The nature of Allah (fitratullah) A wrong Concept

[Ahmed Mateen]

Islam A Challenge to Religion:
By Allama G A Parwez

No doubt, man too needs Divine Guidance. Without it, he is likely to go astray. However, the guidance which is vouchsafed to him is of a different kind which is suited to his peculiar characteristic. His activities are not governed by invariable laws, as is the case with inanimate beings, nor are they completely determined by the blind urges inherent in him. He has been granted a measure of freedom and this means that he is free to choose the right or wrong path, and that he is free even to commit mistakes. He may choose what is good for him; but he may also choose that which is harmful to him. He enjoys freedom of choice and has to pay the price for the wrong one. Even the sure guidance that instinct gives is denied to him. The chick, when it finds itself on the brink of a pond, instinctively shrinks back and saves itself. The human child may misuse its freedom because of internal compulsion and may plunge into the pond and get drowned. Man has much in common with the animals but the differences between the two are more important than the resemblance. His intellectual powers and immense learning capacity set him apart from the other animals. However, though potentially superior to the animals, he is at the beginning of life much worse-equipped for the struggle of life than they are. If he develops his powers he can quickly outstrip the animals; but if he fails to develop them, he may as easily sink below the animal level.

Again, man is a moral being, capable of distinguishing between right and wrong, and free to choose either. However, he finds that it is not easy to distinguish good from evil, nor is it easy to choose the good, when it is known. In his own self there is no sure guide to the good. No moral instinct leads him unerringly to the right path. It is obvious that there are no universally accepted moral codes, for there are as many codes as cultural groups in the world. Each tribe seems to have developed a code of its own, which is unacceptable to other groups. A dispassionate survey of the several moral codes leads us to the standpoint of ethical relativism. A code of conduct cannot be judged to be good or bad in the abstract. It may be good for one cultural level and bad for another. In the past, conscience was credited with the power to discriminate between right and wrong. Now, psychologists, as well as sociologists, maintain that a man’s conscience is shaped by the cultural environment in which he has been brought up. Conscience is only the group code which has been internalized in the individual. We are thus driven to conclude that there is no sure guide to the right and good inherent in man. As the Qur’an says: "He prays for sharr as he prays for Khair (17:11).

The view that the power to discriminate between right and wrong is inherent in man finds no support in the Qur’an. The verse (91:8)3 which is very often quoted in this connection has been misunderstood. It does not refer to any such discriminating quality of "human nature". For if man possessed the capability of judging good from the bad, and thus distinguishing between the right and wrong without the help of Divine guidance, the institution of nubuwwah would lose its significance. Why then should God have raised Anbiya from among men and entrusted to them the task of directing His people on the right path? Again, if the power to distinguish between right and wrong were inherent in the nature of man the whole of mankind, from its beginning to this day, would have been following one and the same moral code; but, as already stated, there are no universally accepted moral standards. Each group has its own ethical code, and what is more, this code has also changed with the passage of time. The verse cited above does not, therefore, mean that "human nature"—or man's conscience—is qualified to know, of its own, right from wrong, or has within it the power to discriminate between Khair and sharr. The words in the verse referred to above, (i.e., 91:8) on the contrary are the statement of a fact, the fact of man's potentialities for becoming good or bad, as he decides for him-self. Since the human personality (or self) is given in an undeveloped form, there are, the verse says, equal possibilities of his attaining the highest good, or wasting himself in wrong doing. The correct translation of the verse is: "Human self has been endowed with the capability of both integrating itself or corrupting it."

Again, those who believe that conscience is an absolutely trustworthy guide for man appeal to verse (30: 30) which is usually translated as:

The nature of Allah (fitratullah) in which He has made man.

It should, however, be noted that the Arabic word "fitrat" occurring in the verse does not mean the same thing as the English word "nature". The word "nature" means the constitution or the essential properties of a thing which are unchangeable. On the other hand, fitrat merely means creation or bringing something into existence. We cannot, therefore, construe the verse as meaning that man has the same nature as God. It is just to remind us that man has been created according to the same Divine law of creation as other things in the universe. If we were to concede that man has been created in "God's nature," how are we to reconcile this with some of his "qualities" as given in the Qur'an. For example, man is said to be "created weak" (4:28),"created of haste," "being hasty" (17:11), "ungrateful" (17:67), "covetous" (17:100), "impatient" (70:19)," a caviler" (18:54), "a tyrant and ignorant" (33:72). The truth is that there is no such thing as "man’s nature" in the sense in which the word is usually used. For, by nature we understand the properties which constitute the very being of a thing and hence characterize its existence in a way peculiar to itself. It is its nature which determines its behaviour. There can be no question, therefore, of its going against its nature. It is like a rigid law which no object can violate. Under given circumstances, water must flow, fire must burn and the animal must follow the course prescribed by its nature. Man, however, stands on a different level. In as much as he is a part of the physical world, it may be said that it that it is his "nature" to behave in accordance with its laws in the interest of his physical self, although, as already stated, he often goes against those laws as well. As for his real self, he is free to choose any of the possibilities open to him. This is why the rigidity of behaviour in the lower animals is in sharp contrast to the changeability and variability of human behaviour. "Human nature" is eminently malleable, and assumes so many different forms that no adequate definition of it has yet been formulated. There are numerous theories of "human nature" but none of them commands universal acceptance. From Plato and Aristotle to Freud and Gardiner there has been a wide range of theories about man; but man somehow escapes from every theoretical framework.

According to the view set forth in the Qur'an, man is born neither good nor bad, but with the power and freedom to become either. He is endowed with immerse potentialities. If he develops them and employs them for the moral and material advancement of mankind, his conduct is good ; if he fails to utilize his immense resources or puts them to uses which are harmful to mankind, his conduct is bad. Wahi or Divine Guidance points out the way to self-realization and to the promotion of knowledge and happiness. By following the path which is pointed out by Wahi, man can finally achieve the status of a "mo’min". A "mo’min" is at peace with himself and with the world because he has successfully resolved his inner and outer conflicts. Wahi shows the way to harmony in the individual mind as well as in human society. The verses cited above to the effect that man is bad, simply mean that if he ignores Divine Guidance and follows his baser desires he is liable to become worse, and worse.

Let us repeat that the Qur'an definitely rejects the view that human nature has a fixed pattern and a rigidly determined behaviour, for the view deprives man of real freedom.

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