Yasien Mohamed

There is not a newborn child who is not born in a state of  fitrah. His parents then make him a Jew, a Christian, or a Magian, just as an animal is born intact.  Do you observe any among them that are maimed (at birth)?

At a time when psychology is struggling to emerge as an autonomous discipline by shedding its old links with philosophy, any attempt to go in the opposite direction may seem retrogressive. However, today there is an equally significant move within the behavioral sciences to break through the parochial Eurocentric fences and seek a more comprehensive picture of humanity and human nature. Carl Rogers, for instance, emphasized the need for a methodology that would take into account the subjective experience of individuals. Philosophers have pointed to the need to integrate mental concepts and ethics, which would lead to the enrichment of both fields. In this article, we will contribute to this search for a comprehensive picture of human nature by introducing the reader to the Islamic concept of human nature (fitrah). Furthermore, we will show the relevance of this concept to developing the metaphysical, epistemological, ethical, psychological, and legal principles of Islamic psychology.

The opening quotation, which is the central hadith on fitrah The opening quotation, which is the central hadith onfitrah, is our starting point for an understanding of human nature in Islam. There are at least three interpretations of fitrah, but we have found that the positive view remains the ideal theoretical model for the prognosis of its implication. Fitrah relates to the individual‘s innate reality and also has a bearing on one’s beliefs, values and attitudes to life, worldview, and interaction with the surrounding environment. As such, fitrah cannot be viewed in isolation from one’s mind, conduct, and institutions in the phenomenal world.

Fitrah may be described as a God-given innate state or inclination to believe in God and to worship Him. It can also be translated as “original purity” or “primordial faith”-an ontological state that disposes the individual to the good and the lawful. The Lisan al ‘Arab defines it as the natural constitution with which a child is created in his mother’s womb in a state of happiness or misery; but it could also mean the truth of the shahadah which expresses tawhid,  the oneness of God and the messengership of Muhammad. Thus, fitrah also expresses the truth about religion.’

According to the hadith, one is born in a state of fitrah, of primordial faith-and hence as a Muslim-and is then made to adhere to another religion by his/her parents through the process of socialization. Therefore, any individual who dies before reaching the age of discretion enters paradise. We shall elaborate on the implications of fitrah and their bearing on the principles of Islamic psychology. These principles make up the basic features of Islamic psychology and provide a framework from which to assess western psychology critically and to integrate useful western therapeutic techniques in order to enrich the discipline of Islamic psychology.

The Metaphysical Principle

The ideal point of departure for an understanding of the implications of fitrah is the metaphysical principle that underlies the notion of the concept. By means of this principle, we come to understand the place of the human individual in the universe, as well as his/her essential spiritual nature and ultimate destiny. Moreover, it is this principle that provides the foundation for the Islamic creed and from which all other true belief and value systems are derived. Accordingly, all other implications of fitrah are rooted in this metaphysical principle.

Implicit in the idea of fitrah is the view that each human being is born with the innate predisposition to believe in and to worship the One God. In other words, tawhid (the unity of God) is integral to one’s innate nature. The mission of all prophets from Adam to Muhammad was, in essence, to convey the message of tawhid the belief in and submission to the One God. It is a monotheistic message intended for humanity to actualize its fitrah and to manifest its primordial faith. This constitutes the affiliation of the shahadah, which makes a person a Muslim and reconciles one to his/her original faith in God (tawhid). Since tawhid is integral to fitrah, it is the principle that governs the metaphysical principle of Islamic psychology.

Each individual is a “central being” in the world, for all of humanity has been honored with the status of vicegerent of God on earth (khalifat Allah). Humanity was taught the “names” of all things and, as such, was given power and dominion over all things. The centrality of an individual’s being and existence is an empirical given, an immutable reality that humanity must necessarily accept. However, the right of humanity to dominate the earth as vicegerent is justified only on condition that it remain an obedient servant (‘abd) functioning in perfect submission to God, the absolute Master of nature.

At the core of the individual‘s being is his/her primordial nature, which he/she possessed before the “fall” on earth and which he/she still carries deep within himself/herself. In this original state of fitrah, the individual is potentially the perfect vicegerent but, due to forgetfulness, is prone to exploit the power and privilege afforded humanity for his/her own selfish ends. The power of intellect and will, which was given to humanity on account of its status as vicegerent, has been employed for evil and destructive purposes precisely because its role as a servant of God has been neglected. Only through submission, as a servant of God, will humanity be able to use its power and privilege over nature in a positive and spiritually progressive way. As such, humanity is always in need of divine revelation and grace from God. Although one may ignore the divine revelation, which seeks to remind the individual of his/her primordial nature, and although one may deviate from the dictates of his/her theomorphic nature, one cannot escape fully from what he/she essentially is. Therefore, the individual‘s essential nature must manifest itself on the periphery?

Humanity, above all creation, accepted the burden of trust (amanah):

Lo! We offered the trust unto the heavens and earth and the mountains and they shrank from bearing it and were afraid of it and man assumed it. (Qur’an 33:72)

This acceptance is precisely the acceptance of the burden of serving as God’s vicegerent on earth, the acceptance of freedom and accountability to God and His creation. In terms of the metaphysical principle of tawhid referred to above, humanity’s return to its original state of fitrah can be effected by accepting the shahadah: la ilaha illa Allah, Muhammad rasul Allah, which, translated literally, states that there is none worthy of worship except God, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God).7 One’s acceptance of this represents a conscious acknowledgment of Muhammad as the ideal exemplar, the spiritual prototype who is to be emulated in the journey to the origin: the Absolute. The “universal man,” therefore, represents the sum of all degrees of existence, a “total mirror before the Divine presence and at the same time the supreme archetype of creation.’” This human prototype-the “universal man’s” ontological reality--can be realized through one’s sense of trust and faith, and it would give him/her the happiness and peace that is sought in this world and in the hereafter.9

The Islamic understanding of the way human beings are placed in creation is understood through the metaphysical implication of fitrah. Hence, the metaphysical principle of Islamic psychology provides the philosophical background for understanding the dynamics of the psyche, the self, or the nafs. Western psychology ignores the metaphysical principle, because it recognizes only the biological and psychical dimensions of the individual. In Islamic psychology, the spiritual dimension (ruh), with which every individual has been endowed by God, is integral to human nature and is distinct from one’s biological and psychical aspects (nafs). The self (nafs) is the dynamic and negative tendency found in each individual that makes rebellion against God possible. According to Islam, it should be trained to take on the pure qualities of the ruh, which is from the divine source and is therefore intrinsic to human nature:

And when I have fashioned him and breathed into him of My Spirit (min ruhi) then fall down before him prostrate. (Qur’an 15:29)

The realization of fitrah would, therefore, mean the rejoining of the self (nafs) to the human soul (ruh), for in this realization lies the knowledge of God, as suggested by the saying: “He who knows himself, knows his Lord.” This represents the highest level of spiritual development, the stage of the “contented self’ (al nafs al mutma’innah), when the individual is in harmony with his/her/ fitrah and is pleased with God. At this stage, God is pleased with the individual. The metaphysical principle of Islamic psychology, then, provides the foundation upon which all other principles of Islamic psychology are based and defines the essential origin and direction of humanity and its relationship to God and the universe.

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