Question: Is God egotistical as He says He can forgive all sins except kufr and He punishes people who don’t believe in Him?
Answer: Once you believe Allah ﷻ exists and He alone is The One Whom we worship, then our lives are invariably governed by His rules and regulations. We worship Him because we submit ourselves and our intellect to Him in sajdah and remove our will in favor of His will. Once we believe in Him, we willingly and voluntarily forgo our ideas and opinions to His will. This is an active and willful submission to Him. It is not a passive acquiescence, nor a resignation. It is with our volition and our deep love for Him that we do this. There is no compulsion in (accepting) any religion. Once accepted willingly, we obey. Just as we willingly accept citizenship or residence in any country. There is no compulsion to do so as we can go and live elsewhere. But once we do so, we must abide by the laws of the land – even if we disagree with them. We may disagree with the law, we cannot disobey it. Anyone who tries to subvert the law of any country will be arrested and might even be tried for treason. This is the status of human law and order and of human societies. Without this check in place, there will be total anarchy and uncontrollable chaos.
In the Kingdom of Allah ﷻ, there are also rules and regulations. Human beings must recognize the existence of a Divine being and accept His sovereignty. Allah does not need human beings to worship Him. He is above and beyond any need. He is Al-Ṣamad and totally independent, as the Qurʾān describes Him. Human beings are not independent, and they need to worship Allah ﷻ. Allah’s knowledge is Eternal, and His rules are based on the Wisdom. Human beings do not have access to His Eternal knowledge nor to His Divine wisdom – except through waḥy. Allah has the prerogative to test His servants. Servants do not test Allah, as they can neither reach Him nor His knowledge.
Our tests are based on our knowledge – not on Allah’s knowledge. The Divine Examiner knows the answers to all questions and tests. The human examinee is tested to find and apply the right answer. When we take tests (whether mundane or religious), we answer based on our volition and our knowledge. Those who refuse to accept that He has the right to test and examine are willingly using their volition to reject the sovereignty of Allah. This is akin to treason in mundane human societies. If human beings have the prerogative to declare other human beings as disloyal in this very limited mundane and temporary world, why should Allah ﷻ not have at least the same prerogative, if not more?
Human beings are finite and so is their knowledge and all their abilities. They are created, and thus, severely restricted in what they know and what they can do. Allah ﷻ, the Eternal and Omnipotent, knows everything and is capable of doing everything. It is prudent for human beings to access the Divine knowledge and power to better themselves and others in this world. If human beings are set on improving life for themselves and others, they must at least acquiesce to their ignorance and impotence. They must realize that not everything is their control and that their ideals and goals are truncated at death. If there is life after death, who can tell us what will happen there?
Who will show us and guide us as to what we need to do when we enter the next life? There is no scientist or human genius in the academic world who can do that for us, as they have no knowledge of that. Only those who are assigned the task of leading human beings into eternal bliss know what we need to do. Only they can guide us in these matters. These are the Prophets of Allah ﷻ. If we follow them and accept their knowledge of the Hereafter, we will attain eternal happiness. If we CHOOSE not to, we will willingly jettison our chance for a good life after death. Allah ﷻ does not commit any injustice. Human beings commit injustice against themselves for not ascertaining the existence of the Divine, under whose Supreme Generosity they exist.
The answer you seek to your question lies not in understanding life in this world alone. Rather, it lies in understanding this world in the light and context of the next. This world is finite. The other one is beyond the grasp of any human being, except whom Allah ﷻ chooses to guide. Guide yourself through the guidance of superior human beings aka Prophets of Allah ﷻ.
Shaykh Mohammed Amin Kholwadia
The original question was posed to Mawlana Haroon Sidat, please see his response here: https://m.facebook.com/drharoonsidat/