DominionTruly, We did offer the trust and duties, which God has ordained, to the heavens and the earth; but they declined to bear it as they were afraid of God’s punishment if they failed.  But man accepted to bear it.  Verily, he was unjust to himself and ignorant of its results.  So God will punish the disbelievers; and God will show His mercy on the true believers.   What if the Heavens and Earth had free will?  It would be like a horror movie…  The mountains and waters would swallow us up if it wanted; the winds would whisk us away if it wanted.  Meteors and lightning would strike us if it wanted.  The angels would punish us at their whim…  But none of this occurs as they do not have free will.  Only mankind accepted this great responsibility.  Mankind has dominion over all these things.  And we abuse this responsibility…  We are the horror…  We are not thankful. So in order for us to return to our true state of being, we must follow God’s Guidance or we are lost…  Very simple…  This is why God sent prophets to mankind – to guide them in how to handle this heavy responsibility/trust which only God gave to them.