1. MAN - A CREATED BEING:

The Holy Qur'an says:

"But does not Man call to mind that We (God) created him before, when he was naught." (xix : 67).

In contrast to we being creatures Created by God, Hubbard portrays us as psychic creatures, with the pineal gland as a brain, imprisoned on earth-hell for sinning after being tricked by other aliens. See the following chapter titled pineal for more information.

2. PURPOSIVE BEING AND AN EVOLUTIONARY BEING:

(a) Purposiveness has been affirmed thus:

"Deem ye that We have created you (O humankind!) in vain (i.e., with no serious purpose) and that unto Us ye are not to be returned (for account). So exalted be Allah, the True King . . . . " (xxiii : 115, 116). 

(b) Evolutionary character of the human personality:

"Man We did create (at the earthly stage) from a quintessence of clay; then We placed him as (a drop of) sperm in a place of rest, firmly fixed; then We made the sperm into a clot of congealed blood; then of that clot We made a (foetus) lump; then We made out of that lump bones and clothed the bones with flesh; then We developed out of it another creature (- a creature who is not a mere animal but a being endowed with spiritual, moral, aesthetic and intellectual faculties and capable of pursuing ideals). So blessed is Allah, the Best to create! After that, at length ye will die. Again, on the Day of Judgment, will ye be raised up." (XXIII : 12-16). 

"Verily, We created Man from a drop of mingled sperm, in order to try him: So We gave him (the gifts of) Hearing and Sight (i.e., endowed him with responsibility). We showed him the Way (of Right and Wrong): whether he be grateful or ungrateful (rests on his will)." (LxxVI : 2,3). 

"And surely He hath created you by stages (i.e., by various steps or changes from the original form till ye acquired the full stature of human personality)." (LxxI :14).

3. MAN-A MORAL BEING:

That Man has been created with the purpose of pursuing moral struggle has been affirmed thus:

" . . . . (Allah) created Death and Life, that He may try you as to who among you is best in conduct." (LXVII : 2). 

Elsewhere, the very purpose of creation of the world itself has been stated to be the pursuit of moral struggle by Man:

"He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in six (Cosmic) Days-and His Throne (of Authority) was on the Waters (from where life evolved)-that He might try you (as to) which of you is best in conduct." (xi : 7).

4. MAN - SUPREME IN CREATION:

(a) Man is a creature honoured and honourable:

"And assuredly We have honoured the Children of Adam (i.e., humankind)." (xvii : 70).

(b) Man has been made the vicegerent of God on earth and, as such, .supreme among all the creatures on the earth:

"Behold ! thy Lord said to the angels: verily 1 am going to place a vicegerent on the earth." (ii : 30).

(c) The angels made obeisance to Adam, thus acknowledging Man's superiority in Creation:

"And recall what time We said unto the angels: prostrate yourselves before Adam, they prostrated themselves ...." (II :34).

(d) Everything on the earth has been created for Man:

"He it is Who created for you (i.e., for your service, O humankind!) all that is on the earth." (II : 29).

(e) Everything in the heavens and on the earth has been made subservient to Man:

"And He has subjected to you (O humankind!), as from Him, all that is in the heavens and on the earth. Behold! in that are Signs indeed for those who reflect." (xlv : 13).

5. MAN-A WORSHIPPING BEING:

Man's need for God arises in his weaknesses and imperfection.

The Holy Qur'an says:

(a) Man is weak and susceptible to error:

"Allah intends to lighten your (difficulties): For Man has been created weak (i.e., weak in flesh, weak in judgment and weak in respect of overpowering desire)." (IV:28). 

In this respect, Man needs God’s Mercy and Guidance. As regards the initial weakness of the human will, Adam's lapse is well known (xx : 115). The Holy Qur'an mentions elsewhere that after that lapse, Adam acquired a firm resolve (xx : 122) through repentance (vi : 23). All human beings can be guided by this, in that they have to train their will by committing themselves to higher ideals, cultivating patience and constancy and perserverence, and through communion with God. 

The Holy Qur'an says:

"Oh ye who believe! seek help with patient Perseverance and Prayer (Communion with Allah): verily Allah is with those who patiently persevere." (II : 153).

(b) Man is given to impatience:

"Man is a creature of haste." (xxi : 37)

(c) Man suffers from sentimentalism:

"And if We let Man taste mercy from Us, and thereafter withdraw it from him, verily he is despairing, blaspheming.

"And if We let him taste favour after harm has touched him, he says: the ills have departed from me; verily he becomes elated, boastful. Not so do those who practise patience and constancy, and work righteousness; for them is forgiveness (of sins) and a great reward." (xi : 9, 10, I1).

In respect of (b) and (c) above, the human personality needs tuning to submission to the Divine Will in order to avoid failure, as expressed in verse 11 above.

(d) Man is a contentious creature:

Man is in most things contentious." (xvIII : 54).

Man needs a Moral Code based on universal laws as supplied by God, in order to provide true equity and arbitration and the consequent harmony and peace in human relations.

Situations arising out of human weaknesses and shortcomings can be remedied through Divine Guidance and Grace. The Holy Qur'an has affirmed it repeatedly:

"Oh ye who believe! If you are careful of (your duty to) Allah, He will grant you a Criterion (to judge between right and wrong), remove from you (all) evils (that may afflict  you (including your weaknesses and shortcomings), and forgive you: for Allah is the Lord of Grace Unbounded." (VIII : 29).

God’s Guidance and Grace come to humanity through his/her belief in the existence of God. This belief should not be a mere logical necessity, as Kant would have it, but embedded in our very nature. The soul of Man hungers for worship and we need to satisfy this component of our nature. The Holy Qur'an mentions this fact as the “Covenant of Monotheism" which all human beings made in the world of spirits at the time of Creation. It says:

"And when thy Lord brought forth from the children of Adam their posterity from their backs, and (after endowing them with sufficient intelligence and understanding) made them to testify as to themselves (saying): am I not your Lord? They said: Yea! we do testify. (Thus was the belief in God inscribed upon the soul of Man). (That was) lest ye should say on the Day of Resurrection (by way of excuse for atheism, polytheism or idolatry): verily of this we have been unaware." (vii : 172).

We are also told that seeking Divine Help in times of need is ingrained in human nature:

"When harm touches human beings, they cry to their Lord, turning to Him in repentance . .. ." (xxx : 33).

"When a wave covers them (i.e., those who are unmindful of Allah otherwise) like the canopy (of clouds) (i.e., a storm overtakes them at sea), they call to Allah, offering Him sincere devotion." (xxxl : 32).

Our true nature is to seek God. We may become blind to this urge though many factors in life - upbringing, culture, etc. We are further told that the human beings with healthy minds remember God at all times:

 " . . . possessors of understanding, namely, those who remember Allah standing, sitting and lying on their sides . ..." (III : 190, 191).

Then the Holy Qur'an proceeds to emphasise that the human heart finds its true peace only through confidence in Divine Help which comes to him by establishing the relation of intimacy with God through Remembrance (alZikr):

"Lo ! in the remembrance of Allah hearts do find rest (i.e., serene tranquillity and steady peace of mind)." (XIII : 2S).

So, I encourage you to seek your true self, find the yearning for God that calls within your heart. Listen, open your eyes and senses and see the needs of your true nature. The Holy Quraan encourages us to cultivate the worshipping aspect of our nature through communion with God and to maintain a constant worshipful attitude towards Him. Through this, we ensure optimism and hope and success in our moral struggle. Some of the verses referring to this read:

"And your Lord has said: call unto Me, and I shall answer your prayer. Verily those who are stiff-necked against My worship, anon they will enter Hell abject." (XL: 60).

"And when My devotees ask thee regarding Me, then verily I am Nigh; I answer the call of the caller when he calleth unto Me; so let them answer Me and believe in Me, haply they may be rightly guided." (II : 186).

"And remember Allah much that ye may prosper (in the health of the mind and the spirit, and thus attain true success in life, including moral life)." (Lxlii : 10).

"Verily I! I am Allah! no God there is but I; so worship Me, and establish prayer for My remembrance." (xx : 14).

6. MAN-A SOCIAL BEING:

It has been proclaimed:

"Your creation (in the past) and your resurrection (in the future) are only as though of one soul." (xxxi : 28).

There is such an intimate bond of unity amongst humanity that we should wish no more or less for another that we would wish for ourselves. We are a social creature in origin, nature, purpose and destiny.

Of similar emphasis is the following verse:

"Oh humankind! fear your Lord (in your dealings with one another), Who created you from a single primeval Self, created, of like nature, the spouse thereof, and from them twain scattered (like seeds) countless men and women: -fear Allah, through Whom ye demand your mutual (rights), and be careful of your duty to Allah and (in respect of) the wombs (i.e., the ties of family relationship); verily Allah ever watches over you." (IV : 1).

We have also been told:

"And He it is Who has made you (His) agents, inheritors of the earth, and has raised some of you over others in degrees, that He may tiny you in the gifts ye receive. Verily thy Lord is Swift in punishing: yet He a indeed Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (IV : 165).

7. ESSENTIAL GOODNESS OF MAN'S NATURE:

The Holy Qur'an says:

"Assuredly We have created Man in the best maker (having the goodliest nature)." (xcv : 4).

8. CONFLICT IN HUMAN NATURE:

Although our human nature is essentially good, we were created to pursue a moral struggle. Our freedom of choice makes us capable of scaling the loftiest heights of perfection, or sink to the lowest of the low in Creation, as it has been said:

"Thereafter (i.e., in consequence of wrong use of his opportunities and misuse of his free-will by Man) We (as the Author of the Universal Scheme) abase him (to be) the lowest of the low (-he himself having destroyed his original purity and goodness), -save those who believe and practise righteousness. Theirs shall be a reward unfailing." (xcv : 5, 6).

This double capacity-for moral success and for moral failure-is grounded in the conflict with which human nature has been endowed, as the Holy Qur'an says:

"By the Sun and his (glorious) splendour, by the Moon as she follows him, by the Day as it shows up (the Sun's) glory, by the Night as it conceals it, by the Firmament and its (wonderful) structure, by the Earth and its (wide) expanse, by the Soul and Him Who gave it proportion and order, and inspired it with the wickedness thereof (which comes through the devil and is developed to a responsible human act by Man's own free-will) and the piety thereof (which comes through the angels and is developed to a responsible human act by Man's own free-will), truly he succeeds that keeps it pure and he fails that corrupts it." (xcI : 1-10)

We find a conflict between wickedness and piety in the human soul from which the moral choice arises. Our “lower nature" (the “nafs"), has excessive love for our instinctive desires, the reality of which has been emphasised in these words:

"Fair-seeming in the eyes of human beings is the love of things they covet (under the impact of instinctive urges): women and sons, heaped up hoards of gold and silver, horses branded (for blood and excellence), and (wealth of) cattle and well-tilled land. All that is the enjoyment of the life of the world: but in nearness to God is the best of goals." (III : 14).

On the other side, there is the pure nature of the human soul in its pursuit of ideals. It seeks to attain nearness to God, (referred to at the end of the above verse). Leading one's life in the pursuit of noble, pure ideals has been beautifully emphasised in the verses which immediately follow. There, it has been said:

“Say (O Muhammad!): shall I give you glad tidings of things far better than those (i.e. objects of instinctive desires recounted in art : 14)? For the righteous are Gardens in nearness to their Lord with rivers flowing beneath; therein is their eternal home; with companions pure (and holy); and the Good Pleasure of Allah. For in Allah's sight are all His servants,-(namely) those who say: `Our Lord! we have indeed believed, wherefore forgive us our sins and protect us from the agony of the Fire': those who practise sabr (i.e., patience, perseverance and selfcontrol), who are truthful, who worship devoutly, who spend (for their fellow-beings), and who pray for forgiveness in the early hours of the morning." (III : 15-17).

In the Holy Qur'an, the attraction of the instincts (hunger, lust, anger, greed etc.) is neither condemnable nor irrelevant, but a part of the human character. The Qur'anic moral guidance serves to balance and satisfy both aspects of human nature - the sentient and the rational - that have been bestowed upon it by its Creator. The ideal human nature is expressed:

"So set thy purpose for religion as one by nature upright - the nature (framed) of Allah, in which He hath created Man. There is no altering (the laws of) Allah's creation. That is the right religion (containing the philosophy of human conduct), but most men know not." (xxx : 30).

It should be noted that, according to the Holy Qur'an, the human self has three stages of, and states in, character development:

(i) the nafs-al-ammarah,

(ii) the nafs-al-lawwamah,

(iii) the nafs-al-mutma'innah,

The pursuit of instinctive demands is urged by the nafs-al-ammarah, or the Impelling Self (prone, impelling, headstrong, passionate), which impels one to satisfy these demands of passion unchecked, and thus to commit evil, as the Holy Qur'an says:

" . . Verily the Self impels to evil, unless my Lord do bestow His Mercy, but surely my Lord is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (xII : 53).

This lusting, base nature of humanity is well reflected in the pornography that has flooded the internet. Rampant and uncontrolled, it knows no bounds. Whatever you can imagine, these lusts venture to taste.

Next is the stage or state of nafs-al-lawwamah, the Reproaching Self, that counters and regulates the instinctive demands. The Holy Qur'an refers to nafs-al-lawwamah in the following verse

"And I do call to witness the Reproaching Self." (Lxxv : 2).

Therefore, the healthy development and maturity of the human character lies in counteracting the urges of the Impelling Self and conquering it. Note, that it is not the instinctive wants themselves are evil, as the Christians, the Buddhists and the Hindus believe, but the wrong manner of fulfilling the instinctive drives. Once it is conquered, the human self outgrows the conflict and struggle of self-reproach and becomes nafsal-mutma'innah or the Beatified Self. The Holy Qur'an refers to the Beatified Self and its reward thus:

"O thou Beatified Soul! return unto thy Lord wellpleased (thyself) and well pleasing (unto Him). Enter thou among My Devotees and enter thou My Garden." (LXXXIX : 27-30).

9. MAN POSSESSES FREE WILL:

The Holy Qur'an affirms the human Freedom of Will in clear terms. Its basic statement in this connection is:

"We (God) did indeed offer the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains; but they refused to undertake it, being afraid thereof: but Man undertook it',-he ' is indeed very unjust (to himself in not fulfilling his responsibility in respect thereof) and very ignorant (in respect of the evil consequences of not fulfilling his responsibility),(with tile result) that Allah has to punish the Hypocrites, men and women, and the Unbelievers (fit.,.. `polytheists'), men and women; and Allah turns in Mercy to the Believers, men and women: For Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful." (xxx : 72, 73).

"Trust" stands here for "moral responsibility". We are answerable for all acts of thought and conduct as a prerequisite to freedom of choice. This introduces the function of a human being as a moral agent.

"Do what ye will (i.e. act as you choose in accordance with your free-will). Verily He (God) sees (clearly) all that ye do." (XLI : 40).

"We have shown him (i.e., Man) the Way (of Right and Wrong); (now it rests on his will) whether to be grateful (by using the gift of free-will in the service of Good) or ungrateful (by serving Evil through his free-will)". (Lxxvi :3).

 "Say: The Truth is from your Lord ; let him who will, believe, and let him who will, reject it." (xviii:29).

"That is the Day of Certainty. Whosoever therefore wills, let him betake unto his Lord a resort." (Lxxviii:39).

 " . . . a warning to humankind,-to any of you that chooses (through his will) to go forward (towards Good) or to lag behind." (LxxIv:36, 37).

Man is, however, a created being. As such he cannot be independent of his Creator in anything. Even free-will is not possessed by him of his own right, unlike his Creator Who owns it in His own right. Man's freedom of will has been conferred on him by his Creator as an element of Personality. We have to act within His bounds:

"Nay, verily this (Qur'an) is an Admonition: so let him who will (i.e., has the will to do so), heed it. But they shall not heed except as Allah wills (in His infinite Wisdom and in accordance with His Universal Scheme): He is the Lord of Righteousness and the Lord of Forgiveness." (Lxxiv: 55, 56).

 "This is an Admonition: then whosoever (shall exert his) will, may choose a way unto his Lord. But ye will not except as Allah wills (in His infinite Wisdom and in accordance with His Universal Scheme); for Allah is full of Knowledge' and Wisdom'. He will admit to His Mercy whom He will6 (in accordance with the requirements of His Gracious Nature and of the demands of Absolute and Universal Divine Justice); but the wrongdoers,-for them He has prepared a grievous Penalty (in accordance with the misuse of their free-will)." (Lxxvi : 29-31).