SPIRIT OF ISLAM NOVEMBER 2019

17 Spirit of Islam Issue 83 November 2019 Modern biologists have come to the conclusion that it is man’s capacity for conceptual thought, which distinguishes him from other life forms. Animals lack this quality, whereas man is conscious of the fact that he is thinking. purposeful life is one in which man discovers his supreme status as a moral being. It is a life in which his personality makes manifest the unique and distinctive ability to make moral choices. An animal strives to obtain food; a bird flies in search of a better country when the season changes; a wasp busies itself building up its home from tiny particles of earth; a herd of deer takes measures to protect itself from wild beasts of prey. All of these appear to be purposeful actions. But when the phrase ‘a purposeful life’ is applied to man, it does not refer to practical efforts of this nature. Without doubt arranging for food, clothes and shelter are some of the tasks that man has to perform in this world; but this is a level of purposefulness at which men and animals, being concerned only with bare survival, are equal. Its true application in relation to man can only be that in which he appears in all his dignity: when it goes beyond common animalism and takes the form of superior humanism. God’s creations in this world fall into two categories: animate and inanimate. Obviously, animate objects enjoy a certain superiority over inanimate objects. The former can be divided into three classes: the vegetable, the animal and the human. Modern scientific research has shown that plants also possess life, in that they nourish themselves, they grow and they have feelings. But animals and men surely represent a higher form of life. In what way does man excel animals? Many theories have been advanced in answer to this question over the ages, and great minds are still studying it. But modern biologists have come to the conclusion that it is man’s capacity for conceptual thought, which distinguishes him from other life forms. Animals lack this quality, whereas man is conscious of the fact that he is thinking. He consciously forms all plans of action in his mind. In his everyday life, his actions are determined by him. Whereas this is not the case with animals. Though many of their actions appear to be like those of men, these actions are not the result of thought; they all stem from pure instinct. Animals are simply led intuitively in a certain direction by their desires and their needs. Their actions are governed by environmental stresses from without and physical pressures from within. It is from this unique capacity of man to conceptualize that we can conceive of what his higher purpose in life should be: one which in no