RENAISSANCE FEBRUARY 2021

Faith & Beliefs 30 Monthly Renaissance February 2021 something is in human nature, he should be born with it, live with it and die on it. Why would he achieve and then lose it, and then achieve it again? At the very least, when he obtains it after a long struggle, he should retain it. This doubt arises because many people do not understand the difference between human nature and that of animals. Animals have stringent rules of nature to which they adhere. If no medical change occurs, their nature develops and reaches its foremost stage according to these rules. Nature has not provided animals with the capacity to adopt a different approach, change it or make progress in it. They are bound within the rules of their species and confined in its innate system. If you put a dove inside a meat shop, it will die of starvation, but will not be able to take benefit of the abundance of meat. If you lock a cat in a cupboard of fruit, it will also die of hunger, but will not be able to use the fruit. However, the nature of man is completely different. To explain human nature, we borrow here words from Im ā m Ḥ am ī d al-D ī n Far ā h ī , which he has used in his exegesis of S ū rah Ikhl āṣ , and in light of verses 48-54 of S ū rah R ū m, while answering the above question. He says: The signs of wisdom and mercy that man sees around him everywhere in the universe and the pull that he feel towards his Creator in times of trouble tells us that he is receiving evidence of a Supreme Being from within and without himself. Such evidence does not come for idols or the dead, if human nature does not conform to that of animals. Animals are slaves and humans have been given freedom, which necessitates that they progress. Animals are driven along the path they were destined to be driven, while humans have been left with the light of rationality and the sustenance of ability: their nature is their ability. The extent to which man has progressed to date is proof of his ability and the fruits of his efforts. The fact that ability is akin to nature is not restricted to man alone. A baby peacock that is a blob of flesh reaches adulthood and we consider the beauty of his feathers a result of nature. Similarly, when a human child that is physically weaker than most animals and is also mentally weaker as well reaches adulthood, should we not consider his strength and wisdom a result of his nature?