From this aayat, we understand that after Allah Ta‘ala created Nabi Aadam (‘alaihis salaam), Allah Ta‘ala took out his progeny from his spine, and took out the progenies of his children from their spines, until He had taken out every human being who will be born in the world until the Day of Qiyaamah. After taking them out, Allah Ta‘ala asked them, “Am I not your Rabb?” They all testified that Allah Ta‘ala is their Rabb. This oath, which was taken from the entire mankind, is known as “Ahd-e-Alast”.

Allah Ta‘ala says that this oath was taken so that later on, on the Day of Qiyaamah, mankind will not be able to say that they were unaware and deny that Allah Ta‘ala is their Lord. Though most people do not remember this oath that was taken from them, it is reported in the Hadith that certain Sahaabah and Taabi'een mentioned that they remember taking the oath. Among them were Hazrat Ali (radhiyallahu ‘anhu), Hazrat Zun Noon Misri and Hazrat Sahl bin Abdillah (rahimahumallah). 

Since man forgets, Allah Ta‘ala sent many Ambiyaa (‘alaihimus salaam) to the world and revealed many divine scriptures in order to guide him and remind him of the oath that he had made to his Rabb.

Furthermore, Allah Ta‘ala had placed the duty of commanding with good, forbidding from evil and inviting people towards Allah Ta‘ala upon the shoulders of each ummah. Hence, each ummah was commanded to be concerned about the people of their era in passing on the message of Allah to them (Muslims and non-Muslims).

Apart from this, Allah Ta‘ala blessed the human being with the faculty of intelligence whereby he is able to recognize the existence and oneness of Allah Ta‘ala through His signs in His creation, such as the sun, the moon, the stars, the alternating of the day and night, the revival of barren land through rainfall, etc.

Therefore, on the Day of Qiyaamah, mankind will not be able to present any excuse for denying the existence of Allah Ta‘ala, and will not be able to justify engaging in kufr and shirk.

When a person enters this world, he will be confronted with different situations. Some situations will be such that he will be motivated towards good, while other situations will be such that he will be tempted towards sin. The path of goodness is the path of Jannah, while the path of sin is the path of Jahannum. When confronted by these two opposing paths – the path of Jannah and the path of Jahannum – then every person is given a choice by Allah Ta‘ala as to which path he wishes to tread upon.

If he chooses to tread on the path to Jannah, then Allah Ta‘ala will make this path easy for him and grant him Jannah. However, if he chooses and decides that he wishes to tread on the path to Jahannum, then the works of the people of Jahannum will become pleasing to him, and his end will be with the people of Jahannum.

Since the knowledge of Allah Ta‘ala is complete and all-encompassing, Allah Ta‘ala has complete knowledge of which person will tread on which path.