Of course, even in the imaginal world of our own minds, our freedom is only relative, and certainly not absolute. Our powers of thought and imagination are limited in many ways, including how much and how well we can remember things, our experiences, which are almost entirely the products of our specific time and place, our character, which predisposes us to certain types of thoughts and feelings, and our beliefs regarding what is true, what is false, what is interesting, and what is worth sharing with others.
It is this vast power of conception that distinguishes us from the angels and virtually explains why Adam, so early in the Qur’an, is entitled the deputy (khalifah) of AL-LAH.
And He taught Adam all the names, then showed them to the angels, saying “Tell me what the names of these are if you have been truthful.” / They replied, “Transcendentally Sublime are You! We have no knowledge other than what You have taught us. Verily You are the Knowing One, the Wise.” / “O Adam,” He pronounced, “Inform them what their names are.” Then when he apprised them of their names, He said, “Did I not say to you that verily I know the secret of the heavens and the earth? I know what you disclose and what you have been hiding.” (Q2:31-33)
وَعَلَّمَ آدَمَ الأَسْمَاءَ كُلَّهَا ثُمَّ عَرَضَهُمْ عَلَى الْمَلاَئِكَةِ فَقَالَ أَنْبِئُونِي بِأَسْمَاءِ هَؤُلاَء إِنْ كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ قَالُوا سُبْحَانَكَ لاَ عِلْمَ لَنَا إِلاَّ مَا عَلَّمْتَنَا إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيمُ
قَالَ يَا آدَمُ أَنْبِئْهُمْ بِأَسْمَائِهِمْ فَلَمَّا أَنْبَأَهُمْ بِأَسْمَائِهِمْ قَالَ أَلَمْ أَقُلْ لَكُمْ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ غَيْبَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَأَعْلَمُ مَا تُبْدُونَ وَمَا كُنتُمْ تَكْتُمُونَ
What we have from GOD, therefore, is not so much free will as free belief. We are free to fall into the uncreated realm of our very own illusions and name things and characters and make up stories any way we want, which of course is what fantasy and science fictions writers specialize in and what all of us indulge in to a certain extent. GOD Himself makes this clear.
They are nought but names that you and your forefathers named, for which AL-LAH has not revealed any imprimatur. They follow nothing but conjecture and what they desire for themselves. (Q53:23)
إِنْ هِيَ إِلاَّ أَسْمَاءٌ سَمَّيْتُمُوهَا أَنْتُمْ وَآبَاؤُكُمْ مَا أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ بِهَا مِنْ سُلْطَانٍ إِنْ يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلاَّ الظَّنَّ وَمَا تَهْوَى الأَنْفُسُ
Notice that what the fabricators think, what they follow, and what they want are twice dismissed as nought and nothing. This is the same void, you may recall, that I discussed earlier in Chapter 7 in reference to Satan and his expulsion from reality into a temporary realm where he is free to invent – not create – evil. This domain of illusions imitates reality through ‘what if’ scenarios and fictional assumptions, referred to in this tradition:
From Abi Hurairah, who said, “The Messenger of AL-LAH (may GOD bless him and give him peace) said, ‘The strong believer is better and more beloved to AL-LAH than the weak believer, and in each there is some good. Pursue what benefits you and seek the help of GOD and do not falter. And if something befalls you, do not say, “If [only] I had done this or that.” Rather say, “AL-LAH has decreed it so, and what He willed He has done.” Truly “If [only]” opens up the work of Satan.’” Sahihub-nu Majah, Vol. 1, Book 1, Hadith 79
عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ ” الْمُؤْمِنُ الْقَوِيُّ خَيْرٌ وَأَحَبُّ إِلَى اللَّهِ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِ الضَّعِيفِ وَفِي كُلٍّ خَيْرٌ احْرِصْ عَلَى مَا يَنْفَعُكَ وَاسْتَعِنْ بِاللَّهِ وَلاَ تَعْجِزْ فَإِنْ أَصَابَكَ شَىْءٌ فَلاَ تَقُلْ لَوْ أَنِّي فَعَلْتُ كَذَا وَكَذَا . وَلَكِنْ قُلْ قَدَّرَ اللَّهُ وَمَا شَاءَ فَعَلَ فَإِنَّ ” لَوْ ” تَفْتَحُ عَمَلَ الشَّيْطَانِ ”
This does not mean that we cannot hypothesize for experimental purposes or learn from our mistakes by comparing what we did to what we might have done. Rather the intention of the above tradition is to break our habit of dwelling in non-existent worlds and pining for alternatives to the present – His present. There is no enlightenment – no Light, in fact – beyond this Divine moment. It is not a process with predictable consequences, but a wholly new gift that must flow, moment after moment, from the Giver. When you know it is not yours, it may come to you. Otherwise, never.
We are free to accept this Immediate Truth or grasp at the mirages of the past or future or of other places that we think are better. We are also free to choose among an almost limitless range of illusions – our innumerable ‘would’s’ that beckon us away from His One ‘Will’. We may not mind it when we hear that only in illusion is our freedom . . . but then a Day will come to say that freedom was, for us, only an illusion.
The GOD You Already Know 