99وَلَو شاءَ رَبُّكَ لَآمَنَ مَن فِي الأَرضِ كُلُّهُم جَميعًا ۚ أَفَأَنتَ تُكرِهُ النّاسَ حَتّىٰ يَكونوا مُؤمِنينَMuhammad AsadAnd [thus it is:] had thy Sustainer so willed, all those who live on earth would surely have attained to faith, all of them:1 dost thou, then, think that thou couldst compel people to believe,The Qur'an stresses repeatedly the fact that, "had He so willed, He would have guided you all aright" (6:149) - the obvious implication being that He has willed it otherwise: namely, that He has given man the freedom to choose between right and wrong, thus raising him to the status of a moral being (in distinction from other animals, which can only follow their instincts). See, in this context, surah 6, note 143, as well as - in connection with the allegory of the Fall - surah 7, note 16.