“And
in the
earth there are (many) signs for
those who know with certainty, just (as
there are signs thereof)
within your own
selves: will you not,
then, use your insight?”
(Qur’an, 51:20-21)
“Contemplation”, as per the Islamic usage, means to think
profoundly and at length. The human being has been given the faculty by which s/he
feels, perceives, thinks, remembers, desires, and imagines. The instrument of
this faculty could be the biological heart or the brain, or both of them
together, but in any case that cannot not happen without a spiritual energy
within the body.
It is however surprizing that in the Qur’an, God never mentioned the
noun al-‘aql (= the mind), although
the Qur’an is inciting its readers to
think, to ponder, to observe, to notice, and to use the insight. This
remarkable occurrence must be for a wise reason. For example, the human body is
sophisticated, and even scientists, even until now, are still searching and
wondering whether the faculty of pondering or contemplating lies in the brain
or in the heart, or whether both are performing this function.
And as according to the Qur’an, the human being has been endowed with the
faculty of thought and speech (55:3-4), and Prophet Mohammad (peace and God’s
blessings be upon him) has said that when the human foetus reaches the age of 120
days in a woman’s womb, God sends an Angel to blow into it a spirit (Reported
by both Al-Bukhari and Muslim in their collections of Hadith or Prophet’s
traditions). We can also understand from the Qur’an (7:179) that man can
comprehend through the heart.[1]
That spirit (ar-rouh) which has been blown into the foetus must
have something to do with the faculty of reasoning, pondering, feeling, etc.
Because that kind of “rouh”
was blown also into Adam, making him so important as the eventual vicegerent of
God on earth, that God commanded the Angels to prostrate unto Adam, to greet
him.[2]
If thinkers and researchers of scientific institutions today are still trying
to understand whether it is the brain or the heart that is controlling the
faculty of thinking and understanding, and never considered the spirit, it is
to be expected that an increasing number of them will one day prove the
veracity of what God has stated in the Qur’an: “(In time) We shall show them Our
signs (through what they perceive) in the utmost (of the universe) and within
themselves, so that it will become clear unto them that this (revelation) is
indeed the truth. Is it not enough (for them to know) that your Lord is witness
unto everything?” (41:53).
But Prof. Amr Sharif (from Ain-Shams University, Cairo) has an excellent
opinion about the connection between the human body and the spirit (= ar-rouh),
which was blown into the foetus. He said: the spirit, the mind and the inner
heart (all the three) make the immaterial energy of the human self, while the
body is the material energy for it. (In his book: “When the “I” talks about itself”,
Shorouk International Publisher, Cairo).
And if we go ahead and apply God’s exhortation to ponder over the meanings
of the Qur’an (see: 47:24), we will find there are degrees of getting the ability to ponder:
First degree: Everyone since the
moment of birth has been granted intelligence, which empowers her/him to differentiate
the bad from the good, but of course its gradual evolution will always depend
on the parents or the surrounding environment.
Second degree: Everyone has the ability
to learn and to develop his/her knowledge, especially during childhood and
Youth: “And God has brought you forth from your mother’s wombs knowing nothing
– but He has endowed you with hearing, and sight, and minds/hearts, so that you
might have cause to be grateful” (16:78).
And this is of course an immaterial energy.
Third degree: Some people have
extra intelligence that gives them the ability of inventing things for the
benefit of so many beneficiaries, or to discover important scientific or philosophical
thoughts: “He (= God) grants wisdom unto whom He wills: and whoever is granted
wisdom has indeed been granted wealth abundant; but none bears this in mind
save those who are endowed with insight” (2:269).
The Qur’an also incites people anywhere, any time, to use their insights
and to learn from history through the course of centuries, that injustice will
bring communities to a disaster: “Have they not travelled in the land and
beheld what happened in the end to those (deniers of the truth) who lived
before their time? Greater were they in power than they are, and in the impact
which they left on earth: but God took them to task for their sins, and they
had none to defend them against God!” (40:21).
The Qur’an not only incites people to ponder over things, or to use
their insights, but, more than that, it condemns those who do not exercise
reasoning: “Verily, the vilest of all creatures in the sight of God are those
deaf, those dumb ones who do not use their insight!” (8:22).
The Qur’an reminds human beings of their absolute dependence on God by
asking them to observe everything in the observable or intellectually
conceivable universe. They will see that everything is obviously engendered,
must have had a beginning and, therefore, must also have an end. And since the
universe is not eternal, and since it cannot possibly have evolved by itself
out of nothing, we are forced to predicate the existence of a Primary Cause
which is beyond the limits of our experience, and, as a consequence, beyond the
limits of our thought – that is, the existence of God:
“And
have they, then, never considered (God’s) mighty dominion over the heavens and
the earth, and at the things that God has created, and (asked themselves)
whether, perchance, the end of their own term might already have drawn nigh? In
what other discourse, then, will they, after this, believe?” (7:185).
The fact that God did not create human beings in merely idle play (see:
Qur’an, 23:115) means that there must be a purpose for it: they have to do
duties (by following God’s ordinances), and to behave justly with others
(57:25). This fact also should be known by thinking, pondering. Anyone who behaves
unjustly towards others will be taken to account on the Day of Judgment (17:13-14).
This judgment in the hereafter is reasonable. And because God is so Merciful He
grants each person the possibility of repairing his wrongs, and repenting to
Him before death:
“And
if God were to take human beings (immediately) to task for all the evil that
they do (on earth), He would not leave a single living creature upon its face.
However, He grants them respite until a term set (by Him): but when the end of
their term approaches, they can neither delay it a single moment nor can they
hasten it” (16:61).
To conclude, there is no place in Islam for fatalists in the negative
sense of the word. Every person is given enough space of time and possibilities
to learn, to comprehend and to develop his/her talent, and to do the best, thus
to destine the future life, as “(God)
is
He who created death and life, that He may try you (to see) which of you is
best in conduct, and He is the Mighty, the Forgiving” (67:2).
[1] Several scientists have in
recent years reached a research-based conclusion that the human heart is a
center of thought, understating and comprehension. They cite as a proof the
fact that patients who received a heart transplant have explained that their
feelings, thoughts and temperament after the transplant are different from
those they had experienced before. After the operation, their feelings and
thoughts resemble more those of the donor from whom the transplant was taken
than their own old feelings and thoughts.
[2] The role of
vicegerent of God on earth applies to Adam, his spouse and their descendants
till the day of Judgement.
