By: Dr. Md. Wasay Zafar
Abstract
One of the
important problems of Philosophy which has drawn attention of the philosophers
and religious scholars in all the ages is; “What is the essential nature of
man?” The approach with which man views himself exerts powerful influences on
his philosophy of life which in turn influences his philosophy of
education. Since there is a persistent advocacy about making the process of
education consistent with the nature of man, educational philosophers in all
the ages have tried to explore the exact nature of man. The Holy Qur’an claims
itself to be the divine and comprehensive source of guidance for the humanity.
Islamic scholars are of the view that it offers a complete philosophy of life
as well as the philosophy of education. Therefore, in this paper, the
researcher has tried to explore the answer of the abovementioned question in
the light of the Holy Qur’an.
Key Words: Man, Jism, Aql, Qalb, Nafs, Rooh, Islam, The Holy Quran.
The
Context:
From
the time when man subsisted on this earth, he has been trying to know himself
but in all the cases in which he does not abide by the divine revelations, he
gets misguided and confounded between two extremes; sometimes he thinks that he
is the greatest in this universe and so he gets filled with insensitivity,
heavy-handedness and arrogance that would drive him to disbelieve in Allah and
to be authoritarian, tyrannical and corruptive. In the other extreme, man
considered that he was the most disparaged, the weakest, and the most
insignificant being in this universe, so he bows his head with submission
before other creatures that he thinks and believes that they possess some kind
of power and ability to harm him or benefit him. On account of this perplexity
that man has about himself, the Qur’an gave a very precise and clear
perspective about man. The Qur’an elucidated to man his reality, his origin and
the different stages of creation that he goes through. Also, the Qur’an
clarified to man his good attributes and his responsiveness to good and evil,
and his purpose in this life and the relationships between him and the rest of
creatures around him.
The Theme:
Since the
theme “the Qur’anic concept of man” covers a wide range of sub-themes as
mentioned in the previous paragraph which require much space, the researcher has
focused only the basic nature of man in this article giving a brief mention of
other sub-themes.
According to the Holy Qur’an man is the creation of God (i.e. Allah). Allah created man directly by His own act of Creation with clay, breathed into him life, and then placed in man himself such a reproductive ability that similar men continue being produced by his sperm-drop.[1] He created man in the most excellent of moulds[2] and honoured him with the supreme status over other Divine creations.[3] In fact man is 'Khalifah' (خَلِيفَةً) or vicegerent of Allah on this earth.[4] Vicegerent is one who exercises the authority allocated to him by his chief, and does so in the capacity of his deputy and agent. Hence, whatever authority he possesses is not inherently his own, but is derived from, and restricted by, the limits set by his chief. A perfect vicegerent is he who has the power of initiative himself, but whose independent action always reflects perfectly the will of his master. Due to this dignified status Allah has subjected the whole universe in the service of man.[5] Man has been endowed with the ability to learn and acquire knowledge as Allah provided him the sensory organs and the intellectual faculties for this purpose. In the Qur’anic view these faculties are essentially the gift of Allah, the creator of the world, to the human beings for which a man must be thankful to Him.[6] According to the Qur’anic philosophy man has been bestowed with the freedom of choice and actions i.e. he is free to choose any pattern of behaviour and his choice may or may not be in confirmation of the Will of Allah[7] though his innate nature is good[8] Allah (S.W.T.) has also provided him moral sense by which he discerns between good and evil, virtue and vice, and correspondingly knows which is the path of gratefulness and which of ungratefulness,[9] so that whichever path he chooses in his later life, he himself be responsible for it.[10]
Man has been created for a purpose[11]
and the purpose is to worship Allah (saw).[12]
According to Qur’an the present life is a temporary life whose sorrow and happiness are both
short-lived. The real life is the life hereafter whose sorrow and happiness
will be permanent and eternal. Therefore the person who ensures eternal
happiness and enjoyment in the life hereafter and secures himself from the eternal
sufferings is really successful in the view of the Qur’an.[13]
But the greatest bliss of man is to secure the good pleasure of Allah.[14]
The Qur’an says that Tazkiyah-e-Nafs (purification of the self) enables a man
to secure the good pleasure of Allah in the hereafter[15] which could be achieved only by obeying the commandments of
Allah and His Messenger in all the walks of life .Therefore his success lies
ultimately in obeying the the commandments of Allah and His Messenger in all
the walks of life this present life.[16] After
giving the gist of the Qur’anic philosophy, the researcher comes to the problem
of the essential nature of man.
Basic Components of Man
A
critical study of the Qur’an reveals that man is composed of five basic parts;
Jism (Body, Physique),
Aql (Mind),
Qalb (Heart),
Nafs (Self/ Soul), and
Nafs (Self/ Soul), and
Rooh (Spirit).
Jism:
Jism (الْجِسْمِ) is the body which is of material substance and we deal
with it in physiology, biology as well as in biochemistry. Thus our bodies are
known to various organs and organ systems and as far as these scientific areas
are concerned the Qur’an and Islam has no discord with anyone. The Qur’anic
reference to Jism can be found in the following verse of surah Al-Baqarah:
...... قَالَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ اصْطَفَاهُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَزَادَهُ
بَسْطَةً فِي الْعِلْمِ وَالْجِسْمِ ...... ﴿2:247﴾
“He
said: "(Allah) hath Chosen him above you, and hath gifted him abundantly
with knowledge and bodily prowess..”[17]
In this verse the word ‘Jism’ represents bodily power. This
reflects that whenever the word “Jism” is used, it should not be taken simply
as a combination of organs and organ systems but should be conceived as
incorporating all the powers associated with them.
Aql: Aql (عقل) is that entity
by means of which a man perceives those things which cannot be perceived by
external sense organs. It is the
body of knowledge housed in the brain. It also interprets the information gathered by
the sense organs. The processes of thinking, reasoning, understanding, analysis,
synthesis, drawing conclusions, differentiation between good and evil, investigation
of the causes of any phenomena, interpretation of Ideas and explanation of
immaterial concepts etc. are associated with Aql.
The Aql includes
two main parts. The first is like a software which develops innately and
integrally with the brain in the womb. It is responsible for the functionality
of the body, readiness for learning, and disposition for knowing good and evil
etc. The second part of the Aql is accrued from birth until death, as a result
of the interaction with the external world. So, the Aql actually encompasses
everything a person learns throughout his/her life. However, all the
information accumulated in the mind may not be used by a person. There are
several verses in the Qur’an which confirm the presence of Aql in the human
beings and also reflect its attribute and functions. For example;
وَسَخَّرَ لَكُمُ اللَّيْلَ وَالنَّهَارَ
وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ وَالنُّجُومُ مُسَخَّرَاتٌ بِأَمْرِهِ إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ
لَآَيَاتٍ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ ﴿16:12﴾
“He has made subject to you the Night and
the Day; the sun and the moon; and the stars are in subjection by His Command:
verily in this are Signs for men who are wise.”[18]
وَمِنْ آَيَاتِهِ يُرِيكُمُ الْبَرْقَ
خَوْفًا وَطَمَعًا وَيُنَزِّلُ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَيُحْيِي بِهِ الْأَرْضَ
بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآَيَاتٍ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَ ﴿30:24﴾
“And among His Signs, He shows you the
lightning, by way both of fear and of hope, and He sends down rain from the sky
and with it gives life to the earth after it is dead: verily in that are Signs
for those who are wise.”[19]
The word Aql (عقل) does
not appear in the Holy Qur’an as a noun in the singular form. Instead, a derivative
of which is used as a verb (aqala عَقَلَ), meaning to tie, tighten, control, or
restrict. The verb emerges about 49 times in the Holy Qur’an, and the considerable
number of it is in the questioning present plural form, wondering about
non-believers: Don’t they reason? (أفلا يعقلون ).Thus, applying one’s Aql or minding
or reasoning means subjecting one’s thinking to known parameters, precincts,
rules, laws, and controls in order for one’s behavior to become as educated,
safe, wise, and intelligent as possible as stated in many
verses of the Holy Qur’an. For example; in the verses quoted above it is
being expected from the man of wisdom to interpret the information of natural
and cosmic happenings gathered by the sense organs in order to reach on the
conclusion about the oneness of Allah. Man is considered accountable to Allah,
only due to the presence of Aql as due to its existence he is expected to
follow the right path and abandon the bad one. The Qur’an says:
أَتَأْمُرُونَ النَّاسَ بِالْبِرِّ
وَتَنْسَوْنَ أَنْفُسَكُمْ وَأَنْتُمْ تَتْلُونَ الْكِتَابَ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ
﴿2:44﴾
“Do
ye enjoin right conduct on the people, and forget (To practise it) yourselves,
and yet ye study the Scripture? Will ye not understand?”[20]
The Qur’an states that people of
the Hell will realize that due to non-utilization of Aql regarding faith they
became victim of the Hell.
وَقَالُوا
لَوْ كُنَّا نَسْمَعُ أَوْ نَعْقِلُ مَا كُنَّا فِي أَصْحَابِ
السَّعِيرِ ﴿67:10﴾
“They will further say: "Had we but
listened or used our intelligence (Aql; عقل), we should not (now) be among the
Companions of the Blazing Fire!"[21]
The Aql is also represented by
the Word “al-albab”) ألألباب) in the Holy Qur’an however in plural
form. The exact translation of the singular form of the noun (al-albab, ألألباب )
is the “mind,” according to the Arabic dictionary Mukhtar Al-Sahah by
Al-Razmind. Ibn Kathir also mentioned that it is the mind. For educated Arabs,
the singular form of the noun “Lob” (لب ) is a reference to
the “core” or “essence” of things. The word “al-albab” ) ألألباب) has
been used in 15 verses of the Qur’an, all addressing believers who are
intelligent enough to use their “minds.” For example;
إِنَّ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَوَاتِ
وَالْأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلَافِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ لَآَيَاتٍ لِأُولِي الْأَلْبَابِ
﴿3:190﴾
“Behold! in the creation of the heavens and
the earth, and the alternation of night and day,- there are indeed Signs for
men of understanding.”[22]
يُؤْتِي الْحِكْمَةَ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَمَنْ
يُؤْتَ الْحِكْمَةَ فَقَدْ أُوتِيَ خَيْرًا كَثِيرًا وَمَا يَذَّكَّرُ إِلَّا
أُولُواْ الْأَلْبَابِ ﴿2:269﴾
“He granteth
wisdom to whom He pleaseth; and he to whom wisdom is granted receiveth indeed a
benefit overflowing; but none will grasp the Message but men of understanding.”[23]
الْحَجُّ أَشْهُرٌ مَعْلُومَاتٌ فَمَنْ
فَرَضَ فِيهِنَّ الْحَجَّ فَلَا رَفَثَ وَلَا فُسُوقَ وَلَا جِدَالَ فِي الْحَجِّ
وَمَا تَفْعَلُوا مِنْ خَيْرٍ يَعْلَمْهُ اللَّهُ وَتَزَوَّدُوا فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ
الزَّادِ التَّقْوَى وَاتَّقُونِ يَا أُولِي الْأَلْبَابِ ﴿2:197﴾
“For Hajj
are the months well known, If anyone undertakes that duty therein, Let there be
no obscenity, nor wickedness, nor wrangling in the Hajj. And whatever good ye
do, (be sure) Allah knoweth it. And take a provision (With you) for the
journey, but the best of provisions is right conduct. So fear Me, o ye that are
wise.”[24]
Qalb (Heart): The Qur’anic reference to the existence of Qalb (قَلْبٌ)
in the human beings is present in the following verses:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا اسْتَجِيبُوا
لِلَّهِ وَلِلرَّسُولِ إِذَا دَعَاكُمْ لِمَا يُحْيِيكُمْ وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ
اللَّهَ يَحُولُ بَيْنَ الْمَرْءِ وَقَلْبِهِ وَأَنَّهُ إِلَيْهِ تُحْشَرُونَ
﴿8:24﴾
“O ye who believe! Give your response to
Allah and His Messenger, when He calleth you to that which will give you life;
and know that Allah cometh in between a man and his heart, and that it is He to
Whom ye shall (all) be gathered.”[25]
إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَذِكْرَى لِمَنْ كَانَ لَهُ قَلْبٌ أَوْ
أَلْقَى السَّمْعَ وَهُوَ شَهِيدٌ ﴿50:37﴾
“Verily in this is a
Message for any that has a heart and understanding or who gives ear and
earnestly witnesses (the truth).”[26]
The
verses reveal that Qalb is that entity which is related with man's intentions. Shah
Waliyullah opines that Love, affection,
hate, anger, cowardice, courage, boldness, happiness, sadness, likes, dislikes,
miserliness, greediness, generosity, fear, hope, ambitiousness and the like
qualities are associated with Qalb.[27]
Nafs
(Self): Nafs (نَفۡسٌ۬) is an Arabic word meaning self. It is
that part of the human beings by which a man desires about those things on
which his existence depends directly or indirectly. For example desiring about
delicious foods, luscious drinks, attractive and beautiful life partner etc.
are the attributes of Nafs. Nafs in man is in fact the totality of
predispositions, tendencies, desires, wishes, experiences, and heredity
characteristics; in short, it is man's personality. It is Nafs rather than Rooh that creates a difference between
one man and another. There are hundreds of verses in the Holy Qur’an,
which mention the self (“nafs” in Arabic). Some of them refer to the self
during its life on Earth and others refer to it in the hereafter. For example
following verses can be cited.
وَفِي الْأَرْضِ آَيَاتٌ لِلْمُوقِنِينَ ﴿51:20﴾ وَفِي أَنْفُسِكُمْ أَفَلَا
تُبْصِرُونَ ﴿51:21﴾
“On the earth
are signs for those of assured Faith, As also in your own selves: Will ye not
then see?”[28]
نَحْنُ أَوْلِيَاؤُكُمْ فِي
الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَفِي الْآَخِرَةِ وَلَكُمْ فِيهَا مَا تَشْتَهِي
أَنْفُسُكُمْ وَلَكُمْ فِيهَا مَا تَدَّعُونَ ﴿41:31﴾
"We are
your protectors in this life and in the Hereafter: therein shall ye have all
that your souls shall desire; therein shall ye have all that ye ask for!”[29]
The word “Anfusikum” (أَنْفُسِكُمْ), a derivative of
“Nafs” (نَفۡسٌ۬) used in Verse 51
of Az-Zariyat refer to the self during its
life on Earth while the word “Anfusukum”
(أَنْفُسُكُمْ), again a derivative of “Nafs” (نَفۡسٌ۬) used in verse 31 of Fussilat refer to it in the hereafter.
Translators of the Holy Qur’an,
including Abdullah Yusuf Ali, generally use the word “soul” as a
translation for the Arabic word Nafs (نَفۡسٌ۬). Psychologists, sociologists and philosophers use
another term, “self” to refer to the body of knowledge, which is selected from
the mind in a developmental process to form a unique identity for a living
person. Religious scholars use the word “soul” is more often
to refer to a person’s unique identity after death, than during his/her life on
earth. Thus, the “soul” is the “self” after death, which will be held
accountable for its performance during life on Earth. It will be resurrected
through being transferred back to its cloned body in the Day of Judgment, in
order to be able to converse with its Creator, then to be rewarded or punished
on the basis of its performance on the earth.[30]
In order to talk about the shaping of one's self one must
concentrate first upon the analysis and examination of Nafs and then upon
finding out the ways through which he/she can re-shape, train, nourish, and
transform it from its lower position to a higher level of existence. Once a
person reaches at this stage he comes right across the revered Islamic school
and finds that Islam has conducted in-depth and extensive analysis in this area
which is unequalled and incomparable to any other school or system of thought.
In the Holy Qur'an and also in the colloquial speech of our
theosophists three stages have been prophesied for Nafs. That is, from the inception
of its evolutionary journey to becoming God-like, Nafs must pass through three different
stages. The three levels of Nafs are as follows:
1)
Nafs-e-Ammara (Commanding Soul): There
are various verses in the Holy Qur'an which refer to the existence of this kind
of Nafs. This Nafs, Ammara is lowest of all the Nafs which directs the man to
commit sin. It is inclined towards the earthly world, gets engrossed in the
tastes, pleasures and wishes of the world, keenly desires the vices and
intensely flays from the following of the Shariah. The Qur’an says:
وَمَا أُبَرِّئُ
نَفْسِي إِنَّ النَّفْسَ لَأَمَّارَةٌ بِالسُّوءِ إِلَّا مَا رَحِمَ رَبِّي إِنَّ
رَبِّي غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ ﴿12:53﴾
“And
I do not absolve my inner self of blame. Surely, man’s inner self often incites
to evil, unless my Lord shows mercy. Certainly, my Lord is the Most Forgiving,
Very-Merciful.”[31]
The verse clearly reflects that inner self of man (Ammara)
generally incites to evil, but there are Nafus (plural of Nafs) upon whom there
are mercies of their lord due to which they do not incite to evil; instead help
in restraining oneself from sins and impurities. In fact “Nafs-e-Ammara” is lower than animals
because they behave according to the demands of nature. When a lion or tiger
consumes another animal it is because it needs food. And once an animal’s
stomach is full it does not hunt another animal, while a man is capable of gulping
the whole world and still be hungry. Moreover an animal doesn’t devour the
animal of its own specie, while a man can kill thousands of men and still pine for
more blood. To become God-like, man crushes upon his nature and behaves
relative to the demands of his desires and whims for which there is no limit. Zauq
(ذوق),
a renowned Indian poet has written a very beautiful couplet in this concern:
مارا گر کو امّارہ نفس مارا کو موذی بڑے
مارا کیا تو مارا نر شیر و اژدہا و نہنگ
[Bare Moozi Ko Mara, Nafs-e-Ammara
Ko Gar Mara
Nahang-o-Azdaha wa Sher-e-Nar Mara
To Kya Mara?]
2)
Nafs-e-Lawwama (Self-accusing soul): This word is derivative of Arabic word 'Lom' which
means to 'reprimand' or to ‘rebuke’. So “Nafs-e-Lawwama” means “self-accusing
soul”. This is the second stage of Nafs in its journey towards perfection.
At this stage Nafs sometimes bends to the earthly world and is absorbed in lust
and rage, and sometimes inclines to the upper world, believes those things as
bad, flees away from them and if some evil is committed by him he feels ashamed
and repents. To be precise, Nafs attains
a status that if it commits a sin its conscience wakes up and rebukes the doer.
This is the first sign that man's Nafs is wakening up and conceivably most men
in the world are at this stage. When common men commit a sin they awaken due to
the presence of Nafs-e-Lawwama
and consequently become apologetic and sad. It is this self-critic Nafs that compels
some criminals to renounce the criminality and surrender themselves before the
civil administration and judiciary. The Qur’anic reference to the existence of
this kind of Nafs is present in the following verse:
وَلَا أُقْسِمُ بِالنَّفْسِ
اللَّوَّامَةِ ﴿75:2﴾
“And I swear by the self-reproaching conscience, (that
Resurrection is a reality).”[32]
Nafs reaches this stage after repentance and pretty good
labour in self-purification.
3)
Nafs-al-Mutmainnah (Satisfied soul): This is the highest stage of purification of Nafs
which is called as Nafs-al-Mutmainnah
because of the fact that the Nafs becomes peaceful and satisfied with the
divine laws and pleased with divine Lord. It is inclined to the higher
universe and feels pleasure and happiness in the divine worship and obedience,
feels at peace and rest in the observation of Shariah. At this stage Nafs
reaches the point of certainty; it will neither fall down nor will it regress.
It is assured of its evolutionary cycle and its meeting with the Lord in the
hereafter. It can commit a mistake or sin but it is so ahead on the path of its
purification that it is certain it will never revert to its old ways. The
Qur’anic reference to this kind of Nafs is found in the following verses of
surah Al-Fajr:
يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ
الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ ﴿89:27﴾ ارْجِعِي إِلَى رَبِّكِ رَاضِيَةً
مَرْضِيَّةً ﴿89:28﴾ فَادْخُلِي فِي عِبَادِي ﴿89:29﴾ وَادْخُلِي
جَنَّتِي ﴿89:30﴾
“[To
the righteous it will be said], "O reassured soul, Return to your Lord,
well-pleased and pleasing [to Him], And enter among My [righteous] servants.
And enter My Paradise."[33]
This is the stage of human
perfection, which is the goal of this life. At this stage not only Nafs is
satisfied with itself but also the Lord almighty is satisfied with it too. Now
Nafs is a lover of the Divine. This is the last stage in Islamic theosophy in
the Nafs cycles. When Nafs completely get purified and the inclination of heart
stays on virtues, it begins to flee from absurd action by itself, and feel
painful at the very thought of evil. It is also hinted in this verse that if
the nature is correct, the Nafs of man reproaches him in this very world at
evil and fault. This is the thing which will appear in its perfect most state
in the hereafter.
Rooh
(Spirit): Rooh (روح ) is the fifth basic part of the
human beings. The Qur’anic reference to the presence of Rooh in the human body
can be traced in the following verses.
وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ إِنِّي
خَالِقٌ بَشَرًا مِنْ صَلْصَالٍ مِنْ حَمَإٍ مَسْنُونٍ ﴿15:28﴾ فَإِذَا
سَوَّيْتُهُ وَنَفَخْتُ فِيهِ مِنْ رُوحِي فَقَعُوا لَهُ سَاجِدِينَ ﴿15:29﴾
“Behold! thy Lord said
to the angels: "I am about to create man, from sounding clay from mud
moulded into shape; "When I have fashioned him (in due proportion) and
breathed into him of My spirit, fall ye down in obeisance unto him".”[34]
الَّذِي
أَحْسَنَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ خَلَقَهُ وَبَدَأَ خَلْقَ الْإِنْسَانِ مِنْ طِينٍ ﴿32:7﴾
ثُمَّ جَعَلَ نَسْلَهُ مِنْ سُلَالَةٍ مِنْ مَاءٍ مَهِينٍ ﴿32:8﴾ ثُمَّ سَوَّاهُ
وَنَفَخَ فِيهِ مِنْ رُوحِهِ وَجَعَلَ لَكُمُ السَّمْعَ وَالْأَبْصَارَ
وَالْأَفْئِدَةَ قَلِيلًا مَا تَشْكُرُونَ ﴿32:9﴾
“He Who has
made everything which He has created most good: He began the creation of man
with (nothing more than) clay, And made his progeny from a quintessence of the
nature of a fluid despised: But He fashioned him in due proportion, and
breathed into him something of His spirit. And He gave you (the faculties of) hearing
and sight and feeling (and understanding): little thanks do ye give!”[35]
The
verse indicate that the Rooh (spirit) of man is responsible for the life and functionality of the body organs, readiness for
learning, and disposition for knowing good and evil. It
also implies sensitivity,
consciousness, insight, thought, power, will, discretion, judgment, discrimination and other human
characteristics in the aggregate by
virtue of which man is distinguished from all other earthly creations and
becomes owner of a personality and self and worthy of Allah's vicegerency. This may
be one interpretation of the Qur’anic verses but as far as the exact nature of
Spirit is concerned, the Qur’an does not give its detailed description. At one
place the Qur’an says:
وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ
الرُّوحِ قُلِ الرُّوحُ مِنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّي وَمَا أُوتِيتُمْ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ
إِلَّا قَلِيلًا ﴿17:85﴾
“They ask
thee concerning the Spirit (of inspiration). Say: "The Spirit (cometh) by
command of my Lord: of knowledge it is only a little that is communicated to
you, (O men!)".”[36]
This verse teaches us that the spirit is an 'Amr' i.e. the
work of Allah. In other words, it is a created thing, not self-existent. The
Holy Qur'an does not go beyond telling us that. Instead it says that human
beings have been given very little knowledge giving the indication that with
his little knowledge he cannot comprehend perfectly the exact nature of spirit.
There are more or less twenty verses of the Qur’an which mention the word
“Rooh” (spirit) but none of them explain its nature and attributes. This is why
Spirit, its origin and its composition are complete mystery for man. Modern
Sciences, despite their so much development, are also unable to reveal the
mystery of human spirit. In spite of
this, just like our ignorance of the nature of electricity or magnetism does
not preclude us from taking full benefit of these wonders of creation, we can develop
ourselves spiritually by taking full benefit of the functions of the spirit.
However, the researcher understands from those verses that the spirit is a quality of
God that He sends to the human beings for He has created it in order to
support, strengthen, and give life to them. Thus, human beings have some of
God’s spirit. And when a disease attacks or an
accident happens and the body and Nafs lose their natural balance Rooh falls
into disuse and cannot establish relationship with man.
From the Prophetic traditions it becomes clear that human beings receive part of God’s spirit when they are still in the
womb. An angel comes and blows it in the fetus brain. Prophet Muhammad (Peace
and blessings of God be upon him) told us in a famous Hadith that this part of
the mind (which enables humans to differentiate between good and evil) is installed
in the child’s brain around the end of the fourth month of pregnancy, when an
angel comes and blows some of the God's Spirit in the child
(فينفخ فيه الروح).[37]
Since the exact nature of Spirit is not known what
distinguishes one man from another is Nafs which constitutes our personalities.
Conclusion: Thus
we observe that the Qur’an gives a very precise, clear and scientific description of the nature of man which provides a
solid foundation for the development of educational philosophy.
Educational Implications:
Nature of man as reflected in the Holy Qur’an has manifold
implications for education.
1.
Jism (الْجِسْمِ)
or the body aspect of the human nature reflects that physical development must
be one of the aims of education. In other words the process of education should
be organized in such a way that it develops a healthy and handsome physique and
ultimately all the bodily powers of children. It should also develop desirable
health habits and health consciousness among children.
2.
The second important aim of education should be development of Aql (عقل) or the development of mind. The process
of education should include such exercises which ensure the development of the powers
of memorization, understanding, thinking, reasoning, analysis, synthesis, differentiation,
investigation of the causes of any phenomena, drawing conclusions, taking
judgments, interpretation of Ideas and explanation of abstract concepts etc.
3. Education of Qalb (قَلْبٌ) or heart should be the third
important function of education process. Through the process of education
learners should be trained in controlling, sublimating and expressing the
different kinds of feelings and emotions in an effective and desirable manner.
4. Nafs (نَفۡسٌ۬) or self-dimension of the human nature suggest that
training in controlling of desires must be an integral part of the educational
processes. Education must help the individual in the process of Tazkiyah-e-Nafs
(purification of the self) i.e. in its evolutionary journey from “Nafs-e-Ammara”
(Commanding soul) to becoming God-like Nafs, Nafs-al-Mutmainnah (Satisfied soul) so that he could secure the
good pleasure of Allah in this worldly life and in the life hereafter.
5. Rooh (روح) or Spirit is the Godly element and central
to the human existence which is an important source through which man can
establish intimate relationship with God. The spiritual power is considered as
the most significant power as it cannot be restricted in time and space whereas
other powers whether physical or mental remain confined in time and space.
Therefore, the Qur’anic conception of man signifies that the system of
education must care about the development of spiritual power of the learners so
that they could realize their divine reality and may establish spiritual connection
with their Lord. The Islamic ways of worship like Namaz (prayer), Rozah
(fasting), Hajj (pilgrimage) etc. can be interpreted as part of spiritual
training and education.
References:
[1]. The Holy Quran: English Translation of the Meanings & Commentary by Abdullah Yusuf Ali (Revised & Edited by The Presidency of Islamic Research, IFTA, Call and Guidance), The Ministry of Hajj and Endowments, K.S.A., King Fahad Holy Quran Printing Complex, Al-Madinah Al- Munawwarah , 1413 AH., As-Sajdah 32:7-9.
[2]. The Qur’an: English Meanings (Saheeh International – Jeddah), Abul-Qasim Publishing House, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 1997, Al-Muntada Al-Islami, London, USA, Saudi Arabia, 2004, At-tin 95:4.
[3] . The Holy Quran: English Translation of the Meanings & Commentary by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Al-Isra 17:70.
[4] . Ibid, Al-Baqarah 2:30
[5] . Ibid, Luqman 31:20, see also Al-Hajj 22:65, Al-Nahl 16:14 etc.
[6] . Ibid, Al-Insan 76:2, An-Nahl 16:78.
[7] . Ibid, Al-Ahzab 33:72, Al-Insan 76:29-30, See also Al-Muddaththir 74:54-56.
[8] . Ibid, Ar-Rum 30:30
[9] . Ibid, Al-Insan 76:2-3, Al-Balad 90:10, As-Shams 91:7-10.
[10] . Ibid, Al-Isra 17: 7, Al-Isra 17: 15, Al-An’am 6:164.
[11] . Ibid, Surah Al-Mu'minun 23:115, See also Al 'Imran 3:191.
[12] . Ibid, Az-Zariyat 51:56
[13] . Ibid, Ali-Imran 3:185
[14] . Ibid, At-Tauba 9:72
[15] . Ibid, Ash-Shams 91:9, See also Al-A’la 87:14.
[16] . Ibid, Al-Ahzab 33:71 see also An-Noor 24:51-52, An-Nisa 4:13.
[17] . Ibid, Al-Baqarah 2:247
[18] . Ibid, An-Nahl 16:12
[19] . Ibid, Ar-Rum 30:24 See also Ar-Ra’d 13:4.
[20] . Ibid, Al-Baqarah 2:44
[21] . Ibid, Al-Mulk 67:10
[22] . Ibid, Ali-Imran 3:190
[23] . Ibid, Al-Baqarah 2:269
[24] . Ibid, Al-Baqarah 2:197
[25] . Ibid, Al-Anfal 8:24
[26] . Ibid, Qaf 50:37
[27] . Palanpuri, Mufti Said Ahmad Rahmatullahil Wasiah Sherah Hujjatullahil Baligah, Maktaba Hijaz, Deoband (U.P.), 2003, Vol. IV, P. 414, 416.
[28] . The Holy Quran: English Translation of the Meanings & Commentary by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Az-Zariyat 51:20-21
[29] . Ibid, Fussilat 41:31
[30] . El-Najjar, Hassan Ali “Mind, Self, Soul, Spirit, and Happiness from an Islamic Perspective”,http://www.aljazeerah.info/Islamic%20Editorials/2007/November/Mind,%20Self,%20Soul,%20Spirit,%20and%20Happiness%20from%20an%20Islamic%20Perspective%20By%20Hassan%20Ali%20El-Najjar.htm, Retrieved on Monday, 15 April 2019.
[31] . Usmani, Mufti Taqi Quran-e-Karim: English Translation (Tafseer-e-Usmani), Internet Edition 2008 (Modified June 08, 2009), http:// www.noorehidayat.org (Retrieved on May 10, 2012). Yusuf 12:53.
[32] . Ibid, Al-Qiyamah 75:2
[33] . The Qur’an: English Meanings (Saheeh International – Jeddah), Al-Fazr 89:27-30
[34] . The Holy Quran: English Translation of the Meanings & Commentary by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Al-Hijr 15:26-29
[35] . Ibid, As-Sajdah 32:7-9
[36] . Ibid, Al-Isra 17:85
[37] . Al-Nawawi, Imam The Forty Qudsi Hadiths, [Translated by Ezzeddin Ibrahim and Denys Johnson-Davies (Abdul Wadood)], 1989, Cairo: Al-Amal Publishing, Hadith No. 4.
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