Submission: Surrendering to the Divine Will

Submission to God stands as a foundational concept across the Abrahamic traditions, representing the fundamental posture of the creature before the Creator, the believer before the Almighty. While this concept finds its most explicit expression in Islam—whose very name derives from the Arabic islam, meaning “submission”—the call to surrender one’s will to God’s will pervades Judaism and Christianity as well. From Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac to Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane (“not my will, but yours”), from the Shema’s call to love God with all one’s heart to the Muslim’s five daily prostrations, submission expresses recognition of God’s absolute sovereignty and humanity’s dependent, obedient relationship to the divine.

Yet submission is not mere fatalism or passive resignation. In the Abrahamic understanding, submission involves active trust, willing obedience, joyful surrender, and humble recognition of one’s place in the created order. It is the proper response to God’s lordship, goodness, and wisdom. The one who submits (muslim in Arabic) finds freedom paradoxically through surrender, peace through acceptance of divine will, and purpose through alignment with the Creator’s design. At the same time, submission raises profound questions about human freedom, moral responsibility, and the relationship between divine sovereignty and human agency—questions each tradition addresses with theological sophistication.

Islam: The Religion of Submission

Etymology and Central Importance

The Arabic word islam derives from the root s-l-m, which carries meanings of peace, safety, and submission. Islam specifically means submission or surrender to Allah, while a muslim (literally “one who submits”) is a person who practices this submission. This etymological connection makes submission not merely one Islamic doctrine among others but the very definition of what it means to be Muslim.

The Quran repeatedly emphasizes submission as the essence of true religion. “Indeed, the religion in the sight of Allah is islam [submission]” (Quran 3:19). “Whoever submits his face [i.e., self] to Allah while being a doer of good will have his reward with his Lord” (Quran 2:112). The call to submission is presented not as innovation but as the original religion of all the prophets: “We have believed in Allah and in what was revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Descendants, and in what was given to Moses and Jesus and to the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and we are Muslims [in submission] to Him” (Quran 3:84).

Abraham is particularly highlighted as the exemplar of submission. When God commanded him, “Submit,” Abraham responded, “I have submitted [myself] to the Lord of the worlds” (Quran 2:131). His willingness to sacrifice his son (identified as Ishmael in Islamic tradition) demonstrates complete submission to divine command even when it contradicts natural affection and human understanding.

Dimensions of Islamic Submission

Submission in Islam operates on multiple levels:

1. Intellectual Submission: Accepting Allah’s existence, oneness (tawhid), and attributes; believing Muhammad is His final messenger; affirming the truth of the Quran and Islamic teachings. This is expressed in the shahada (testimony of faith): “I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.” Intellectual submission means accepting divine revelation as true even when it transcends human reason.

2. Volitional Submission: Surrendering one’s will to Allah’s will, accepting His decrees (qadar), submitting to His law (sharia). The Muslim submits to divine commands regardless of personal preference, recognizing that Allah’s wisdom infinitely exceeds human understanding. The Quran declares: “It is not for a believing man or a believing woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided a matter, that they should have any choice about their affair” (Quran 33:36).

3. Practical Submission: Performing the obligations prescribed by Allah—the Five Pillars of Islam (shahada, salat/prayer, zakat/charity, sawm/fasting, hajj/pilgrimage) and all other Islamic practices. Submission is not merely internal attitude but external compliance with divine commands. The Quran links faith with action: “The believers are only those who have believed in Allah and His Messenger and then doubt not but strive with their properties and their lives in the cause of Allah. It is those who are the truthful” (Quran 49:15).

4. Physical Submission: Most visibly expressed in salat (ritual prayer), performed five times daily, which involves bodily prostration (sujud). The Muslim physically bows and prostrates before Allah, the forehead touching the ground—the ultimate posture of humility and submission. This prostration symbolizes the entire relationship: the creature acknowledging complete dependence on and obedience to the Creator.

5. Comprehensive Submission: Islam calls for submission of one’s entire life to Allah. The Quran states: “Say, ‘Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds. No partner has He’” (Quran 6:162-163). There is no sphere of life—personal, family, economic, political, social—that stands outside submission to Allah. Islam is din (a comprehensive way of life), not merely private religious belief.

Submission and Human Freedom

Islamic theology grapples with the tension between divine sovereignty and human responsibility. If everything occurs by Allah’s decree and power, how can humans be morally responsible? Different schools have emphasized different aspects:

Ash’ari theology emphasizes divine sovereignty: Allah creates all acts, including human actions. Humans “acquire” (kasb) these acts, making them responsible, but the ultimate power belongs to Allah. This view protects divine omnipotence and supports the concept of complete submission—everything that happens is by Allah’s will and wisdom.

Mu’tazili theology emphasized human free will and moral responsibility, arguing that humans genuinely choose their actions and that Allah’s justice requires genuine human freedom. This school was largely rejected by Sunni orthodoxy for seeming to limit divine sovereignty.

Maturidi theology sought middle ground: humans have real ability and choice, but these exist within the framework of Allah’s overarching will and power. Submission means accepting both divine decree and personal responsibility.

For practical Islamic piety, the resolution often comes through the concept of tawakkul (trust/reliance on Allah). The believer does what they can, submits the outcome to Allah’s wisdom, and accepts whatever Allah decrees with patience (sabr) and contentment (rida). The Prophet Muhammad is reported to have said, “Tie your camel [take practical precautions], then put your trust in Allah”—combining human action with submission to divine will.

Submission and Peace

Islamic tradition connects submission with peace (salam), both words sharing the same Arabic root. The traditional Muslim greeting is as-salamu alaykum (“peace be upon you”). The logic is that true peace—internal tranquility and external harmony—comes through submission to Allah. When one surrenders to divine will, ceases struggling against God, and accepts one’s place in the cosmic order, one finds sakina (tranquility). Resistance to Allah’s will brings turmoil; submission brings peace.

The Quran promises: “Those who believe and whose hearts find rest in the remembrance of Allah. Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest” (Quran 13:28). This rest comes through submission—knowing that the all-wise, all-powerful, all-merciful Allah governs all things and that nothing occurs except by His will.

Submission in Judaism

Acceptance of the Yoke of Heaven

While Judaism does not use “submission” as its central self-definition, the concept pervades Jewish thought and practice. The Hebrew expression kabbalat ol malkhut shamayim (“acceptance of the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven”) captures the Jewish understanding of submission. This “yoke” is not oppressive burden but gracious privilege—the opportunity to serve the King of the universe.

The Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-5), recited twice daily by observant Jews, begins: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” This declaration of God’s unity and the command to total love constitutes the fundamental submission of Jewish faith—exclusive loyalty to the one God, complete devotion of heart, soul, and strength. Rabbinic tradition sees reciting the Shema as accepting the yoke of heaven’s kingdom.

Following the Shema, traditional liturgy includes accepting ol mitzvot (the yoke of the commandments). Submission to God’s sovereignty naturally leads to submission to His law. The 613 commandments of Torah are not arbitrary impositions but expressions of God’s will for His people. Observing these commands demonstrates submission to divine authority and wisdom.

Abraham: Paradigm of Submission

Abraham exemplifies submission in Jewish tradition. The Akedah (binding of Isaac, Genesis 22) represents the ultimate test of submission: God commands Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son, the child of promise through whom God’s covenant blessings would flow. Every human instinct, every rational calculation, every emotional tie argues against this command. Yet Abraham submits without argument or delay, trusting that God’s ways, however incomprehensible, are ultimately right and good.

Jewish interpretation emphasizes that Abraham’s submission was active trust, not passive fatalism. He trusted God’s character even when he couldn’t understand God’s command. The midrash elaborates that Abraham engaged in an internal struggle but ultimately chose submission. This willing surrender of even his most precious possession—his son—to God’s will establishes the pattern for Jewish faith.

The binding of Isaac is recalled daily in Jewish liturgy, asking God to remember Abraham’s merit and submission. The shofar (ram’s horn) blown on Rosh Hashanah recalls the ram sacrificed in Isaac’s place, reminding Jews of their forefather’s complete submission to God.

Submission in Torah and Prophets

Moses tells Israel: “What does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD” (Deuteronomy 10:12-13). This comprehensive call encompasses intellectual (fear/reverence), emotional (love), volitional (walk in His ways), and practical (keep commandments) dimensions of submission.

The prophet Samuel declares: “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams” (1 Samuel 15:22). Submission expressed through obedience surpasses even prescribed ritual. External compliance without internal submission is rejected by the prophets.

The Psalms frequently express submission: “I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8); “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God!” (Psalm 143:10). The psalmist’s submission is not reluctant but joyful, not forced but desired. God’s will becomes the believer’s delight.

Submission and Covenant

In Judaism, submission occurs within covenant relationship. Israel submits not to arbitrary power but to the God who redeemed them from Egypt, who chose them as His people, who revealed His will through Torah. Submission is Israel’s covenant response to God’s gracious initiative. “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Exodus 20:2) grounds the commandments that follow. Submission to divine commands is the appropriate response to divine redemption.

This covenant context means submission is relational, not merely legal. It is the obedience of children to a loving Father, of a bride to her husband (prophetic imagery used frequently), of a people to their covenant King. Jewish submission includes prayer, argument with God (as Abraham and Moses argue), lament (as in Psalms and Lamentations), and wrestling with divine commands—all within the framework of ultimate trust and obedience.

Submission and Study

Uniquely in Judaism, submission includes intensive study of Torah. Learning what God commands is itself an act of submission—seeking to know God’s will more fully in order to obey it more completely. The Talmudic sages spent lifetimes debating the application of divine law, but this intellectual rigor operated within submission to Torah’s divine authority. Study is not merely academic but devotional, an expression of love for God and submission to His revealed will.

Submission in Christianity

Jesus: The Submissive Son

Christianity presents Jesus Christ as the perfect example of submission to God’s will. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus emphasizes His submission to the Father: “I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38); “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work” (John 4:34).

The supreme moment of Jesus’ submission is His prayer in Gethsemane on the night before His crucifixion. Facing the horror of the cross, Jesus prays: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). This prayer expresses both genuine human reluctance (Jesus was not masochistically eager for suffering) and complete submission to divine will. When the cup could not pass, Jesus submitted: “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done” (Matthew 26:42).

Hebrews interprets Jesus’ earthly life as learning obedience through suffering: “Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). This does not mean Jesus was disobedient and had to learn better, but that He experientially demonstrated what submission means even through intense suffering. His obedience “unto death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8) becomes the pattern for Christian discipleship.

Mary’s Submission

Christianity also lifts up Mary’s submission as exemplary. When the angel announces that she will bear the Messiah, Mary responds: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). This fiat (“let it be”) expresses complete submission to God’s will despite the personal cost, social stigma, and incomprehensible mystery involved. Mary’s submission makes possible the incarnation and, therefore, redemption. Catholic and Orthodox traditions particularly honor Mary’s submission as cooperating with God’s salvific plan.

Discipleship as Submission

Jesus taught that discipleship requires submission to God’s will. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Mere verbal acknowledgment is insufficient; submission must be genuine and practical. Jesus illustrated this with the parable of two sons (Matthew 21:28-32): one verbally agreed to obey but didn’t; the other initially refused but eventually did his father’s will. The latter demonstrates true submission.

Jesus taught His disciples to pray: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). This petition expresses submission—asking that God’s will, not ours, be accomplished. Christian prayer at its deepest is alignment of human will with divine will, not manipulation of God to serve human desires.

The call to discipleship is radical submission: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). Denying oneself means rejecting self-will, self-determination, self-centeredness; taking up one’s cross means accepting suffering in obedience to God; following Jesus means submitting to His lordship in every area of life.

Submission and Grace

Christianity’s distinctive contribution to submission theology is its grounding in grace. Paul writes: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship” (Romans 12:1). The call to submission (“present your bodies”) is grounded in divine mercy, not law. Christians submit not to earn God’s favor but in grateful response to grace already received through Christ.

This grace-grounding transforms submission from servile fear to loving gratitude. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Obedience flows from relationship, from being loved and redeemed, from indwelling Holy Spirit who enables what He commands. Christian submission is response to God’s prior action in Christ.

James writes: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). Submission to God brings power to resist evil. It is not weakness but strength, not slavery but liberation from darker powers. Submitting to God’s lordship means refusing submission to sin, self, and Satan.

Submission and Suffering

Christianity uniquely connects submission with suffering. Following the crucified Messiah means that submission to God’s will may lead through suffering, not around it. Peter writes: “Let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good” (1 Peter 4:19). Submission includes accepting suffering when it is God’s will, trusting that God works redemptively even through pain.

The “not my will but yours” of Gethsemane becomes the prayer of Christians facing trials. Submission does not guarantee earthly comfort or success but promises God’s presence, purposes being fulfilled, and ultimately resurrection and glory beyond suffering.

Comparative Themes and Tensions

Universal Call, Particular Expression

All three traditions affirm that submission to God is the proper human posture. The Creator deserves and demands the creature’s complete surrender. Yet each tradition defines the content and requirements of submission differently. For Islam, submission means accepting Muhammad as final prophet and following Quranic/Hadith guidance. For Judaism, submission means covenant faithfulness to Torah. For Christianity, submission means following Jesus as Lord and living according to His teachings.

These differences create theological tensions: Can all three be equally valid expressions of submission to the one God? Or does true submission require particular beliefs and practices that exclude alternatives? Islam sees itself as the final, complete form of submission superseding previous revelations. Judaism maintains that its covenant with God continues uniquely. Christianity proclaims Jesus as the only way to the Father. Each tradition claims not merely one valid path among many but the path God has revealed.

Sovereignty and Freedom

All three traditions wrestle with how divine sovereignty relates to human freedom. If God is absolutely sovereign (as all affirm), how can humans be genuinely free and morally responsible? If humans are truly free, does that limit God’s sovereignty? Different theological schools within each tradition propose various solutions:

• Islam’s Ash’ari/Maturidi debates about divine decree and human “acquisition” of acts
• Judaism’s debates about free will, predestination, and God’s foreknowledge
• Christianity’s Calvinist/Arminian debates about sovereignty, election, and free will

What unites them is the insistence that both realities must be affirmed: God is absolutely sovereign, and humans are genuinely responsible. Submission means accepting this mystery and trusting God’s justice and wisdom even when we cannot fully reconcile these truths.

Submission and Love

All three traditions connect submission with love. The Shema commands loving God with all one’s being; Jesus says the greatest commandment is to love God with all one’s heart; the Quran speaks of those who love Allah and are loved by Him. Yet submission raises the question: Is it genuine love if it is commanded? Can submission be loving rather than servile?

The traditions answer that true submission is not slavish compulsion but willing, joyful surrender to the One worthy of complete devotion. The psalmist delights in God’s will; Jesus’ submission in Gethsemane flows from love for the Father and for those He came to save; the Muslim’s prostration expresses not merely duty but adoration of the Most High.

Submission and Reason

How does submission relate to human reason? Must one abandon rational thought to submit to divine commands that seem unreasonable? Abraham submitting to the command to sacrifice Isaac, Muhammad teaching that the Quran is uncreated eternal speech of Allah, Christians proclaiming the Trinity—all include elements that transcend or challenge human reason.

The traditions generally affirm that faith involves trusting God’s wisdom above human understanding, but they differ on reason’s role:

• Islamic theology developed sophisticated rational arguments while insisting that revelation surpasses reason
• Jewish tradition values Talmudic reasoning and intellectual engagement with divine commands
• Christian theology has produced both rationalist (Thomas Aquinas) and fideist (Tertullian’s “I believe because it is absurd”) approaches

All agree that submission sometimes means trusting God despite inability to fully understand, but they debate how much rational comprehension is possible and required.

Submission and Justice

Does submission mean accepting everything that happens as God’s will, including injustice and evil? Or does submission to a just God require pursuing justice? This creates tensions:

• Islamic debates about jabr (determinism) and whether humans should accept all circumstances as Allah’s decree or work to change unjust conditions
• Jewish questions about how to lament suffering and demand justice while submitting to God’s sovereignty
• Christian struggles with “thy will be done” in contexts of abuse, oppression, and evil

Liberation theology movements in all three traditions have emphasized that submission to God includes resistance to human tyranny and injustice. Submitting to God’s will for justice may require refusing submission to unjust human authorities. Each tradition references examples of prophets and faithful who resisted earthly powers in submission to divine commands.

Modern Challenges

Submission and Autonomy

Modern Western culture prizes individual autonomy, self-determination, and freedom from external authority. The concept of submission to divine will confronts this deeply. For many moderns, submission sounds like oppression, the abandonment of human dignity and freedom. How can submission to God be reconciled with human rights, individual conscience, and personal freedom?

Believers respond that submission to God is true freedom—liberation from slavery to sin, self, and lesser authorities. Yet this requires a fundamental reorientation: freedom is found not in autonomy but in proper relationship to the Creator. This counter-cultural claim is increasingly difficult to communicate in societies that see autonomy as the highest good.

Submission and Violence

Tragically, “submission” language has been used to justify violence, coercion, and abuse. Jihadist groups claim Islamic submission requires violent struggle; authoritarian religious leaders demand submission that crushes dissent; abusive relationships appeal to submission to justify control. How can authentic submission be distinguished from destructive distortions?

Each tradition must articulate that true submission to God liberates from, not justifies, violence against others. Submission to divine will, rightly understood, produces justice, compassion, and respect for human dignity because the God to whom one submits is just, compassionate, and created humans in His image.

Submission and Suffering

If submission means accepting God’s will, how should believers respond to suffering, injustice, and evil? Should they submit passively to whatever occurs, assuming it is God’s will? Or should they resist and fight against evil while submitting to God’s ultimate sovereignty?

This remains a pastoral and theological challenge. Some emphasize that God can work through all circumstances (Romans 8:28), encouraging acceptance. Others emphasize that God grieves evil and calls His people to resist it, making active opposition part of submission to divine will. Balancing “thy will be done” with prayers for deliverance and work for justice requires discernment.

Pluralism and Exclusive Claims

In religiously plural societies, can one maintain that submission to God requires particular beliefs and practices while respecting those who submit differently? Islam’s claim that it is the final revelation, Judaism’s covenant particularity, Christianity’s proclamation of Jesus as only way—all seem exclusivist in contexts promoting tolerance and pluralism.

Believers must articulate how they can affirm their tradition’s truth claims and requirements for submission while respecting others’ conscience and rejecting coercion. This requires distinguishing between theological conviction (this is the truth God has revealed) and political practice (we will not impose this by force).

Significance

Submission to God stands at the very heart of authentic Abrahamic faith. Whether expressed through Islam’s five daily prostrations, Judaism’s acceptance of Torah’s yoke, or Christianity’s prayer “not my will but yours,” submission acknowledges the fundamental reality of who God is and who we are. God is Creator, Lord, the Sovereign of the universe; we are creatures, servants, dependent beings whose very existence derives from divine will. Submission is simply living in alignment with this reality rather than in rebellion against it.

What makes submission so countercultural in modern Western society is that it requires relinquishing the idol of autonomy—the belief that we are self-sufficient, self-determining, the final arbiters of truth and morality. Submission declares that there is a higher authority, a divine will that precedes and supersedes human preferences. In an age that proclaims “be true to yourself,” submission says “be true to God.” In a culture that celebrates “having it your way,” submission says “your will be done.”

Yet properly understood, submission is not oppression but liberation. It frees from the tyranny of self-centeredness, from the burden of trying to be one’s own god, from the chaos of life without divine direction. The Muslim finds peace (salam) through submission (islam). The Jew finds rest in the yoke of Torah, which is not heavy but liberating. The Christian discovers that Christ’s yoke is easy and His burden light (Matthew 11:30), that service to God is perfect freedom.

Submission also addresses the deepest human need: meaning and purpose. When Abraham submitted to God’s incomprehensible command, when Mary said “let it be,” when Jesus prayed “not my will but yours,” they aligned themselves with divine purposes infinitely greater than their individual understanding. Submission places one’s life within the grand narrative of God’s work in the world, giving meaning that transcends personal pleasure or achievement.

The paradigm examples—Abraham willing to sacrifice Isaac, Jesus in Gethsemane, Muhammad at Cave Hira—reveal that authentic submission is not easy or automatic. It often involves wrestling with God, internal struggle, the sacrifice of what is most precious, trust in the darkness when God’s will seems incomprehensible or painful. Abraham submitted without understanding why. Jesus submitted despite knowing full well the agony ahead. Mary submitted to a future she couldn’t imagine. This is the nature of genuine submission: trusting God’s character when one cannot see His purposes, obeying His commands even when they contradict one’s desires, accepting His will even when it leads through suffering.

All three traditions agree that submission brings blessing. The Quran promises that whoever submits their face to Allah while doing good will have their reward (2:112). The Torah promises that if Israel obeys God’s commands, they will be blessed in city and field, in coming in and going out (Deuteronomy 28:1-14). Jesus promises that those who do His Father’s will will enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 7:21). Yet this blessing is not necessarily material prosperity or earthly comfort—Abraham was called to leave his homeland, Jesus was crucified, Muhammad faced persecution. The blessing is ultimately God Himself—His presence, His purposes being fulfilled, the joy of alignment with divine will.

Perhaps most profoundly, submission addresses the problem of the divided will. Humans want to serve God and self, to follow divine commands and personal desires, to submit to God’s will and maintain autonomy. This internal division creates torment. Submission brings the peace of undivided allegiance, whole-hearted devotion, complete surrender. It is the end of civil war within the soul and the beginning of integration under divine lordship.

The ultimate question submission poses is: Who is Lord? Will I submit to God or will I insist on being my own master? Will I surrender to divine wisdom or cling to my limited understanding? Will I obey divine commands or do what is right in my own eyes? The three Abrahamic faiths unite in proclaiming that authentic human life, in this world and the next, flows from the answer: “I submit. Not my will but Yours be done. I am Muslim/servant of the LORD/follower of Christ.” This submission, far from destroying human dignity, fulfills humanity’s created purpose: to know, love, serve, and joyfully submit to the one true God.