syahadah

3. Fitrah and Human Responsibility

 �Man is distinguished from the rest of the creation because he has been endowed with intellect (�aql) and free-will (ir�dah). The intellect enables him to discern right from wrong. He can use these faculties to complement his fitrah and to please Allah or to be untrue to it and displease Allah. The choice is his. The prophets and Divine revelation are external sources of guidance to guide the intellect and will of man. The Qur'an declares that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, enjoins the right and lawful things (ma�r�f) and forbids the wrong and unlawful things (munkar). Man is responsible for his actions and accountable to Allah for every atom of right and wrong that he does. It is in this sense of accountability that guides man to act in accordance with the Divine will. It empowers him to struggle against the wrong-doing of his lower self (nafs) as well as the negative influences of the social circumstances. The central hadith makes plain that it is the social circumstances after the birth of the child that causes the individual to diverge from fitrah. Hence if someone follows an aberrant path it is not because of any innate wrong within his nature, but because of the emergence of the lower self or nafs after birth, and negative effects in the social circumstances.

The concept of fitrah as original goodness, in my view, does not merely connote a passive receptivity to good and right action, but an active inclination and a natural innate predisposition to know Allah, to submit to Him and to do right. This is man�s natural tendency in the absence of contrary factors. Although all children are born in a state of fitrah, the influence of the environment is decisive; parents may influence the religion of the child by making him a Christian, Jew or Magian. If there are no adverse influences, then the child will continuously manifest his fitrah as his true nature. Since many infants are born with gross physical deformities, the maiming referred to in this hadith is not meant in the physical sense; it means that all children are born spiritually pure, in a state of fitrah. The reference to animals born intact in the central hadith should be viewed as an analogy to illustrate the parallel spiritual wholeness of children at birth.

It is precisely because of man�s free-will and intellect that he is able to overcome the negative influences of the environment and attain to the highest level of psycho-spiritual development, an-nafs al-mutma�innah, �the self made tranquil�. At this level, his inner and outer being, his soul and body, are able to conform to the requirements of his fitrah and the dictates of the Shariah. He actualises his fitrah, and attains psycho-spiritual integration and inner peace.

4. Alienation from Fitrah

The central hadith suggest that circumstantial (i.e. parental and other social) influences cause man to change and become alienated from his fitrah. However in Qur'an 30:30 (�There is no changing in the creation of Allah.�) suggests that fitrah is universal unchanging given of the human constitution. This meaning is consistent with the linguistic definition of fitrah as innate natural disposition which cannot change, and which exists at birth in all human beings. The synthesis of the meanings of both statements is that although fitrah remains a universal unchanging given of the human constitution, people may, because of the elements of intellect and free-will, decide and choose to conduct themselves in a wrong or unlawful manner. All the children of Adam, including those who deviated from the path of tawh�d, possessed fitrah. Civilisations which have been condemned and destroyed by Allah because of their practice of polytheism (shirk) and unbelief (kufr), possessed fitrah. Fitrah is a universal and immutable given of the metaphysical human constitution, and as a rule, cannot be corrupted or altered. No wrong action can pollute the Divine spirit [maintainer�s note: i.e. spirit created by God] which Allah has blown into man (Qur'an 15:29) despite the many generations of polytheism and unbelief. For example, a generation whose forefathers were mushrik�n (those who practice shirk) does not possess a fitrah of a lesser quality than a generation of believers. However, both shirk and kufr represent the antithesis of fitrah by undermining its very object and raison d�etre; kufr is a rejection of the oneness of Allah (tawh�d). When a individual commits shirk or kufr he denies his own nature. Fitrah which is integral to man�s spirit (r�h) was created by Allah so that he man acknowledge Him as the Lord Who has power over all things. Tawh�d is intrinsic to man�s fitrah because Allah in His infinite wisdom intended for man to know Him as the One God. This is why man was able to acknowledge his Lord before his existence on earth, that is, in pre-existence state.

The function of the prophets and Divine revelation is not only to remind man about that which he already knows (that is, tawh�d), but also to teach him that which he does not yet know (that is, Shariah). Man already knows tawh�d because of the pre-existent fitrah as well as his earthly unchanging fitrah. The prophets have come only to remind man of tawh�d; the choice is left to the individual, as suggested in the following verse:

�Surely, this is a reminder; so whoever wills, let him take a way to his Lord.� (Qur'an 76:29).

Knowledge of the Divinely revealed laws, the methodology of worship and devotion, etc. are acquired by man from Shariah which is based on Divine revelation and the teachings of the prophets. Since every individual is endowed with the innate knowledge of tawh�d, he is held accountable for his belief in Allah precisely because of his fitrah. Not every soul, however, will be held accountable for not practicing Shariah because knowledge of Shariah is acquired only by those who received the message of the Divine revelations and the teachings of he prophets.

The distinction between the inborn knowledge of tawh�d (which includes the knowledge of right and wrong) and the acquired knowledge of Shariah (which includes what is lawful and unlawful) is significant because of the legal implications of each. The mushrik, one who violates tawh�d, will not be pardoned for his polytheism, irrespective of whether he received the message of Islam or not. On the other hand, the practice of Shariah is only required from the Muslim while the non-Muslim (who did not receive the message of Islam) is not expected to fulfil this obligation. An individual may be forgiven for not practising the Shariah if he had not received the message of Islam, but he will not be forgiven for rejecting tawh�d. The Muslim will thus be held responsible for tawh�d and Shariah. Dr. Faruqi Ahmad Dasuqi, who holds this view, adds that the hunafa� of past centuries had acknowledged tawh�d and will not be held accountable for Shariah.

Apart from the chosen prophets, I venture to say that there is no difference between the fitrah of individual men: all men are endowed with the same or an �equal� fitrah. The believer is in harmony with his fitrah because his instincts are directed in service of Allah, but the unbeliever is alienated from his fitrah because his instincts are in the service of everything else besides Allah. The reason for man�s destruction of himself and his environment is that he has become alienated. Nevertheless, he can overcome this estrangement his will and intellect with the Divine will and knowledge. It is man�s recourse to Islam which will enable him to effect such a reconciliation.