أَوْ تَقُولُواْ إِنَّمَا أَشْرَكَ آبَاؤُنَا مِن قَبْلُ وَكُنَّا ذُرِّيَّةً مِّن بَعْدِهِمْ أَفَتُهْلِكُنَا بِمَا فَعَلَ الْمُبْطِلُونَ “And (remember) when your Lord removed from the backs of the progeny of Adam (‘a), their off-springs and made them witness against themselves, ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They all said, ‘Yes.
We testify.’ (This was) so that you may not say on the day of Judgement, ‘Surely we were unaware of this.’ Or that you say, ‘Our forefathers were polytheists from before and we are only their off-springs. Will you destroy us for what the wrong-doers did?” (Qur’an, 7:172-173) So, all the humans have been created on the nature of Allah’s recognition (ma’arifatullah) and hence the question of doubt and ambiguity concerning the Almighty.
Prophets of Allah (peace be upon them) who came to invite the people towards Him, used to say, أَفِيْ اللهِ شَكٌّ فَاطِرِ السَّمواتِ وَاْلأَرْضِ. “Are you in doubt about Allah, the Creator of the heavens and the earth?” (Qur’an, 14:10) Imam Al-Baqir (‘a) says that the Holy Prophet (‘s) said, كُلُّ مَوْلُودٍ يُولَدُ عَلى الْفِطْرَةِ. يعني: عَلى الْمَعْرِفَةِ بِأَنَّ اللهَ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ خَالِقُهُ. فَذلِكَ قَوْلُهُ: وَ لَئِنْ سَأَلْتَهُمْ مَنْ خَلَقَ السَّمواتِ وَ اْلأَرْضِ لَيَقُولُنَّ اللهُ.
“Every child is born on fitrat (God-knowing nature). That is, on the recognition that surely Allah (Mighty and Glorified be He) is his Creator. And this is His saying, ‘And if you ask them who has created the heavens and the earth, they would certainly say, Allah.”[^4] Therefore, all the human beings, at the time of their birth, possess the recognition of Allah, His Unity, ( Tauhid ) His being their Creator and Sustainer in their nature. But this recognition is simple (baset).
That is, it is present in their nature but they are not aware of its existence. Had they continued to live in this very way, and there did not come any reminder in their entire lives, they would be neither believers nor unbelievers or polytheists. Someone asked Imam As-Sadiq (‘a) concerning the verse, كَانَ النّاسُ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً فَبَعَثَ اللهُ النَّبِيّينَ مُبَشِّرِيْنَ وَ مَنْذِرِيْنَ “People were one nation.