In the course of ages, the idea slowly dawned on man's mind and gradually crystallised
that the world is not merely changing, but is developing towards perfection. The changes
are not haphazard; nor erratic. They show a direction. In changing, the world is unfolding
its real nature: in the process, what is implicit in it becomes explicit and what is
hidden is brought to light. Purpose runs like a golden threada binding
cordthroughout the universe. The progressive aspect of changes in the world did not
escape the notice of some early Greek thinkers. The Greeks were an unusually gifted people
and their fertile imagination, unhampered by tradition and custom, explored the realms of
mind and matter. Their restless minds were ever shaping new theories and advancing new
viewpoints. They anticipated the evolutionary theory, as they anticipated many scientific
theories of this age. It is to the credit of modern science that by adducing palpable
evidence it has raised what was a nebulous hypothesis, to the plane of a scientific
theory, or almost a law of nature. Physics shows a picture of a developing and expanding
universe. Biologists describe in minute, ornate detail the evolution of life from the
protozoa and protophyta to Homo Sapiens. It is true that biologists, with the exception of
Lamarck, reject the concept of purpose as alien to science. It is because purpose does not
fit into their conceptual frame-work of natural science.
But for the man who looks at the world with an untainted mind, purpose is a fact of
observation: it is blinkers of science that may prevent us from noticing the purpose.
Nevertheless, it is writ large on the face of nature. We understand a thing when we know
its end. Nothing around us stays as it is at one particular moment, it is always changing
and becoming something different to what it is. As a rule, we are much less interested in
a thing as it is that in what it is tending to become. Suppose while taking a walk, we
meet a man who is running fast. It is not by determining his exact location at a
particular moment that we understand his activity, but by learning about his purpose and
the goal he is heading for. The physical world as it develops, is accomplishing a purpose.
Although the physical world is not conscious of the purpose, nevertheless it is, in a
sense, its purpose which enhances its value and enriches it with new attributes. The
purpose is positive, constructive and operates objectively. We may say that the world is
destined to move towards and attain the goal ,which God, in His wisdom, has set for it.
This holds for the outer universe. With man the case is quite different. Possessing a
free self, he can develop and attain his own end only by free choice and personal effort.
Man cannot be forced to develop; he must develop himself. Because man grows, he is
compared with a plant in the Quran. The seed germinates and puts forth a young shoot. The
tiny stalk grows in bulk and height. It becomes the full-grown tree which bears fruit. It
has fulfilled its purpose by reproducing its kind. Man takes his origin in the fertilised
ovum. After birth, he grows in size and strength, till he reaches maturity and is ready
for procreation. The analogy cannot be carried beyond this point. Man, when he has
begotten children, has not fulfilled his purpose. His destiny is far different from that
of the plant. He is not a mere instrument for the preservation of his race. His body, no
doubt, has fulfilled its purpose when he has begotten children, but he possesses a self
and the self does not beget its like. It does not procreate. Says the Quran of the Divine
Self that He "neither begetteth nor is He begotten (112: 3). This is also true of the
human self which thoughinfinitely lower than the Divine Self, has more in common with it
than with physical objects or animals. The self's. activity is creative, not procreative.
It creates values and the values enrich and expand its nature and raise it in the scale
of existence. While the evolution of nature proceeds under the direct control and
supervision of God., man is an active participant in his own evolution. Man develops as a
result of his own free choice and deliberate voluntary efforts. The evolution of his self,
therefore, is governed by laws distinct from those that obtain for nature. He too cannot
dispense with Divine help and guidance, but these are offered to him in a form which does
not impair the integrity of his self, nor imperil his freedom. He is left free to accept
or reject Divine guidance. Din comprises the principles of conduct which can lead
him to his goal, but they would do so only when they are freely adopted and acted upon.
From this vantage point it is clear to us that development is the rule in the world. In
the language of the Quran it is the Law of Rabubiyyat. This Law states that God
carries forward the universe and everything in it from one stage to a higher one. God
keeps everything moving forward, actualising its latent capabilities. It is a dynamic
universe and the most dynamic being in it is man. In such a universe, there will obviously
be different stages of existence. The Law of Rabubiyyat is tuned to each stage of
existence but its purpose and aim remain unaffected throughout. The Law is the
sheet-anchor of the universe, the guarantee that everything in it will develop to the full
extent of its capacity: the only possible exception is man who, through his own volition,
may set himself against it and misapply his freedom by choosing to descend instead of
ascending, to creep on earth instead of soaring in the sky (7: 176).
II. Course of Self-development
The evolutionary process, in evidence in the outer world, takes
within man the form of self-development. What are the conditions under which
self-development proceeds smoothly without let or hindrance? Some conditions are common
for each stage of development in general, others apply only to self-developmentthe
most exciting form of development. Let us consider the common ones first. Nothing exists
by itself in isolation. Everything is related to many other things and the relationship
between them is not merely of co-existence, but of co-operation. The development,
therefore, depends on the presence and co-operation of several factors. To take a concrete
example, a seed is capable of growing into a tree. However, for its growth it depends on
soil, water, minerals, air and sunlight. All these must not only be present, but they must
also bear proper relations to each other and to the seed. If the seed is placed in one
pot, soil in another and water in a third pot, nothing will happen. But if the seed is
related to these things in such a way that they interact on each other, the seed will soon
sprout and burgeon. The human body too develops through intimate interaction with
environmental forces and objects. All things in the world are inter-dependent; they need
each other and help each other. This is still more true of the self of man. The self can
develop only in a social environment, through interaction with other free selves. It needs
a society in which there is internal harmony and concord. It burgeons in the context of
friendly relations with kindred beings.
Their sympathy and co-operation are essential to its growth. The sense of participation
in social activities directed to a noble end adds a new dimension to the self.
Self-realisation is possible for man only in society, a society which is based on justice
and respect for human personality, a society which is dedicated to the acquisition of
higher values. The society which favours the growth of the self, is that in which every
man gladly helps others and gratefully receives help from them. In a society torn by
dissension, the demands of the physical self become imperative. In such a society, every
man will be thinking of himself and his personal interests. His mind will be engrossed
with the problem of protecting his life, property and children from other men.
Biological motives will dominate the mind and the urge for a higher life will be
relegated to the background. In a society of this kind the pursuit of the good is not
possible. Man needs a society in which all the members are bound to each other by ties of
friendship and animated by the spirit of comradeship. Belief in these values is the first
commitment of belief in God. The Quran exhorts man to build up a society in which men are
united by such an in God for the purpose of collating a society which is not wrought-up by
And hold fast by the cord of God, all of you, and be not divided but remember the
favour of God towards you, when you were enemies and He united your hearts so that you
became, by His favour, as brothers (3 : 102).
The society so cultivated and congenial is the Ummah of the Quran. "This is
how He has raised an Ummah communityfrom among you" (2 : 143).
This is the reason for the Qurans emphasis on corporate life and for its disapproval
of monasticism. Goethe once remarked that character is formed not in solitude, but in the
hurly-burly of life. The self shrinks and contracts in solitude, while it grows and
expands through active and continuous participation in group activities.
A harmonious, well-knit and integrated personality can take shape only in a balanced
and concordant society. The human mind is the arena of conflicting desires. Society too
carries the seed of discord as it is composed of individuals with different and often
opposed tastes, interests and aims. In society the resulting conflicts should not be
resolved by suppressing one party and giving free rein to the other. The true solution
lies in mutual adjustment, in reconciling one to the other and in discovering an activity
or a way of life which affords reasonable satisfaction to rivals. Balance and proportion
should characterise personality as well as society. How can human personality acquire
proportion? The answer is that it can do so only by taking as its model the Divine
Attributes, Asma-ul-Husna (Beautiful Names).
The Divine Attributes, severally, represent the highest degree of each intrinsically
valuable quality and they collectively reflect proportion of the highest order. If we bear
in mind that proportion is an essential condition of beauty, and some might go so far as
to say that proportion itself is beauty, it will be clear to us why the term Husna is
applied to these attributes. These are beautiful because each bears the right proportion
to others, so as to form a well-balanced whole. Husn, however, must be taken in a
wider sense. It denotes not only physical beauty but moral beauty as well. Proportion is
the only antidote to the poison of discord and conflict in the self as well as in society.
There is at least one marked distinction in the way of development of the self from
that of the body. The body grows by taking and assimilating nutrient substances from the
environment. The more nourishment it gets, the better is its growth. Paradoxically, the
self grows not by receiving but by giving. Generosity promotes its growth
and meanness checks it. The more the self gives of its riches, the richer it grows. If
this basic truth is clearly perceived, men will rush to the help of those in need. Pride
in possession will give place to joy in munificence. They will think more of what they can
give than of what they can keep for themselves. The acquisitive instinct will be weakened
and the impulse to give will gain strength. The Quran extols men who put the interests of
others above their own :
They prefer others before themselves although there be indigence among them; and
whosoever is preserved from the covetousness of his own soul, these shall prosper (59 :
The tendency directly opposed to generosity that we have been considering is
covetousness, termed shuh-un-nafs in the Quran (59: 9). It is acquisitive,
possessive and egoistic. The covetous man wants to appropriate all the good things within
his reach and is callously indifferent to the needs of others. Suppose a number of men are
gathered at a water tap. They know that the flow of water will cease in an hour or so.
Each is eager to fill his pitcher.
The covetous man elbows his way through the crowd, rudely pushes the pitcher of another
from underneath the tap and places his own in its place. He does not care if others have
to go without water. All he cares for is to have a plentiful supply of water for himself.
Covetousness deadens the human self and the Quran admonishes us to be on our guard against
this insidious disease of the self. It exhorts us to help all men, and not only our kith
and kin. The Quran is objective and universal in its outlook. It seeks the welfare of all
humanity and not only of a particular sect or community. According to the Quran, only that
endures which benefits "man whoever he may be and to whatever country, nation or
group he may belong. We would do well to reflect on the verse quoted below :
He sends down water from heaven, and the brooks flow according to their (respective)
measure, and the flood bears along a swelling foam. And from the metals which they smelt
in fire seeking to cast ornaments and necessaries, arises a scum like it. Thus Allah
coineth the similitude of the true and the false. As to the foam, it goes off as refuse,
and as to what is profitable to mankind, it remains on the earth. Thus God strikes out
parables (13: 17).
The proposition, "Only that survives which is for the benefit of all mankind
together with its corollary, "only those survive who benefit all mankind are the
fundamental principles of self-development. The law is not "the survival of the
fittest," but "the survival of the most munificent. " In other words,
according to the standard laid down by the Quran, only the most munificent is the fittest
to survive. Those who have imbibed the true spirit of the Quran, will eschew selfishness
and will dedicate themselves to the service of humanity. They are the real Muslims.
Nationalism and colonialism have been dominant forces in the West during the last two
or three centuries. Both generate narrow-mindedness and a parochial attitude. The European
thought only of his own nation or empire. Even in the West, however, some thinkers have
exhorted their compatriots to work for the good of all mankind. We quote an eloquent
passage from Rashdall's book on ethics:
It may be urged that the ideal is that I should be producing something for another
and find my good in doing so; while he is working in turn for my good, and finds his good
in doing so.1
An eloquent defence of this view is to be found in Robert Briffault's Making of
The peculiar means and conditions of human development necessitate that development
shall take place not by way of individuals, but by way of the entire human race; that the
grade of development of each individual is the resultant of that ecumenical development
He says further :
The making of humanity! That is the burden of man's evolution ; and that is the
solid, may, somewhat hard fact, of which the 'moral law' is the vaguely conscious
expression. It is not throbbing impulse of altruism, no inspiration of generosity for its
own sake, but a heavy weight of necessity laid upon man's development by the unbending
conditions that govern it (p. 261).
On another place, he has elaborated the point:
In the natural scale, that action is good which contributes to the process of human
development, that act is evil which tends to impede, retard, oppose that process: that
individual life is well deserving which is in the direct line of that evolution, that is
futile which lies outside the course of its advance; that is Condemned which endeavours to
oppose the current. That is the natural, the absolute and actual standard of moral values.
Nature does not value the most saintly and charitable life which brings no contribution to
human growth, as much as a single act which permanently promotes the evolution of the
race. The only measure of worth of which nature takes any account by perpetuating
itis the contribution offered towards the building tip of a higher humanity (p.
The real interests of the individual are not detached from but are interwoven with
those of mankind. They are not antithetical to but are identical with each other. Man,
therefore., realises himself by furthering the interest of mankind. This is the truth
which the Quran proclaims. It regards all "mankind as one community"
(10 : 19). It does not recognize the distinctions of caste, race, creed or colour. Mankind
is one whole, a single, though complex, entity for it :
Your creation and your raising are but as those of single self (31 : 28).
The Quran speaks of Kaba, the centre of the Muslim world, as "an
establishment for the entire mankind" (5: 97). It holds that the well-being of the
individual depends on the well-being of the society. Muslims are enjoined to work not for
the well-being of the Muslim community but for that of all mankind. The Quran leaves no
doubt on this point, and Prof. Whitehead is in full agreement with it when he says that:
The perfection of life resides in aims beyond the individual person in question.2
Man, in his individual capacity, self-develops his personality as he satisfies his
desires, and his self-conscious interpretations of his subconscious knowledge of his
origin in Pure Spirit may influence his activities. But, racially, man ought to engage
only in such activities as tend to extend creative freedom to the utmost through the
self-creativeness of all personalities to their uttermost limits. Man may turn from this
second movement while holding to the first. Man, therefore, may be moral individually and
immoral racially. The highest personalities unite the two moralities.3
The interdependence of man is the recurring theme of the Quran. The Quranic programme
for man has a twofold aim-the furtherance of the best interests of the individual as well
as of the society. In working for the good of mankind, man achieves his own good as well.
This view has been held by some great thinkers in the West also. We quote from Kant:
Act in such a way as to treat thyself and every other human being as of equal
intrinsic value ; behave as a member of a society in which each regards the good of the
other as of equal value with his own, and is so treated by the rest, in which each is both
end and means, in which each realises his own good in promoting that of others.4
The Quran goes a step further and declares that "the believers prefer others to
themselves although there is indigence among them" (59 : 9). Julian Huxley, a great
scientist who holds no brief for religion, writes to the same effect :
I believe that the whole duty of man can be summed up in the words: more life for
your neighbour as for yourself. And I believe that man, though not without perplexity,
effort and pain, can fulfil this duty and gradually achieve his destiny. A religion which
takes this as its central core and interprets it with wide vision, both of the
possibilities open to man and of the limitations in which he is confined will be a true
religion, because it is conterminous with life; it will encourage the growth of life, and
will itself grow with that growth. I believe in the religion of life.5
Julian Huxley, of course, does not believe that man needs the help of Divine
Revelation. He holds fast to the view that reason alone can enable man to grasp the true
relationship between himself and mankind. Here, he is oversimplifying the problem. He
fails to see that mere intellectual apprehension of a truth is not enough, that it does
not guarantee that we will always follow the hard path he has suggested. Reason may lead
us to the lofty peak which gives a wider vision of life, but Revelation gives us the
strength to stay there and order our life in accordance with that vision. Ovid's famous
line is pertinent to the point, "Video metiora prohoque deteriora sequor !" (I
see the better course but follow the worse one !). Reason can point out the right path but
it lacks the power to compel us to follow it. Revelation supplements reason. It confirms
and expands the vision granted by reason and also sustains and guides us in the arduous
journey. to our goal. Revelation summons men to a fuller and richer life and is meant only
for those "who are living" (36 : 70).
Life, we should bear in mind, is much more than physical existence. It is a steady and
continuous progress towards a higher stage in social, moral and intellectual development.
Man approaches this stage by helping his fellow-beings to do the same. If man pushes
society forward, society in turn pushes him on, and so both rise to the desired higher
level. Says the Quran:
O ye who believe! Respond to God and His apostle, when he calls you to that which
gives you life (8: 24).
To . sum up, man is organically related to all mankind.
His vital interests are bound up with the interest of humanity. He can fulfil himself
only by serving other men and by putting their interest above his own. He realises his
good only by working for the general good. The Quran puts it clearly:
(The believers say) : We feed you for the sake of Allah only. We wish for no reward
or thanks from you (76: 9).
Man is really benefiting himself by serving other men. So the question of reward does
not arise. As the Quran says
Is the reward of Ihsan aught save Ihsan ? (55 : 60).
Those who spend their wealth in accordance with the Laws of Allah (for the benefit
of mankind) and afterwards make not reproach and injury to follow that which they have
spent: their reward is with their Rabb and there shall no fear come upon them neither
shall they grieve (2 : 262).
O ye who believe! Render not vain what you spend for the cause prescribed by Allah
by reproach and injury, like him who spends his wealth only to be seen of men and believe
not in Allah and the last day (2: 264).
And I ask of you no reward for it ; my reward is only with the Rabb of all the
worlds (26 : 109).
We must now face the crucial question, whether it is really possible for man to
sacrifice his interests for the sake of the general good. No doubt, man is endowed with
altruistic as well as egoistic impulses. But the egoistic impulse which impels man to
appropriate all good things for himself, is far more powerful than the social impulse.
Moreover, worldly wisdom too lends its support to the egoistic impulse. Few can resist the
powerful appeal of immediate personal gain. Mysticism seeks to strengthen the altruistic
motive by inculcating into man ideas such as that the body is utterly worthless, that all
sensual pleasures are sinful and that the world is shot through with evil. It is believed
that if man is fully convinced that the body is an obstacle to his "spiritual"
progress, he would cease to care for things that minister to its needs. The Quran,
however, does not approve of this kind of other-worldliness. It treats the body and the
world with the respect due to them. It tells us that there is nothing sinful in possessing
worldly goods and in gratifying bodily needs. It fully recognises the fact that it is
possible to have value experience through the body:
Beautiful for mankind is love of the joys (that come) from women and children, and
stored up treasures of gold and silver,, and horses branded (with their mark) and cattle
and land. That is comfort of the life of the world. Allah! with Him is a more excellent
abode (3: 13).
Say : Who hath forbidden the adornment of Allah which He hath brought forth for His
servants, and the good things of His providing ?
Mysticism pleads for the suppression of the egoistic impulse which would leave the
field open to the altruistic impulse. The Quran is opposed to this view and asks us to do
justice to the physical self as well as the real self. How can the interests of these two
selves be reconciled and how can man have the best of both the worlds ? This question is
discussed in the next chapter.