On Being Human by Osman Latiff

Prejudice and ostracising others is one of the greatest impediments to social cohesion.

Researchers have found that during their first hours of life, babies will cry if they hear other babies crying. They call this mimicry, the act of mimicking emotional expressions of others - in this case, the patterns of grieving. It is a rudimentary form of empathy. According to the theory of primitive emotional contagion, one unconsciously and spontaneously mimics the emotional bodily, facial or vocal expressions of another. For the audience it suggests an acknowledgement of the other’s distress. This example of mimicry in babies appears to suggest that humans are not born with a disposition towards prejudice; it is instead something they learn. If we were predisposed to show prejudice to one another, to ostracise, bully, victimise, hate and kill, our world would simply cease to function, we would readily have destroyed each other. Prejudice is something we learn, and it is therefore something we can also unlearn. Harry Bridges said, “No one has ever been born a Negro hater, a Jew hater, or any other kind of hater. Nature refuses to be involved in such suicidal practices.”36

The relationship between Islam and other faith and belief systems has always been intricate and multifaceted. From the advent of Islam, Muslims established meaningful contact with non-Muslims and their cultures. Jacques Waardenburg describes: “Since its inception the Muslim civilization has been in continuous relationship with other cultures and civilizations.

It extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans and through regions which have long been carriers of culture. As a consequence, Muslims have come into contact with many religions.

One may think not only of various forms of Christianity and Judaism inside and outside the Middle East but also of Zoroastrianism and Manicheism, Hinduism, and even Buddhism, not to speak of non-literate religions in many parts of Asia and Africa.”37

Though the Qur’ān is very clear in stressing the truth value of Islam, of its Prophet (peace be upon him), and of the path servitude to God, it also informs us that there are others with differing views, lives, faiths, race, languages and civilisation. The human community is a single community but mankind continues to have differences – “except those on whom your Lord has mercy – for He created them to be this way” (11:118-119). Some commentators relate this to man’s ability to differ intellectually from one another.38

The Qur’ān contains categories of righteous people and unrighteous people and also contains categories of neutral people. These include groupings like the Banī Isrā’īl (Children of Israel (Jacob) - made up of both the righteous and unrighteous; Bedouins, beggars, captives, children, destitute, homeless, refugees, shepherds, mothers and wives. These, amongst others, emerge as neutral categories.

3:113- But they are not all alike. There are some among the People of the Book who are upright, who recite God’s revelations during the night, who bow down in worship.

3:114 - who believe in God and the Last Day, who order what is right and forbid what is wrong, who are quick to do good deeds. These people are among the righteous.

Ibn Kathīr, a foremost exegete of the Qur’an, notes that the two preceding verses were revealed concerning the priests of the People of the Book who accepted Islam, like ‘Abd-Allāh ibn Salām and Asad bin ‘Ubayd.39 Ibn Kathīr states that not all of them are alike, but from them are believers and from them are criminals. Others posited that the verses are distinguishing unbelievers from the believers in the nation of Muḥammad (peace be upon him). Many of the commentators believe that verse 3:113 treats believers as the People of the Book who had embraced Islam and those who had not differently. Furthermore, Ṭabarī mentions that the verse specifies two groups; believers and disbelievers, those who adhere to righteousness and those who do not.40

The Qur’ān also questions rhetorically in relation to other dissimilarities in people, the emphasis on man’s sense of or lack of perception, insight and righteous conduct, as revealed in the verses that follow.

39:9 - What about someone who worships devoutly during the night, bowing down, standing in prayer, ever mindful of the life to come, hoping for his Lord’s mercy? Say, ‘How can those who know be equal to those who do not know?’ Only those who have understanding will take heed.

6:50 - Say, ‘I do not have the treasures of God, nor do I know the unseen, nor do I tell you that I am an angel. I only follow what is revealed to me.’ Say, ‘Is a blind person like one who can see? Why will you not reflect?’ 13:16 - Say, ‘Are the blind equal to those who can see? And are the depths of darkness equal to the light?’ Have the partners they assign to God created anything like His creation so that their creation is indistinguishable from His? Say, ‘God is the Creator of all things: He is the One, the All Compelling.’ 40:58 - The blind and the sighted are not equal, just as those who believe and do good works and those who do evil are not equal: how seldom you reflect! There might be some who question the Qur’ān’s apparent castigating of disbelievers as ‘creatures’ or ‘beasts’ - dawāb. It must be remembered at the outset that the Qur’ān distinguishes between people, based on belief and character. At points it is the corruption of belief that is stressed, and at other times the Qur’ān draws attention to terrible crimes committed by people, often a reflection of their lack of belief or misguided belief. In the verse we are told:

8:55 - The worst creatures in the sight of God are those who reject Him and will not believe.

The word used in the verse, dawāb, literally means “animals that walk or crawl”, including man as well. The singular word for dawāb is dabbah, which could mean “to move slowly pulling the body along the ground” and “to move slowly on the hands and knees”. It must also be noted that dehumanisation is man’s inhumanity to man, and perhaps also in dehumanising others we earn the title of a dābbah - becoming inhuman, ‘crawling, animal-like’ - ourselves.

Allāh informs us that human beings can indeed be the best of His creation and yet are capable of descending into faithlessness and immorality to become the worst of His creation (95:

4-5). The starting point, however, for all creation is one stipulated by an honouring. Allāh ennobled man in the presence of his angels and accorded him a position of responsibility.

Man exists somewhere on the scale between the angelic and bestial. His free will to choose servitude to God is a placing of reason over mere fulfilment of desire. For example, Ibn al-Qayyim said:

“Allāh created angels with reason and without desires; animals with desires and without reason; man, with both desires and reason. If a man’s reason is stronger than his desire then he becomes ‘angelic’ in nature, and if his desires are stronger than his reason then he is animal-like in his nature.”41

Imam al-Sa´dī remarks in his commentary on the aforementioned verses of 95:4-5 that “the verse concerns those who have gathered these three qualities: disbelief, loss of faith, betrayal, in that they did not keep their oaths. They become worse than animals because goodness is absent from them and evil is expected of them.” One of the things that separates us human beings from cattle and other beings is our use of reason (7:179, 25:44). However, this lack of use of reason does not mean that those referred to in these verses are physically less (because, again, all children of Adam are honoured).

Allāh, the creator of humans and animals highlights both man’s depravity and moral consciousness in the Qur’ān. He can refer to His creation as He pleases since whatever is in the heavens and earth belongs to Him, was created by Him and is understood best by Him.

(2:284, 4:131). The language and description belong to the Creator and are His right to best describe His creation. It will not however warrant us, the creation, to describe others with belittling descriptions since the first addressee of the Qur’ān is the reader himself. He is the first to be warned, and even if another person or peoples are specified, the warning still extends to the initial reader. This is supported by narrations in which some heretical Muslims are referred to as the “worst among the creation and the creatures”:

“Verily there would arise from my Ummah after me or soon after me a group (of people) who would recite the Qur’ān, but it would not go beyond their throats, and they would pass clean through their religion just as the arrow passes through the prey, and they would never come back to it. They would be the worst among the creation and the creatures.”42

Anas ibn Mālik reported: The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “There will be division and sectarianism in my nation and a people (the Kharijites) will come with beautiful words and evil deeds. They will recite the Qur’ān but it will not pass beyond their throats. They will leave the religion as an arrow leaves its target and they will not return to it as the arrow does not return to its bow. They are the worst of the creation. Blessed are those who fight them and are killed by them. They call to the Book of Allāh but they have nothing to do with it. Whoever fights them is better to Allāh than them.”43

The Qur’ān teaches that all humans are honourable, that each person has an innate recognition of Allāh, and in the course of his or her life a chance at finding closeness to Him.

Every human is capable of acknowledging the many favours he or she witnesses in life; even through hardships and tests. Even in the darkest of times, a person’s conscience can be awakened to their own vulnerability and understanding divine control is at play. Any human is able to change states through forgiveness, remedial actions and repentance. There is never a license for us to dehumanise the other. Instead, it is a Muslim’s role to create awakenings within people and elevate them.

Personalities in the Qur’ān, from prophets and messengers; those endowed with positive qualities of uprightness and piety; the arrogant and obstinately rejecting; men and women; children and elderly; healthy and infirm - form a myriad of life experiences. The lessons we find in the biographies of the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him), as well as the disbelievers of the Quraysh actually provide endless examples of how different people’s life experiences interact with one another. Sometimes complimenting and other times colliding.

The Qur’ān teaches that life itself is in flux, that changes occur at every level of a person’s existence, and in our observable world. The night and day alternate, planets swim in orbit, from nothingness we pass through stages of life, of infancy, and man transitions in his physical being, his mental aptitude and in his consciousness. The most significant transitioning of any person relates to his or her faith and belief. The simple fact that people do transition is a proof enough that the most obstinate can have a turn of heart and so too can the forbearing and mild become obstinate. People can change faith, embrace faith and leave faith altogether. It is essential that the Muslim thus never assume that anybody is beyond guidance.

To relegate anybody in such a way may be dehumanising of them since it suggests that they are void of a heart, however corrupt, that can alter and turn, just as our own can do.

Examples of prominent personalities like ‘Umar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, once hostile to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his companions, eventually found guidance as a loyal supporter of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his mission. Others also lent support though they remained unchanged in faith. They could not all be the same if among them were conscientious objectors, humanitarians, sympathisers and supporters. Among them were the disinterested and aloof, shepherds and nomads, and their earthly concerns kept them distracted and away from theological discussions and concerns. One notable individual, chief of the Banū Nawfal clan of Quraysh, Muṭ’im ibn ‘Adī was very influential in attempting to end the Makkan boycott of Banū Hāshim. Muṭ’im ibn ‘Adī supported the Prophet (peace be upon him) and ensured his return to Ṭā’if despite Abu Lahab’s ban on the Prophet’s return.

Muṭ’im died before the Battle of Badr and had never embraced Islam, despite his support. In recognition of his important presence and contribution in the Prophet’s life, the Prophet (peace be upon him) made specific mention of him in the aftermath of the Battle of Badr.

What had ensued was the taking as war prisoners of around seventy hostile Makkan disbelievers. On seeing the prisoners, the Prophet (peace be upon him) remembered Muṭ’im:

“Were Al-Muṭ’im bin ‘Adī alive and interceded with me for these filthy people, I would definitely forgive them for his sake.”44

Dehumanisation is the excluding of others from a moral order of being a human being in which the dehumanised lose their human status in the eyes of the dehumanisers. The Prophet (peace be upon him) was cognisant of past favours, of appreciating the integrity in man and of the reciprocating of good conduct. The Prophet’s character towards others, those disconnected by faith, but united in common goodness was an example of challenging simple binaries and a disallowing of Othering. Since Muṭ’im ibn ‘Adī’s posthumous remembrance emerges at a moment of success and victory for the Prophet (peace be upon him) and his companions, it further roots into the Muslim consciousness and makes essential for the Muslim to observe his or her world with an eye of compassion, appreciation and understanding.

In Islam, no human being (non-Muslims included) is seen to be part of an entirely homogenous entity. The Qur’ān makes clear that human beings ascribe to different nations and tribes and have differing behaviours. The Prophet (peace be upon him), in his interactions and dealings underwent a range of experiences with those who had not initially embraced Islam. Many of them were not hostile to him and his companions and he reciprocated with an exemplary compassion and empathy. He saw in each a potential for the acceptance of Islam - a potential for change. The Qur’ān instructs man to behave in the manner of the Prophet (peace be upon him), as can be seen in the following two verses: “Allāh forbids you not, with regards to those who fight you not for (your) faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them: for Allāh loves those who are just.” (60:8)

“O you who believe! Stand out firmly for Allāh, as witnesses to fair dealing, and let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just:

that is next to piety: and fear Allāh. For Allāh is well-acquainted with all that you do.” (5:8)

We also have the following tradition which draws on some positive traits of the Romans (Western Europeans) in a discussion between Mustaurid al-Qurashi (Allāh be pleased with him) and ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aaṣ (Allāh be pleased with him):

“Mustaurid al-Qurashi reported: I heard Allāh’s Messenger (peace be upon him) as saying:

The Last Hour would come (when) the Romans would form a majority amongst people. ‘Amr said to him (Mustaurid Qurashi): See what you are saying? He said: I say what I heard from Allāh’s Messenger (peace be upon him). Thereupon he said: If you say that, it is a fact for they have four qualities. They have the patience to undergo a trial and immediately restore themselves to sanity after trouble and attack again after flight. They (have the quality) of being good to the destitute and the orphans, to the weak and, fifthly, the good quality in them is that they put resistance against the oppression of kings.”45

The tradition is insightful in what it reveals of early Muslim perception of non-Muslims. In spite of their disbelief, the Romans were noted for some positive human qualities. The Qur’ān of course is very clear on the nature of misguided beliefs, but the tradition here lends weight to some positive traits including their charity giving and perseverance.