"Plants and minerals are bound to predestination. The faithful is only bound to the Divine orders"

Plants and minerals exist within the confines of natural law, following patterns dictated by biological, chemical, and physical forces. Their existence is determined by external circumstances, they grow, transform, and decay according to immutable laws. They have no agency, no conscious volition; they are bound by what Iqbal refers to as "predestination", a predetermined state that governs their every motion. Their composition, lifecycle, and interactions are compelled by necessity, not by choice.

The human being, specifically the faithful individual, occupies a different existential category. Iqbal contrasts the material order with the moral and spiritual reality accessible to humans. Unlike minerals and plants, the faithful possess consciousness, reason, and the capacity for self-determination. Divine orders, guidance, moral imperatives, and spiritual commands, shape the arena in which the human soul acts. Whereas the material world operates under fixed and blind determinism, the domain of faith is characterized by moral responsibility and creative engagement with divine will.

The faithful, then, is not a passive recipient of destiny, nor a simple automaton following the dictates of matter. Though subject to the laws of nature, the faithful transcends them by choosing to act in accordance with higher, divine injunctions. There is a freedom imparted by faith: the freedom to respond to the Divine call, to shape one’s destiny through conscious submission and ethical action.

Iqbal’s philosophy emphasizes the empowering aspect of spiritual agency. By distinguishing the determinism that binds nature from the divine guidance that addresses humanity, he asserts human uniqueness and dignity. The faithful is invited to exercise will, cultivate virtue, and participate in the ongoing process of creation. Thus, human destiny is not a closed circuit of cause and effect, but an open dialogue with the Divine, where freedom and submission coexist.