What is this deposit of God entrusted to man? (Al-Amana)

What also distinguishes man from other creatures is ” al-amana ” that God entrusts him.

This term has various meanings in the Quran. We find it used in the singular about the written document relating to contracted debts (S.2, 283). ” Al-amanat » (the deposits) comes up four times in plural forms, with respect to the Law of God, the Prophet and men (S.2, 27). It is to be noted that “al-amana” is used each time in the singular or in the plural without the definite article “al”. It is not the same in the sura to thehzâb”: the noun, being defined, covers something precise:
” Certainly We had proposed the deposit of faith in the heavens, in the earth and in the mountains. They refused to take it on; they were frightened. Alone, man has taken care of it, but he is unjust and ignorant. » (S.38, 72)

What is this deposit entrusted to man? Aïcha Abderrahmân examines certain interpretations which she refutes and finally gives her point of view. Let us therefore follow his intellectual approach.
At-Tabârî generalizes the term and thinks that it covers all deposits in religious matters and those that people leave in the hands of their fellows. His idea is acceptable, in the sense that the Koranic text speaks of deposit in the singular and limits its field of action. The same author communicates other interpretations given to this particular term.

– The deposit was entrusted only to Adam who had not shown himself up to the task since, having disobeyed his Lord, he was expelled from paradise; he therefore discharged the responsibility with which God invested him;
– It would be Cain who received the deposit from his father, but he betrayed the trust placed in him, by killing his brother;
– By deposit, we mean obedience, religious prescriptions, justice, etc.

The first version, which links the deposit to the fall of Adam from paradise, is incompatible with the context of the verse, which does not limit the duration of this charge. It is the same for the second because God specifies that it is about Adam. He could not replace his Creator and hand over to his son what God had given him as a symbol of man in general.

In addition, the purity of the Arabic language and its precision cannot clothe the word “al-amana” of a general meaning, to the point of being the synonym of several names at the same time. As for assimilating it to religious prescriptions, the Koran combines the two ideas in the same verse and separates the meaning (See for example: S.28 to 33)

The other hypotheses are also to be refuted, because the Sacred Book delimits the space of obedience, belief, disbelief, non-respect of the given word, neglect of duties, etc. It is clear, moreover, that if the deposit had a relationship with any of the mentioned domains, the heavens, the earth and the mountains would not have refused something relatively painful than what they already bear. .

Indeed, the elements of nature bear heavy responsibilities: the sky is suspended without columns supporting it; the earth and the mountains contain within them all the riches and contain the inhabitants of this world. All agree to play their part according to the permanent laws fixed for eternity. They will therefore have no account to God since everything is carried out according to His sole Will. THE earth will not be asked why its tremors destroy entire regions, nor the thunder the reason for the damage it causes. It is, therefore, a harder charge, with irreversible consequences.

Although ” al-iman » (faith) proceeds “fromal-amana », the first term is explained by the belief and the second defines the appropriate responsibility to implement it. This is why ‘Aïcha Abderrahmân thinks that the deposit in question is aimed at the trials that man will experience in his life. These tests involve the exercise of freedom and the responsibility of choice, as well as the reward or punishment corresponding to the behavior of each other. And now the human being accepts al-amana » but commits injustices because he does not know how many dangers his pleasure entails.

The function of ” Khalifa “ is conceived, in fact, in connection with the trials to which man submits himself in a permanent way. To play his role, he is required to right his wrongs, to overcome his ignorance of things and to fight within himself the demons of disbelief, of the turpitude which result therefrom. From his will to constantly question himself, he opens the way to faith, morality and science. It is because there are differences in the dispositions of men, in the volume of their problems and in the ways of approaching them as well as in their capacities to solve them, that humanity is composed of peoples, each defined by its characteristics. particular.

It is up to man to suffer the hassles inherent in the failures that mark the path of life, to accept the material and human losses that existence sows on his path and to face all kinds of problems as thorny as some others to meet the conditions that this world imposes on him.

In truth, God created man and, before recalling him to Himself, He tests his spiritual capacities, his sense of justice, his social activities… by subjecting him to tests where happiness and unhappiness are mixed, joy and sorrow, and wholesome means and deceitful attempts. The human being ensures his progress by questioning, in a constant way, the factors at the origin of his setbacks; by revising, when necessities so require, each situation in the light of new data.

This is a strong idea of ​​Islam without which stagnation, even regression, is self-evident.

“In truth, God changes nothing in the state of a people if they do not change their inner behavior. » (S.13, 11)

The creation of Adam will cause man to exercise his vicariate on earth; his existence, from his birth to his death, will only be an uninterrupted series of battles between the false and the true for which he will have to make the choice and bear the responsibility. The hardships endured will inevitably be accompanied by a lot of misfortunes and happiness.

Without the examination to which he is subjected and without the bad temptations which assail him, the life of man in this world would not have its raison d’être. But this mortal stands out for a function that no other creature had previously fulfilled. This assumes that he will be endowed with a particularity, namely a thought that will lead him to approve or contest what, before him, suffered from no controversy, with the aim of building a world where the rights of each will be based on the principles of equality and justice.
“The whole system writes Ihsan Hamid Al-Mafragy, that Islam implements expected to the realization of a strongly united and coherent society, centered on the recognition in the human being of a clean person, with for corollary, the need to assure him the respect of his rights. »

To this end, God grants man a freedom of action which makes him directly responsible for his acts.