Islam and Human Development
We have honored the children of Adam and carried them by land and sea. We have provided them good sustenance; and favored them specially above many of those We created.” (Al-Isra’ 17:70)
What is the main purpose of the Qur’an and what was the mission of Prophet Muhammad? The main theme of the Qur’an is to develop and reform human beings.
This was the main mission of Prophet Muhammad – peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. Prophet Muhammad was a human being. He was not God, or half God and half man, or the incarnation of God. He was a human being sent for the sake of human beings.
Say, I am only a human being, like you, to whom it is revealed that your God is One. Anyone who fears to meet his Lord should do good deeds and give no one a share in the worship due to his Lord. (Al-Kahf 18:110)
The mission of Prophet Muhammad was to care for the human being, care for his spiritual, moral, physical health and well-being, care for his honor, dignity, freedom and rights, care for the protection of his life, intellect, family and society. Islam is concerned with every aspect of a human being and wants his wholesome and balanced development. Islam cares for human body and mind, human intellect and emotions, human individual and society. There is no philosophy or ideology that deals with human life with all its multi-dimensions as fully and as nicely as Islam does.
Human being is a unique creation of Allah. The Qur’an tells us that Allah created human being from both earthly as well as heavenly elements.
Your Lord said to the angels, “I shall create a mortal out of dried clay, formed from dark mud. When I have fashioned him and breathed My spirit into him, bow down before him.” (Al-Hijr 15:28-29)
Human beings have both elements: material and spiritual. Human beings have their vegetable side, their animal side but they are neither vegetables nor animals.
Similarly, they have their angelic side but they are no angels. Allah created them in the best mold (Al-Tin 95:4), gave them pure and good nature (al-fitrah, Al-Rum 30:30), He endowed them with knowledge (Al-Baqarah 2:31) and then He sent among them many Prophets and Messengers to guide them and to show them the ways of righteousness and virtues. When human beings use their Fitra in the right way and follow Allah’s prophets and messengers they develop their potential. Their goodness enhances. When they ignore their own nature and the teachings of the Prophets of Allah then they hamper their growth and destroy their potential. Prophet Muhammad came to complete the mission of all the Prophets of Allah. Islamic values cover all the necessary dimensions of human life:
1. Spiritual Dimension: worship, devotion, inner peace and harmony
2. Moral Dimension: truth, honesty, decency, kindness and courtesy
3. Intellectual Dimension: learning, knowledge, wisdom
4. Aesthetic Dimension: beauty, art, enhancing balance, moderation and equilibrium
5. Emotional Dimension: management of anger, desires, likes and dislikes
6. Material Dimension: all economic needs and business transactions
7. Social Dimension: family, neighbors, friends, all relations within one’s group and the world at large
All these dimensions are complementary to each other. Islamic values on the individual level work to obtain following objectives:
1. Direct the individuals in their personal behavior
2. Help them to achieve what is required from them according to the Shari’ah.
3. Give a person a sense of security with oneself in facing the challenges of life
4. Give the possibilities of self-improvement
5. Give the possibilities of self-expression
6. Control a person’s whims and lusts
7. Raise the individual’s behavior over selfishness and materialism
On the collective level, these Islamic values work to obtain the following objectives:
1. Keep the society together
2. Organize the group in a balanced way
3. Control the group from the egotism of some
4. Guide the group in its dealings with the world and nature
5. Bring balance between various other dimensions of the group’s life such as economic, political, etc.
Collective level could be peaceful or conflict situation. Under peaceful situations Islamic values work to:
1. Emphasize the continuation of peace
2. Promote dialogue and freedom of expression
3. Prohibit compulsion and coercion
4. Remove and prevent prejudice and hatred
5. Eliminate oppression and corruption in the land
6. Protect those who are neutral and non-combatants
7. Promote good neighborly relations and international contacts in the spirit of justice and peace.
In a conflict situation Islam has also given us some rules and directions:
1. Do not begin hostilities
2. Respect the sacred time and places
3. Protect the non-combatants and civilians in general
4. Observe the treaties and agreements
5. Fulfill all commitments to the other party
6. Consider human relations
7. Be patient and steadfast in the face of difficulties.
In summary, we can say that the objective of Islam is that human beings should know what is good, do what is good, become good and generate good among themselves and in the world.
