The emancipated man was put into the clutches of new human...

The emancipated man was put into the clutches of new human gods and was placed under a new bondage, that is to say mechanism, expansion and diversification of consumption and a race of exploitation and making profit. The way of thinking was freed from the shackles of medieval doctrines. Sciences flourished, but they all were harnessed to serve the cause of the enhancement of production and exploitation.

As all restraints were removed and stress was laid on complete freedom, man was given to libertinism and permissiveness and his life became meaningless (as is the case with Western Liberalism). Again `man' has been forgotten, and the question still remains: What is man? What should he be? What should he do to remain a man and attain human perfection?

Man from the Qur'anic point of view The story of Adam as portrayed in the Qur'an shows that in the course of his material development and physiolo­gical changes,[^1] man reached a stage where he obtained a new birth[^2] with the infusion of the Divine spirit.[^3] Then in the course of his normal development, he suddenly experienced a divine change as the result of which he was transformed into such a super being[^4] that even the angels were asked to pay obeisance[^5] and the world forces were made subservient, to him.

The Forbidden Tree of Paradise is not that of knowledge which should not be approached, but it is a tree of lust which should be controlled. It is a means by which man tests his will‑power and the power of self‑control. Even man's disobedience is a symbol of the freedom granted to him by Allah. To have access to `knowledge' is not forbidden to him: In fact, it is a gift with which he has been especially blessed.

Allah taught him that which none else knew.[^6] Knowledge is one of the factors by which man gained superiority over the angels.[^7] Even Adam's expulsion from Paradise was a forerunner of a sort of self‑sufficiency, the blooming of his talents and the beginning of his creative struggle.[^8] It was a stage preliminary to his self‑making. Though `fall' came in the wake of disobedience, but it did not culminate in condem­nation and permanent contempt.

As the result of seeking forgiveness and attaining self‑consciousness, it became a matter of blessing.[^9] Man's relation with Allah is not that of hostility or rivalry, for Allah is Self‑sufficient and All‑powerful. Even if all men disobey him, He is going to lose nothing.[^10] He is far away from jealousy and any kind of anxiety.