An- Nahdah ( Revival) by Al-Ustaadh Haafizh Saalih (Fareed Muhammad Saalih Al-Ghaanim)

This study concerns the human and understanding his level of elevation or decline and the way of ascertaining that emanates from his actions and behaviours whether this applies upon an individual or a group, as the study relates to the human in his capacity as a human being. Therefore it is essential to understand this human upon his true reality, so that we can know when he is declined and when he is elevated. Understanding the human requires an understanding of the motivating factor for the actions and behaviours, understanding the manner in which they proceed in addition to that which controls the behaviour of this human and his conformity to the behaviour of the group or collective from amongst those who surround him.

Yes, it is correct to say that taking a view of the human falls under the overall view of the universe as a whole and what is included within it in terms of life however the human who fits into this universe differs from all other creations with characteristics and attributes that are unique to him. Despite being a material part of the universe and creation and from the forms of life that walks upon the earth, he does however differ completely from this creation due to what Allah (swt) made special with him in terms of his ‘Aql (mind) and that which has been bestowed upon him in terms of comprehension and understanding. This is the reason for subjecting that which exists in the creation to the service of man, as a mercy and favour from Allah (swt) to him.

And He has subjected for you all that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth - from Him. Indeed in that are signs for a people who give thought (Al-Jaathiyah 13).

And He subjected for you the sun and the moon, continuous [in orbit], and subjected for you the night and the day (Ibrahim 33).

And He subjected for you the ships to sail through the sea by His command and subjected for you the rivers (Ibrahim 32).

There are in addition to these other Aayaat (verses) which explain that which Allah (swt) has bestowed out of his favour upon this human being in terms of the blessing of the mind and comprehension and what follows this in terms of providing and subjugating all that is in existence to him and allowing him to seek benefit from what he wishes and in whatever way he can find to utilise them.

So the human is a living body and has everything that any other living body has in terms of attributes. So he develops, grows, eats, drinks, rests, produces offspring, populates, he takes care and protects himself, he senses and feels his inabilities and need whilst seeking to cater for this. Similarly he feels compassion and tenderness, paternity and sonship, just as he feels fear and security, love of the self, of authority and ownership and he gets angry and pleased, he celebrates and he is sad amongst other sensations or feelings that generate within him the desire and provide for him an incentive to go forth in order to satisfy these wants and deal with these hungers, that are a product of the life energy that lies inherently within him.

Also this body that resembles a motor has needs in terms of its movement, continuation, building, forming, fixing what is broken or damaged and removing that which causes it damage in terms of waste. As such the Taaqah Al-Hayyawiyah (Life energy/force) drives him to obtain nourishment and water whenever the body requires this or to remove that which burns or is damaged within it. Therefore this human from the time of his birth until the time of his death is in a state of continuous and sustained movement and due to this he requires what he needs in terms of energy for this movement and what the body requires in terms of components and tools. The human is as such always busy in securing his need or driving away his hunger that is demanded from this body in its organ structure and instinctive structure, and in this way he is like any other living entity or being. However he differs from all other creatures or living things in regards to the manner in which he fulfils the attainment of that which satisfies his hungers and in regards to the manner of satisfying them. Other living things and creatures act by instinctive reaction (Raj’i Ghareezi) according to the Fitrah (nature) that Allah (swt) has given them.

And (the One) who gave proportion and guided (AL-‘Aalaa 3).

So these creatures behave in specific ways to maintain their life, to preserve themselves and maintain their species or to fulfil their hungers with mind boggling and wondrous styles and means. However the human being differs from them because he acts in accordance to his mind that Allah (swt) has bestowed upon him and not in accordance to instinctive reaction like the other living creatures. When he goes forth to satisfy his hunger or fulfil his need or desire he only does this based on a intellectual comprehension and by forming a concept about a matter that he is addressing, in regards to whether it can lead to satisfaction or not? And whether it is permitted for him to seek utilisation by it or not? As such the human does not proceed upon a matter from amongst matters until he has posed two questions to himself.

The first question: Does this thing or matter contain that which satisfies his hungers, meets his needs or satisfies his desires? And the answer to this question rests upon the concepts that he carries, so if his concept about the matter is that is satisfies his hunger or meets a need or satisfies his desire (whether this concept has originated from him or has been taken from others) then by this concept alone that he possesses, he will attain the inclination towards it and will feel the pressure and hunger towards taking it and this is what we call ‘the concept about a thing or matter’. However he refrains from engaging in taking it and seeking utility from it until he has heard the answer to the second question which is: Is it permissible to utilise or benefit from this thing or matter and satisfy his hunger from or by it or is it not permissible to do so? Then if the answer to this is negative he will incline away from it, turn his inclination away from it or attempt to do so because it is not permissible to benefit from it or meet his hunger by it. If however the answer is positive in the case where it is permissible to benefit from its use, then he will take it, perform it and satisfy his hunger by it. This is what we call ‘The concept about life’.

Therefore that which determines the conduct or behaviour of a person is his concepts about things or matters in terms of them being satisfying or not satisfying and then his concepts about life in terms of the matter being permissible or not.

The concepts about matters or things could virtually be the same in respect to the sons of Adam (humans) and there are no differences between them apart from differences in tastes and desires. As such in terms of the concepts about things and understanding or knowing the attributes they consist of and the benefits that they contain, then these are one and the same in respect to humankind. As such these do not affect the conduct or behaviour of the human in terms of his elevation or level of decline. So fruits, vegetables and meats in their different and various forms and categories, knowing that the female satisfies the hunger related to procreation, that worship satisfies the hunger related to sanctification, that clothing protects the person from the cold and heat or is worn for reasons of appearance, then all of these concepts about matters or things are the same in respect to the human being because they represent studied knowledge or a comprehension of the attributes of things in respect to them satisfying the hunger or not satisfying it.

As for the concepts about life in terms of it being permissible to seek satisfaction from a certain thing or matter or it not being permissible to do so, then this issue rests outside of the thing or matter itself and outside of the human himself. Rather it is necessary to return to a principle or principles which are used as criteria or a measurement for his actions and a measure for his behaviours. This means returning to his viewpoint in life in respect to undertaking an action or refraining from it. And the viewpoint of the Muslim in life is the Halaal and the Haraam. Therefore whenever a hunger comes to him like that related to the stomach for example and he sees a bowl of food and knows that it is suitable to be eaten due to his knowledge that it is food that is eaten, then he will be inclined towards it, however he will not take it until he has answered the second question: Is it permissible to take benefit from it or is it not? In other words he is asking himself whether it is Halaal or Haraam to take it and eat it. If he then knows that this food contains something that contravenes and is against the measurement that he returns to (for judgment) i.e. his viewpoint in life, like if he knew that is was Najas or that pork was contained within it or that its owner had not given permission for him to take it, then in the like of these circumstances he would refrain from taking it regardless of his inclination towards it and he then attempts to distance this inclination. This example can be applied to anything that the human comes across in relation to the satisfaction of any hunger from amongst his hungers or desire from amongst his desires and whether it was from the organic hungers like eating and drinking or from the instinctual hungers like sanctification, procreation and survival.

And based on this we say: That all of the actions of the human are restricted by measurements, criteria and principles that he believes in and which have been defined by his viewpoint in life i.e. by his Aqeedah (belief about life). And that every action from amongst his actions is determined and runs in accordance to his concept about life in terms of proceeding to undertake the action or refraining from it, whether this action was a fundamental one or not, great or lowly and of high value or of low worth. So his Aqeedah is the fundamental principle (or basis) for his thoughts and concepts about life and all of the systems of life emanate from it. His viewpoint in life is taken from it, in addition to the principles, criteria and measurements that distinguish the Khabeeth (filth/bad) from the Tayyib (wholesome/good) and the wheat from the chaff.

This is what distinguishes the human from all other living creatures and this is what elevates him above them. He possesses a mind that comprehends the things and matters that are around him and has a viewpoint in life that can intellectually reason the truthfulness by thoughts, and he believes in these thoughts so that they become concepts for him that define his conduct in life and regulate his behaviours when he goes forth to satisfy his hungers and satisfy his desires or wants.

Based upon this the judgement upon this human is made through his actions. This is a judgement made upon what thoughts he believes in and what he has taken as a criterion for himself in addition to what he has made the viewpoint in life. Judgement upon these thoughts requires the presence of principles and given accepted truths that are returned to when issuing a judgement.

Therefore the issue here is about understanding a particular human being. Is he elevated or declined? It is a judgement upon his actions and behaviours based on our criteria of concepts and convictions about the elevated actions and behaviours and its associated characteristics like selflessness, goodness, chivalry and loyalty or trustworthiness, in addition to good neighbourliness, honesty in transactions, sincerity and perfection amongst other measurements and criteria that people use to ascertain the true reality of actions.

Allah (swt) said:

Verily Allah orders justice and good conduct and giving to relatives and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded (An-Nahl 90).

And He (swt) said:

Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but [true] righteousness is [in] one who believes in Allah , the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets and gives wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveller, those who ask [for help], and for freeing slaves; [and who] establishes prayer and gives Zakah; [those who] fulfil their promise when they promise; and [those who] are patient in poverty and hardship and during battle. Those are the ones who have been true, and it is those who are the righteous(Al-Baqarah 177).

The Messenger of Allah (saw) said:

<<For one person to be guided by Allah by your hands is better for you than all that the sun rises upon>> (At-Tabaraani from Abu Raafi’).