Motives

Question:-

It is said that Religion is a Universal Phenomena, even though it is not always in the conventional or organised form. The concept of God and the desire to worship Him or some substitute appears to be like a built-in instinct in human beings, though often vague or repressed. But how is this, both the existence of religion and its negation, explained or justified scientifically or philosophically or even religiously?

Answer:-

The religious explanation and justification can be found in the Quran where it points to the "Signs of Allah" in the heavens and the earth and within human beings and in human affairs. More specifically it is established in verses such as the following:-

"Then He fashioned him (man) 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." 32:9

"Then set your purpose for religion as a man upright by nature - the nature made by Allah in which He has made men; there is no altering (the laws of) Allah's creation; that is the right religion, but most people do not know ." 30:30

"O you who believe! Respond unto Allah and His Messenger when He calls you to that which quickens you; and know that Allah comes in between a man and his own heart; and that He it is unto Whom you shall be gathered." 8:24

In other words, the Spirit of God is in man and to serve Him is an integral aspect of his existence which is also stimulated by the coming of Messengers, Spiritual teachers.

According to recent scientific research it is claimed that there is such a thing as what has been called the God-gene and there is bundle of cells in the brain that is called the God-centre which is responsible for religious experiences and the need for worship.

From the Philosophical and scientific point of view, we have to recognise that all entities exist and are recognised by virtue of the fact that they have a structure and that they exist inter-actively and inter-dependently with other things in their environment. In general, existence consists of three inter-dependent aspects:- (a) capabilities, powers or faculties, (b) motives, drives or forces and (c) actions, behaviour.

(1) At the most basic level objects possess inertia, a resistance to change which can be construed as a primitive type self-preservative motive. They have a limited capability for self-maintenance and adaptation to change (intelligence) and they behave in certain simple ways with respect to their environment. The ability to adapt requires the capacity to recognise change, the arising of inner tensions and the motion of adaptation. The basic or Primary Drive in all things is a selfish one.

(2) Living things, however, are also capable of behaving altruistically. This is because they can identify themselves with other things, which enables empathy and sympathy. Basically it is still a selfish motive but that the other is regarded as part of the self. This identification results from the reproductive or sexual drive where the off-spring is genetically and physically part of the parent, the parents are linked to each other through the off-springs and all other relatives are also genetically and physically linked. Reproduction is a way of overcoming death, a racial self-preservative drive. In fact even to preserve oneself constant renewal is necessary and this done because our cells reproduce themselves. Death and renewal are necessary in order to adapt to a changing world and change always means the destruction of something that is replaced by construction of something else. This has not only a physical aspect but also a psychological one. We have to renew ourselves mentally and spiritually also. Self-preservation and Reproduction are therefore linked. So this gives us a Secondary Drive which becomes increasingly important and in many cases transcends the Primary Drive. This is an advantage for Societies as they develop into organisms.

The ability for identification can be regarded as a particular case of a much more general psychological principle which can be defined as follows:- "All things must be treated in proportion to their similarities and dissimilarities." This can be called the Universal Principle of Justice. Without this principle it would be impossible for the mind to recognise anything. All things would be separate experience and no classification would be possible. At the social level, this principle requires that a person sees and treats others as himself and himself as others. Psychologically, unconsciously or sub-consciously, human beings do, in fact, do so and suffer the consequences when they do not doing so consciously.

(3) Human beings, and other things in so far as they are conscious, are also aware of the greater world of which they are part and with which they interact and on which they are dependent. In order to preserve themselves they need to adapt to the world. This requires increasing control and, therefore, increasing awareness, knowledge and ability. There is, therefore, a Third Drive, a self-extensive or evolutionary drive. This can be regarded as the psychological aspect of physical growth from the fertilised egg to adulthood, but continues beyond it. This growth is obviously a result of the reproduction of the cells, as the expansion of the population is the result of the reproduction of people. Expansion takes place as the result of learning, the accumulation of experience, the processing of it through analysis, association and synthesis, and the building of new layers on past acquisitions. The expansion is part of the universal process of evolution. We see, therefore, that the Self-preservative, the reproductive and Self-expansive drives are connected and can be regarded as aspects of a basic Life force which is itself part of the Universal Evolutionary Force.

The Self-extensive drive can manifest itself as the striving for wealth, power, or prestige or for adulation, self-importance, popularity. All human beings have a basic need for security, love and significance, but deprivation or addiction can cause an exaggerated need for these substitutes. It also manifests itself as a desire for self-identification with some system greater than the individual himself of which he is a part and with respect to which he has a function. This can be a group, a class, a company or Society, a nation, a race, a cause, a sect, or a social, political or cultural movement. But all these have limitations and tend to create conflicts and contradictions. For instance, patriotism often means that things that are regarded as good or evil when done to one's own community are regarded as the reverse when done to the other community. Patriotism then promotes criminality, unless it is subordinate to a higher more comprehensive loyalty. Ultimately, the allegiance is to Absolute Reality - defined in Islam as Surrender to Allah. These lesser forms of self-identification, allegiances and loyalties are, therefore, regarded as forms of Idolatry and condemned. They are substitute fixations that arise from constricted consciousness and promote and consolidate this constriction.

Religion is based on all three motives – it is concerned with self-preservation, self-reproduction and self-extension, each of which contains and is contained in the other and can be regarded together as aspects of a single force, the Life Force. However, motives are not independent of abilities and efforts and these are also aspects of religion.

Question:-

Your explanation seems rather unusual. Are these hard-wired instincts natural in man or is it something that is subsequently learned?

Comment:-

There is no either/or. This dichotomy is part of the fallacy of the distinction between mind and matter, the material and the ideal and between the subjective and the objective when, in fact these are merely different aspects of the same phenomena. The idea that something is either inherent or learned and that these are mutually exclusive is a rather old-fashioned idea. In fact there are three factors that determine human behaviour:- (a) genetically inherent factors, (b) environmental influences (c) intelligent efforts.

The fact is that certain tendencies are hard-wired and that these are channelled by learning, through association or conditioning. Even birds that make their nests through instinct do not all behave in exactly the same way but use some intelligence to find the material and put it together and learn from experience where the material is to be found and collected and how it is best put together.

The drives I mentioned are certainly inherent as I have indicated, but the way they manifest or are applied depends on what people learn from experience and on intelligence. All this is also implicit in the article where the variety of the kinds of self-identification is mentioned. I have also mentioned the Quranic position, but here is another verse that indicate it is inbuilt:-

"The seven heavens and the earth, and all that is therein praises Him (declares His Glory), and there is naught but hymns (celebrates, expresses) His praise: but you understand not their praise. Verily, He is Clement and Forgiving." 17:44

Note also the next two verses.

Let me remind readers that I write from the point of view what the Islam teaches and what is compatible with Islam. This may well conflict with other points of view. We are required to seek truth, but it can be looked at from different angles and described in different words. What people call Truth is certain relative to what people know and believe. It has objective as well as subjective elements. It cannot be something which they do not understand. That which gives better understanding can be said to carry greater Truth. The Islamic position is that it must not be something isolated or separate from other truths, but must fit in a consistent manner with the system of all truths – It must be relative to the ultimate Unity, Allah.

The expression of motives, however, is interdependent with abilities and action. People vary in abilities and this is also determined by both inherent and environmental factors. These abilities can be enhanced or suppressed to certain degrees by the kind of efforts people make. Exercise can strengthen certain tendencies while weakening the opposite. The efforts they make depend on their perception, motives and abilities. It is necessary to understand that the genes on which inherent characteristics depend can be dormant, expressed or catalytic (enabling or disabling other genes). These genes can be turned on or off by circumstances in the environment and also by concentrated effort. It is, therefore, perfectly possible that gradual or sudden changes in personal characteristics, and even of personality, transformation and conversion can take place.

It is also necessary to understand that human beings are not passive with respect to the environment. They interact with it in three ways:- (a) They interpret their experience according to knowledge and values acquired from past experiences. It is not the experience itself but the interpretation of it that determines their reactions and what they learn. (b) They can migrate to environments where a set of conditions, events and experiences can be gained. (c) They can re-arrange and create their own environments.

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