Q. Could you please explain Verse 71 of Surah 33, Al-Ahzab, which refers to amanah or trust that was offered to the heavens, the earth and the mountains, but which they all declined to bear. Yet man took it up and he is described in the same verse as unjust and ignorant. What is this trust?
S. Hussain
A. The verse in question may be translated as follows: “We offered the trust to the heavens, the earth and the mountains; but they refused to bear it because they were afraid of it. Yet man took it up. For truly, he has always been prone to be unjust, ignorant.” (33: 71) In order to understand this verse properly, we quote what the late scholar Sayyid Qutb wrote about it in his priceless work, In the Shade of the Qur’an.
The Qur’an has chosen to speak about these great types of creation, the heavens, earth and mountains. When man lives on them or near them, he appears to be very small and insignificant. Yet these creatures know their Creator without any effort on their part. By their very nature and constitution, they comply with the laws that He has set in operation. They obey the overall law He has set for the universe without reflection, contemplation or intervention. They run in their respective courses in a perfect cycle that never fails even by the smallest fraction of a second. They fulfill their respective roles having no choice in the matter.
The sun moves in its orbit in a perfect cycle, sends its rays to fulfill the task assigned to it by God, and maintains, through the law of gravity, its distances with its planets and moons, fulfilling its role in the universe. The earth also runs its own cycle, producing its plants to feed all types of its population, bury its dead, and sends its springs gushing forth. But all this it does without having any say in it. The same may be said about the moon, stars and planets, wind, clouds, air, water, mountains and valleys. They all perform their respective functions, submitting to their Lord and His will. They do so without having to make any effort. They all have dreaded to bear the trust of having a will of their own, which would entail making their own efforts to acquire their own knowledge.
Man, on the other hand, knows God through his senses and feelings. He recognizes His laws through study and reflection. He brings his work in line with God’s law through his own efforts. To obey God, man needs to make a choice undertaking to act in a certain way, resist his desires and temptations. At every step he takes, man makes a choice on the basis of awareness of the end to which that choice leads.
It is indeed a huge trust that is shouldered by man, a creature of small size, little power, limited lifespan who is influenced by desire, whims, inclinations and aspirations. It is a great risk man takes as he accepts to carry this huge trust. Hence, he is “unjust” to himself, “ignorant” of his own ability.
When considered from the angle of the size of the responsibility he had taken upon himself, man is seen as both unjust and ignorant. But when he fulfills his responsibility, acquires the knowledge that takes him directly to his Lord, shows him His law and places him in complete obedience to God’s will, the situation is totally different. Such knowledge, guidance and obedience produce the same perfection that the heavens, earth and mountains demonstrate with ease because they know their Lord and obey Him naturally, unhindered by any obstacles. Therefore, when man attains the same standard of knowledge and obedience to God, in full awareness and enlightened choice, he achieves a much higher standard that makes him unique among God’s creation.
His will, knowledge, effort and fulfillment of his trust are the qualities that distinguish man placing him above countless types of God’s creation. These are the qualities that are at the heart of the honor God bestowed on man when He ordered the angels to prostrate themselves before Adam. He further stated in the Qur’an that man occupies an honorable position: “We have conferred dignity on the children of Adam.” (17: 70) It is imperative, therefore, that man should know what gives him dignity and honor with God, fulfill his trust which caused such dread to heavens, earth and mountains all together. This is what Sayyid Qutb wrote, and it needs no further comment.