Human Beings

Question:-

There are numerous different definitions and descriptions of human beings, biological, psychological, historical, political, economic, aesthetic and so on. It seems to me that Religion will not be properly understood until it is clear what the religious concept of man is. What is the Islamic concept of a human being?

Answer:-

This is a very good insight.

Most certainly each discipline has its own subject of study and constructs its own concepts accordingly. In so far as all these study human beings they are obviously dealing with different aspects of the same complex thing, aspects that are regarded important or relevant in the context of that system of thought. The Religious view of human beings is certainly different from that of these other systems and also deals with what is regarded as most important about them. The subject of religion is not just facts but also meaning and values. It deals with the relationship of human life with the rest of existence.

According to the Quran:-

"Verily, we are Allah's and, verily, to Him is our return." 2:156

"As He brought you forth in the beginning, so shall you return unto Him." 7:29

"Say: Verily, my worship and my sacrifice, and my living and my dying belong to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds." 6:163

"Seek they other than Allah's religion? When to Him surrenders whoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, and unto Him shall they return!" 3:83

"O you who believe! You have charge of (or guardianship of) your own souls; he who errs can do you no hurt if you are rightly guided. Unto Allah will you all return, and He will declare to you the truth of that which you did." 5:105

How is all this to be understood?

The important concept for Islam is the soul.

"Allah takes the souls at the time of their death, and those that die not during their sleep; then He withholds those on whom He has passed the decree of death and sends the others back till an appointed term; most surely there are signs in this for a people who reflect." 39:42

"How can you disbelieve in Allah, when you were dead and He made you alive, and then He will cause you to die, and then make you alive again, and then to Him will you return?" 2:28

It is the soul that makes the difference between the sleeping and awake body, and the living and dead body. It can be regarded as the seat of consciousness, conscience and will. These spiritual faculties correspond to thought, feeling and action at the mental level. From the Islamic point of view it is the most significant aspect of man. This because if you are not conscious then nothing can exist for you, not the world and not even yourself. There is no "I" about which it can be said "I am", "I do", "I will", "I think", "I feel" etc.

The soul arises from the Spirit, which is the fundamental or first emanation from Allah and carries His creative Word :-

"The Spirit is by the command of my Lord, and you are given but a little knowledge thereof." 17:85

"(Allah) Who made good everything that He has created, and He began the creation of man from dust. Then He made his progeny of an extract, of a fluid held in low esteem. Then He fashioned him and breathed into him of His spirit, and made for you the faculties of hearing, and sight and heart; little is it that you give thanks." 32:7-9

This verse tells us that man has a physical and spiritual aspect and the combination creates the faculties of the mind. As the soul is personal to each individual and distinct from others, it can be regarded as organised spirit.

Spiritually man is a spark of the Divine. He comes from Allah and must return to Allah. To know the Spirit within is to know Allah and vice versa.

"He who knows his Self knows Allah." A Hadith

"And be not like those who forgot (or forsook Allah), so He made them forget (or forsake) their own souls: these it is that are the transgressors." 59:19

"Verily, We offered the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, but they refused to undertake it, being afraid of it; but man undertook it. Lo! He has proved a tyrant and a fool." 33:72

The Trust can be regarded as referring to the Spirit of Allah in man and most probably refers to the Vicegerency:-

"And when your Lord said unto the angels: I am about to place a Vicegerent (Agent, Successor, Inheritor) in the earth, they said: Will you place therein one who will do evil therein and shed blood? While we celebrate Thy praise and glorify Thee. Said (the Lord): I know what you know not. And He taught Adam the Names (qualities), all of them; then He propounded them to the angels and said: Declare to Me the names of these, if you are truthful." 2:30-31

"He it is who made you Vicegerents (Agents, Successors, Inheritors) of the earth, and raised some of you above others in degree (or rank, virtue, power, wealth, ability etc.), to try you by that which he has given you; Verily, your Lord is swift to punish, but, verily, He is Forgiving and Merciful." 6:166

The entry of the spirit into the earth is the Fall of man.

"And We said: O Adam dwell, you and your wife, in Paradise, and eat there from amply as you wish; but do not draw near this tree or you will be of the transgressors. But Satan made them backslide there from and drove them out from what they were in, and We said: Go down, one of you the enemy of the other, and in the earth there is an abode and a provision for a time. And Adam obtained certain words (revelations) from his Lord, and He relented towards him, for He is the Relenting, the Compassionate. We said: Go down from here altogether and per chance there may come from Me a Guidance, and whoever follows My Guidance, no fear is theirs, nor shall they grieve." 2:35-38

"Surely, We have created man in the best of moulds. Then We reduced him to the lowest of the low; Save those who believe and act right; for theirs is a reward unfailing." 95:4-6

Islam requires us to grow spiritually and return to Allah:-

"And by the soul and Who fashioned it, and enlightened it with what is wrong and right for it! He indeed is successful who causes it to grow (or purifies it)! And he indeed is a failure who corrupts it!" 91:7-10

"But O, you soul in peace and fulfilment! Return unto your Lord, well pleased and well pleasing unto Him! 89:29. Enter you amongst My servants, Enter you My Garden!" 89:27-30

A study of any individual human being shows that he interacts and is inter-dependent with other people genetically, socially, culturally, educationally, historically, politically, economically, and with the rest of the environment for materials (food, water, air), energy (including heat and light) information (impressions, experience).

We can distinguish between three interdependent aspects to human beings:- (1) the body which is a physical structure consisting of matter, (2) the mind which can be regarded as his behaviour, and (3) his spirit which refers to his capacity for consciousness, conscience and will. These correspond to the distinction in science between matter, energy and order, though these are not entirely separate things, but more like aspects of something more fundamental.

Physically, human being are constantly changing. They have an intake, from the environment, of food, water, air and solar and other radiations which they transform, utilise and expel. This enters the environment where it is processed and again enters into other organisms that process and expel it.

Human beings are part of a universal circulation of materials, energy and information.

The material of which man is composed is completely recycled every few years, yet he is regarded as being the same person. He cannot, therefore, be identified with his physical body. Mentally, too, man changes owing to accumulation of experiences and erosion of memories. Man must, therefore, be identified with the continuation of some kind of order.

If we analyse man physically we see that he consists of organs, each having a different function but which are inter-dependent with others. Each is divisible into cells of different kinds and functions which are also inter-dependent. These are divisible into molecules and atoms which are further divisible into sub-atomic particles which are divisible still further into some kinds of fundamental states, which could be regarded as points of convergence and divergence in a network of forces.

There is, therefore, a Fundamental Universal Field (FUF), which connects all things. That is the real ultimate context in which things must be judged. An individual human being, as other entities, is therefore a small part of this Field, a pattern at various level in the FUF. He can be represented as a small area within it, interacting with it and having a function with respect to it. His fate depends on how this function is fulfilled.

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