “Nuh said: ‘My Lord! They have disobeyed me, following someone whose wealth and children only add to his loss.’”
Surah al-Muzzammil, verse 16 says: “But Firawn disobeyed the Apostle; so We seized him with a terrible seizing.”
Surah al-Baqarah, verse 34 states: “And when We said to the angels, ‘Prostrate before Adam,’ they prostrated, but not Iblis - he refused and acted arrogantly, and he was one of the faithless.”
Finally, in Surah Ibrahim, verses 28-30 we read:: “Have you not regarded those who have changed Allah’s blessings with ingratitude, and landed their people in the house of ruin? Hell, which they shall enter, and it is an evil abode! They have set up equals to Allah, to lead [people] astray from His way. Say, ‘Enjoy [for a while], for indeed your destination is the hellfire!’”
Summary
In some verses of the Quran Allah introduces all of the creations in the heavens and earth as obedient to Allah’s orders. However, in numerous other verses, some groups of humans and other creations have been shown to disobey the divine orders of Allah. These two set of verses appear to contradict one another, because if all of the creations of Allah are obedient to His orders, then no creation should be able to disobey Him.
A summarized response
The first set of verses are discussing ontological commands, whereas the second set of verses are discussing legislative commands. Ontological commands are those laws which are the basis of the created realm and it is not possible for any creation to go against them, and they are in constant submission to these laws – whether they like it or not. However, legislative commands are orders by Allah which have reached us, but it is possible for human beings or other creatures to disobey them through their free-will. Hence many have committed sin by going against these laws. It is clear that the impossibility of disobeying ontological commands, and the possibility of disobeying legislative commands are not in contradiction to one another.
A detailed response
Introduction
1. Meaning of ‘Ontological Commands’
Allah’s commands can be divided into ontological and legislative. Ontological instructions are those orders and principles which are integrated in the nature and structure of this realm and give it order. For example, some of the laws of nature which are mentioned in physics are considered to be general principles, such as two objects which depending on their mass and distance from one another have a certain gravitational force towards one another; or a body of mass that if it is not interfered with will remain in its current state; or if the density of a solid object is less than liquid, then it will float on top of it. These are all instances of general laws and principles, which can also be witnessed in other sciences such as chemistry, biology or geology. Even the exceptional cases that are sometimes seen in these laws are based on other general laws, otherwise they are not really exceptions. It should also be noted that these laws are not exclusive to material matters only, but also exist in spiritual and immaterial matters, which are also referenced in some verses and traditions.
The word takween means ‘to create or to produce.’ [2] In the Quran, for the Will and Act of Allah in creating this realm - the word command (amr) has been used. For example, in Surah Yaseen, verse 82 it says: “Verily, when He wills something, His command is to say to it ‘Be,’ and it is.”
Given this preliminary, those acts of Allah which relate to the creation of this realm and establishing its principles are referred to as ontological commands. These laws which are built into the nature of this universe are general, and cannot be gone against and cannot be overcome. If anyone wants to plan or work to achieve a goal, they must always comply with these rules, as they cannot be overridden. For example, if NASA wants to send a spaceship into space, they cannot say: ‘We will not take into consideration the law of gravity,’ rather they have to design and execute their work according to the law of gravity. [3] [4]
2. Meaning of ‘Legislative Commands’
God Almighty has sent laws and commands to humans through the Holy Quran, and also through the prophets and their successors. What the philosophy of sending these laws was, has been mentioned in some verses and narrations. One of the wisdoms behind Allah’s laws is trial and tribulation of mankind – mankind will be tested so that it can be seen which of them are steadfast on the true path and perform good deeds, despite the difficulties in their lives.
In verse 7 of Surah al-Kahf it says: “Indeed We have made whatever is on the earth an adornment for it that We may test them [to see] which of them is the best in conduct.”
These commands are unlike ontological orders which cannot be disobeyed. Rather, mankind who has free-will can approach these commands in two ways, either they abide by them and fulfill Allah’s directives, or they dismiss them and disobey the guidelines that Allah has sent.
Legislation (tashri) means to show the way, [5] and since religious divine laws are a source of guidance for mankind and take them to bliss, they are referred to as legislative commands.
3. Difference between Ontological and Legislative Commands
From the above analysis, the difference between an ontological and legislative command becomes clear to some extent, and in conclusion it can be said that some commands and orders in this world which cannot be broken by any creation and are outside of the scope of free-will. Therefore, human beings and other creatures who have free-will have to abide by these laws. Since Allah is the One who established these laws, the Quran alludes to the obedience of all of creation to these laws. Some creations of Allah are satisfied with these laws, while others are not and this is what the Quran refers to when it says, “willingly or unwillingly.” Death is a law that no one can go against, even though many humans are not satisfied with it being a reality.
However, there is another set of laws which are for creatures who have free-will – including human beings – and there is no enforcement of these upon them. Instead every creation with free-will can choose to obey or disobey them. The first set are ontological commands and the second set are legislative commands.
The meaning of disobedience in the second set of verses is disobedience of the Legislative Commands
Looking at the second set of verses quoted above, it can be determined that the disobedience mentioned in these verses is disobedience against the legislative commands of Allah. For example, Firawn disobeyed and rejected the guidance which Prophet Musa brought for him, thus it was considered a sin. In reality, what Prophet Musa conveyed to Firawn was not the ontological commands of Allah which cannot be disobeyed, rather they were the legislative commands; and Firawn with his free-will decided to not act upon them.
Likewise, Shaytan is considered to be a sinner because of not prostrating to Adam which was a command of Allah. This order was not something which was built into this realm, rather it was a directive that was within the scope of Shaytan’s free-will and it was possible to be disobeyed.
After analyzing the verses which speak about creation’s disobedience to Allah, we can conclude that those verses are referring to the legislative commands, not the ontological commands where there is no possibility of disobedience. Therefore, these creatures use their free-will to go against the legislative commands of Allah and the sins and disobedience mentioned in these verses are the violations of the legislative divine commands.
The first set of verses are referring to the Ontological Commands of Allah
The first set of verses which speak about how all of creation obeys the commands of Allah, is referring to the ontological commands. With the explanation given earlier, it is clear that Allah’s ontological orders are built in the created realms and going against them is not possible whatsoever. Therefore all of the creations in the universe – whether they like it or not – are in total submission to these laws. [6]
Now we intend to go over some of the verses and explain how they are ontological commands and not legislative commands.
In Surah al-Baqarah, verses 116 and 117 Allah states: “And they say, ‘Allah has taken a son.’ Immaculate is He! Rather to Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth. All are obedient to Him. The Originator of the heavens and the earth; and when He decides on a matter, He just says to it, ‘Be!’ and it is.”
In the first part, the possibility of disobedience to Allah has been negated. However, in the second part it speaks about Allah creating the heavens and the earth, and that once Allah gives the command for something to be created, there is no possibility to go against that. Putting both of these verses together, the meaning of verse 116 becomes clear in that it is referring to the act of creation through the ontological commands of Allah.
A similar case can be seen in Surah al-Room, verses 26 and 27 where it says: “To Him belongs whoever is in the heavens and the earth. All are obedient to Him. It is He who originates the creation, and then He will bring it back - and that is simpler for Him.”
Verse 27 is referring to the act of creation in the universe and after putting both of these verses together, the meaning of verse 26 also becomes clear in it being an ontological command.
In Surah Ale Imran, verse 83 it says: “Do they then seek a religion other than Allah’s, while to Him submits whoever there is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, and to Him they will be brought back?”
In the beginning of this verse, it explicitly speaks about those people who go against the legislative commands – that is the religion of Allah. Thereafter, the following sentence - ‘while to Him submits whoever there is in the heavens and the earth’ - is not in reference to Allah’s legislative commands. At the end of the verse it alludes to the fact that all human beings will be brought back, and given that the idea of return to Allah is from the ontological matters and is outside of the free-will of mankind, this in itself is an alibi that the verse is referring to the obedience of all of creation in the realm of ontology, not legislation.
Verse 15 of Surah al-Rad where the prostration of all of creation has been mentioned, is in reference to an ontological prostration and submission, not a legislative one. This can be deduced through the verse before it which speaks about some creatures disobeying the legislative divine commands. The fact that the subsequent verse is speaking about the prostration of all creatures shows that this submission and prostration is not legislative, rather an ontological meaning is intended.
Finally, in verse 82 of Surah Yaseen where the disobedience of Allah’s commands have been negated (this verse has been explained previously), it is not speaking about the legislative commands, rather it is discussing the creations of Allah. Therefore, in the verse before it (verse 81), it says: “Is not He who created the heavens and the earth able to create the like of them? Yes indeed! He is the Creator, the All-Knowing.”
This verse 81 is speaking about the creation of the heavens and the earth, and verse 82 is being used as evidence for it. As such, it is understood that verse 82 is referring to an ontological matter.
Conclusion
From the above detailed explanations, it becomes clear that these two categories of verses are not contradictory, rather the reconciliation between them is that the first set of verses are speaking about Allah’s ontological commands where it is impossible to go against them, and all of the creations of the universe are submissive to it. Whereas the second set of verses are speaking about Allah’s legislative commands, where the creatures that have free-will are able to obey or disobey them, and in this case many commit sins by disobeying them.
Common example
Imagine someone says to a friend: “The laws of this universe are unbreakable, such as the fact that the earth’s gravity pulls things towards itself, mercury sinks to the bottom of water, and every force has an equal and opposite reaction, and so on, and no one can break these laws or go against them.” This same person when speaking about social matters, will complain as follows: “Unfortunately, some people do not abide by the laws, they smoke cigarettes in public, they speed while driving, they dig wells illegally, and so on.”
While these two statements may apparently seem contradictory, but they are not in reality. The first sentence is speaking about the laws governing the universe and are outside of the scope of our free-will, therefore one cannot go against them. Whereas the second sentence is speaking about laws which are legislated to keep a society in order and due to human free-will, they are able to abide by them or break them.