The Scope of Mans Free Will

Man is the only earthly creature endowed with intelligence, will, and speech, all of which are originally Divine Attributes in their absoluteness. It is due to the existence of such Divine Qualities in man that he is essentially considered as a theomorphic being and chosen as the vicegerent of Allah on earth. As the Quran (15: 29) says, Allah has breathed into man of His spirit. All the Divine qualities in man originate from spirit, the Divine aspect in him, and that is why they cease to function when the spirit leaves the material aspect of man and returns back to its Origin, Allah. The aim of this article is to discuss the scope of man's free will. Man is free but not independent. He is free to choose to do something or not to do it. Therefore, he is responsible for whatever he does out of his free will, and, as such, his responsibility is commensurate with the extent of his capacity and the scope of his free will.