( وَرَبُّكَ الْغَنِيُّ ذُو الرَّحْمَة) (And your Lord is the Free of need, the possessor of mercy): After Allah (swt) clarifies that He will gather all people, recompense them, and make all accounts of their deeds public, He (swt) then reassures people that He does not need their worship, and that He (swt) has mercy on them.

( إِن يَشَأْ يُذْهِبْكُمْ وَيَسْتَخْلِفْ مِن بَعْدِكُم مَّا يَشَاءُ) (If He wills, he can do away with you and give succession after you to whomever He wills): No one can never cause failure to Allah (swt) by escaping from Him (swt), nor can anyone leave the realm of His Authority (swt):

 يَا مَعْشَرَ الْجِنِّ وَالْإِنسِ إِنِ اسْتَطَعْتُمْ أَن تَنفُذُوا مِنْ أَقْطَارِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ فَانفُذُوا ۚ لَا تَنفُذُونَ إِلَّا بِسُلْطَانٍ 

(O company of jinn and mankind, if you are able to pass beyond the regions of the heavens and the earth, then pass. You will not pass except by authority [from Allah]) (Ar-Rahman: 33)

Those who want to disobey Allah (swt) should choose another universe that does not belong to His Authority (swt), for everything that falls under His Authority is subject to His Will. When He pleased, He (swt) will do away with any person whomever that person may be. Allah (swt) gave mankind the ability to choose because He wants humbled hearts, rather than humiliated molds.

 ثُمَّ اسْتَوَىٰ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ وَهِيَ دُخَانٌ فَقَالَ لَهَا وَلِلْأَرْضِ ائْتِيَا طَوْعًا أَوْ كَرْهًا قَالَتَا أَتَيْنَا طَائِعِينَ

(Then He directed Himself to the heaven while it was smoke and said to it and to the earth, “Come [into being], willingly or by compulsion.” They said, “We have come willingly.”) (Fussilat-11)

If Allah (swt) wanted, He would have turned all mankind into believers:

 وَلَوْ شَاءَ رَبُّكَ لَآمَنَ مَن فِي الْأَرْضِ كُلُّهُمْ جَمِيعًا ۚ أَفَأَنتَ تُكْرِهُ النَّاسَ حَتَّىٰ يَكُونُوا مُؤْمِنِينَ

(And had your Lord willed, those on earth would have believed – all of them entirely. Then, [O Muhammad], would you compel the people in order that they become believers?) (Yunus:99)

This is a crystal-clear proof that Islam did not spread by force, nor by flashy speeches, but by the high morals. The Prophet (saws) said:

“I was sent to perfect honorable morals.”[1]

This is why we find that in Islam, all acts of worship are related to intentions, so that these ceremonies are turned into a way of achieving values. The Prophet (saws) said:

“Those whose prayer does not prevent them from indecency and wrong doing, they will only grow more distance to Allah.”[2]

The prayer is a way to connect with Allah (swt) and with His creations. Praying prevents the person from doing harm to others; it is a calling for goodness upon others. The same goes for fasting, it is not just about refraining from eating and drinking, but also from nonsense and obscenity; it is about feeling the others and their needs. The same applies to giving alms, pilgrimage, and all pillars of Islam.

Allah (swt) says:

 أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ ضَرَبَ اللَّهُ مَثَلًا كَلِمَةً طَيِّبَةً كَشَجَرَةٍ طَيِّبَةٍ أَصْلُهَا ثَابِتٌ وَفَرْعُهَا فِي السَّمَاءِ (24)تُؤْتِي أُكُلَهَا كُلَّ حِينٍ بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهَا ۗ وَيَضْرِبُ اللَّهُ الْأَمْثَالَ لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَذَكَّرُونَ (25)

((24) Have you not considered how Allah presents an example, [making] a good word like a good tree, whose root is firmly fixed and its branches [high] in the sky? (25) It produces its fruit all the time, by permission of its Lord. And Allah presents examples for the people that perhaps they will be reminded) (Ibrahim: 24-25)

[1] Sunan Al-Buhai’qi Al-Kubra. The Book of Testimonies, Hadith No. 20571.

[2] Majma’ Al-Zawa’id, the Book of Prayer, Hadith No. 3557.