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One of the great blessings given to us by God Almighty is freedom. But contrary to what the word may mean on the surface, freedom means responsibility and it means submitting to the laws set by God, the provider of our true freedom.
33:72 We have offered the responsibility (freedom of choice) to the heavens and the earth, and the mountains, but they refused to bear it, and were afraid of it. But the human being accepted it; he was transgressing, ignorant.
Freedom, like all the other blessings in our life, is a gift from God, and not something we initiate, create, design or control. Because of that, it has to follow His law. The believers know very well that their creation, their life and their death are all controlled by God’s laws. We were not given the freedom to choose the time or place of our birth or our death, to choose our parents or our siblings, to choose the color of our eyes or complexion of our skin, the capabilities of our brain or the sharpness of our vision, the size of our wealth or the extent of our wisdom. But we were given the most significant kind of freedom, to believe in God or not. After that God takes control.
We asked God to come here to choose to worship Him alone (or not). God is just and fair, and part of our test is that the opposition (in this case Satan) is allowed to present his own version of freedom. It was part of the deal to allow us to choose between the two styles of freedom, between the good and the bad, or between God and Satan.
Satan makes his style of freedom appealing to his constituents by enticing them with all his power. 17:64 “You may entice them with your voice and mobilize all your forces and all your men against them, and share in their money and children, and promise them. Anything the devil promises is no more than an illusion.
To entice the weak at heart, Satan presents his laws that defy God’s laws in the name of freedom. But like all of Satan’s promises, his freedom is no more than an illusion, as God said. Satan invites the people to use drugs in the name of freedom. But after using drugs they become addicted and lose their will. They become prisoners of their habit, prisoners of Satan. Many times, they must lie, cheat, steal, corrupt others and even kill to get their drugs. They lose their freedom and even worse than that, they lose their souls. Satan invites people to defy God’s law of marriage by enticing them to have sexual relationships outside of marriage or even different “lifestyles” of sexual relationships, in the name of freedom. These kinds of sexual practices lead to broken hearts, broken homes, single parents, orphaned children, and serious diseases. Those who follow their lusts lose their will and their self-control, and with that, they lose their freedom and become prisoners of their bad behavior. Their soul’s happiness is replaced by pain. Satan’s promise is again an illusion.
We need to remind ourselves constantly that God gives us the freedom and He is the One in control of this world and our life. 3:109 To God belongs everything in the heavens and everything on earth, and all matters are controlled by God.
God promised us, if we follow His law we will have happiness in our life and freedom; but if we choose freely to follow Satan’s law seeking “freedom”, then we will find nothing but illusion. Following God’s law is the style of freedom that guarantees happiness and victory in this world and in the Hereafter. We are commanded in the Quran repeatedly to advocate righteousness and forbid evil and promote God’s laws.
22:41 They are those who, if we appointed them as rulers on earth, they would establish the Contact Prayers (Salat) and the obligatory charity (Zakat) and would advocate righteousness and forbid evil. God is the ultimate ruler.
9:112 They are the repenters, the worshipers, the praisers, the meditators, the bowing and prostrating, the advocators of righteousness and forbidders of evil, and the keepers of God’s laws. Give good news to such believers.
3:104 Let there be a community of you who invite to what is good, advocate righteousness, and forbid evil. These are the winners.
God created this universe, and He knows best what makes the people free and what does not, what makes the people happy and what makes them miserable. We do not create our own freedom or happiness; they are gifts from God. It is given ONLY to those who follow God’s laws. Anything else is nothing more than a fake freedom and false happiness.
God sent us laws for our personal use and others for our community to be used in pursuit of the true freedom. He gave us clear commandments to believe in Him, His angels, His scriptures, and His messengers. 2:285 The messenger has believed in what was sent down to him from his Lord, and so did the believers. They believe in God, His angels, His scripture, and His messengers: “We make no distinction among any of His messengers.” They say, “We hear, and we obey. Forgive us, our Lord. To You is the ultimate destiny.”
On the personal level, we are free to accept these commandments or not. No one should try to force anyone to believe.
No Compulsion in Religion
2:256 There shall be no compulsion in religion: the right way is now distinct from the wrong way. Anyone who denounces the devil and believes in GOD has grasped the strongest bond; one that never breaks. GOD is Hearer, Omniscient.
4:140 He has instructed you in the scripture that: if you hear God’s revelations being mocked and ridiculed, you shall not sit with them, unless they delve into another subject. Otherwise, you will be as guilty as they are. God will gather the hypocrites and the disbelievers together in Hell.
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