| Man’s Innate Nature (part 1) |
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| Author : Dr.Shahedi | |
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Here shall be mentioned as to how Allah is introduced in the Quran and traditions. This discussion of Divine Unity is completely different from all other forms. Our talk shall comprise of five stages: (1) In the light of Quran and traditions, it is absolutely clear that anybody who steps in this world bears divine recognition in the depths of his existence. Allah has instilled His Own true and real recognition in every being. In other words, Allah is the known reality of the heart. Nobody is unaware of Allah’s existence at the core of his heart. Imam Zainul Abedeen (a.s.) expresses this fact in a most beautiful and eloquent manner, “I recognized You through You while You proved Yourself for me and invited me towards Yourself. And if You were not there (i.e. had You not proved Yourself), I would not have known who You are.” (Doa-e-Abu Hamza Sumaali) The same concept has been articulated by Imam Husain (a.s.) in the following manner, “(O Allah!) By inspiring Your recognition in my heart, You have completed Your proof upon me.” (Doa-e-Arafah) Certainly, due to this inspiration, all the hearts are acquainted with Allah. There is none unable to recognize Him. Rejecting His existence is out of question. About the polytheists, Allah mentions in the Quran, “And if you ask them, ‘Who has created the heavens and the earth’.. they will certainly say ‘Allah’.” (Ankaboot: 61) Of course, apparently this is not the case. Had the polytheists confessed to the existence of Allah, then why would they be called so in the very first place? This, in fact, is questioning their hearts and even the answer is sought from their innate nature. Hence, the Holy Quran inquires in the most persuasive manner through the raised Prophets (a.s.), “(What!) Is there a doubt in the Creator of the heavens and the earth?” (Ibrahim: 10)
Such questions lead to the obvious answer that there is no doubt whatsoever. For, in the depths of their existence and from the core of their hearts, none can deny the existence of Allah because He has instilled His recognition in everybody’s heart and innate nature. (2) This recognition which Allah has instilled in our hearts, in religious terminology, is called as فِطْرَتْ (innate nature). Thus, it is said, ‘Religion is innate’, ‘monotheism is innate’, implying that Allah’s recognition is found in the depth of everyone’s nature. The world فِطْرَتْ is coined fromفَطَرَ which means to create. The first creation of man is his nature which Allah has created without any veil. Allah, the Almighty, has mentioned this nature in the most explicit style possible in the Majestic Quran as follows: “Then turn your face towards religion, being upright. The (monotheistic) nature of Allah on which He has created man. There is no change in Allah’s creation. This is the strong-based religion. But most people know not.” (Rum: 30) Fitrat implies the heart and soil which possesses divine recognition. There can be neither change nor alternation in it. Every human being possesses it, be he a polytheist or an unbeliever. (3) Based on the traditions from the infallible Imams, we believe that our body is naught but a material frame. It is not our reality. Our actual existence is our soul and self. Prior to our arrival in this world, we possessed a spiritual existence in another world. There, Allah has introduced Himself to all the humans and all had recognized Allah with a true recognition. This doctrine has been conveyed in Sura A’raaf: 172 where it is said that before coming to this world, when Allah created all the humans from the progeny of Adam (a.s.), at that very moment, He introduced Himself to one and all and extracted confession of His Lordship from them by questioning, ْ ‘Am I not your Lord?’. Irrespective of their becoming disbelievers or remaining on faith on arriving in this world, everybody confessed to His Unity then. This is that very innate recognition which was professed by our souls in that world. (4) From the previous three discussions, it is quite evident that divine recognition is innate. Being innate in no way suggests that Allah has given us the power to recognize Him. Rather, He has instilled this very recognition in our souls. Its presence is not potential but actual. In other words, it does not mean that the possibility of recognizing Allah exists but it is very much present in our existence. Both Shias and Sunnis have narrated the famous narration from the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.), “Every infant is born on the innate nature (of monotheism).” Imam Baqer (a.s.), while explaining the above tradition, says, “He is born the innate nature indicates the recognition that certainly Allah, Mighty and Glorified Be He, is his Creator.” Then Imam (a.s.) continues, “And thus He says, ‘And if you ask them who has created the heavens and the earth, they will definitely say Allah!’” (al-Tauheed by Shaykh Saduq, p. 331) Briefly, innate nature does not mean that man possesses the power and ability to recognize Allah which is terminologically called as ‘Potential recognition’. It suggests that Divine recognition is actually present in every being. When people come to this world, they come with this innate and natural recognition of Allah which has been inculcated in everybody’s existence. (5) That religion is innate is not only an accepted fact of the religious world but even the sociologists and psychologists are seen confessing to this fact. After extensive researches on the cultures and civilizations of nations, sociology and history experts have concluded that: Till date, society has witnessed the coming into existence and destruction of fifteen civilizations. From the cave and jungle man to the modern age, there has not been an era devoid of religion. In every period, human beings have subscribed to the creed of God and the metaphysical world notwithstanding the diversity of languages, colours, races, geographical locations, etc. Yet, the commonality of religion was never missing. Psychologists admit that when we study the human soul we conclude that religion is its most important necessity. There exists no human being in whose existence these spiritual inclinations are unavailable. Dukeneten, the famous psychologist has acknowledged that, “The religious emotion is a fundamental and basic necessity of the human soul. It is that original and real facet of human existence which is impossible to alter or change. This is the emotion which is related to the belief in God and religion.” Another well-known psychologist Fordham admits, “Religious inclination is indeed found in man and is as strong and stable as the emotion of desires and anger. Despite all efforts to destroy religion and distance the people from it, all humans, men and women, are as religious as their ancestors. Of course, today’s man is definitely much more inclined towards materialism than the man of yore, yet one can say with a certain degree of assurance that his religious tendencies have not been destroyed.” Fordham wrote the above statement in his introduction to Carl Gustav Jung’s book on Psycho-analysis. Conclusion: The school of Prophets (a.s.) and the Ahlul Bait (a.s.) is based on the truth that every man possesses the true recognition of Allah in his innate nature which has been inculcated by Him in their very being. Ameerul Momineen (a.s.) invokes as follows: “O One Who proves His Being through His Own Existence.” (Doa-e-Sabaah) Therefore, on the basis of the above creed, the method of the Prophets (a.s.) is one of giving reminders. Reasoning is used only when the reality is concealed. The aim of reasoning and argument is to discover the unknown and to convert into the known. Prophets (a.s.) were quite aware of the fact that man is acquainted with His Creator in the depth of his heart and therefore recognizes Him. Hence, they only drew his attention to the Known of his nature through reminders. When the Holy Prophet (s.a.) commenced his mission from the Mecca society which was immersed in polytheism and disbelief, the first call that he (s.a.) gave to the people was, “I call you to witness that there is no God except Allah.” Or he advised, “Say: There is no God except Allah that you may be successful.” If you recite the chapters of Anbiya’, Hud, Sa’ffaat and Shuara from the Holy Quran which comprise of stories of Prophets (a.s.), you will realize that: The method of propagation of Prophets (a.s.) as narrated by Quran was only to invite the people towards Allah’s worship and obedience. Moreover, these entreaties were in the form of reminders. The mode of Imams (a.s.) too was the same. Here we shall relate the famous conversation which transpired between the proclaimed atheist, Ibn Abil Awjaa and Imam Sadeq (a.s.) and as to how the latter drew his attention towards Allah through mere reminders. The incident goes like this that Ibn Abil Awjaa asked Imam Sadeq (a.s.) as to why is Allah veiled and does not manifest Himself unto us? Imam (a.s.) replied: “Woe unto you! How is Allah concealed from you while He has manifested His Power in your entire existence. Is it not so that He has created you when you were nothing? From nothingness, He granted you existence and life. Are you unaware that you were a mere infant and it was He who made you grow and endowed you with wisdom? Have you forgotten that you were weak and helpless and he gave you strength? Don’t you know that you have attained maturity after a period of time and later you will become old, frail and weak? Have you ever paid attention that despite being sound and healthy, you become ill and grievous without having any knowledge of its cause? And later, even without your intention and will, you regain your health and happiness.” To put it briefly, Imam (a.s.) gave him so many reminders that Ibn Abil Awjaa had no way but to admit that as if Allah existed between him and Imam (a.s.) and they were seeing Him. Allah, the Almighty, has mentioned the status of the Holy Prophet (s.a.) in the following words, “Then remind, for you are only a reminder.” (Ghaashiyah: 21) Therefore, the method of the Prophets (a.s.) in monotheism and divine recognition was only to remind and to awaken the sleeping and unaware innate human nature. Newer Items:
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