The Teaching of the Quran and the Muslim understanding of the creation of man and his constitution

It has been said that 'Allah is the essence of Islam.' This is to be expected, for in every system of theology the nature of the deity worshipped must determine the details of the entire system and impart to that system its specific characteristics. Allah's distinctive nature determines the range and interests of Islamic theology and, just as every Christian doctrine - whether of man or of holiness - is based upon what we know of God in Christ, so every Muslim doctrine is related to Allah. We must remember this as we now proceed to discuss man and his destiny according to Muslim theology.

Before we begin to discuss the details of Muslim teaching we must first remind ourselves that, although Allah is said to have created man and the Jinn in order that they may worship Him (Surah 51 v. 56), yet Muslim theology will not admit that Allah has any fixed purpose which might condition or restrict the operation of His will. But when the Christian thinks of the creation of man, he sees it in the light of God the Father's purpose, through and in His only Son, to bring 'many sons unto glory' (Hebrews 2 : 10). Islam prefers to think of Allah as One who does as He wills, the working of Allah's will being entirely unconditioned. Christian soteriology, however, cannot find its source in an indifferent and unconditioned Divine will; the hope of salvation is anchored in the gracious will of God the Father, who has sent His Son to redeem the world by His divine self-oblation. On the other hand, it would be nonsense to speak of Allah as One who is working out a purpose of salvation, and has sent His prophets over the centuries in order to prepare men in the fullness of time for a great sacrificial act of self-emptying and self-giving. Allah does not work out such a plan, or submit to the conditions which such a purpose of grace and righteousness imposes; He does ‘as He pleases’.

There are some passages in the Quran where there is some suggestion of Allah having acted from design in creating man and some which speak of Allah as One who formed his creatures in order to fill Hell with men and Jinn (Surahs 11 v. 120; 7 v. 178), or in order to cause others ‘to enter into His mercy’ (Surah 76 V. 31). We also read in Surah 3 v. 188, that Allah has not created the heavens and the earth “in vain”, and believers therefore ask that they be kept “from the torment of the fire“.

We also find that the initial act of the creation of man is described in the Quran and the Bible in almost the same terms (apart from the additional elements found in the Quran). They diverge, however, not so much in their accounts of that initial act, as when the Bible defines the destiny of man and here we see most clearly the difference between the Quranic and Biblical doctrines of man.

Let us now consider the Quranic teaching concerning man and his nature. We read in the Quran that Allah created Adam from the crackling clay of black mud (Surah 15 v. 26). 'Allah created man from earth, then He said to him "BE", and he was' (Surah 3 v. 52). Then, after the creation of the first man, Adam, all men were called into existence. This pre-existence of the whole human race is referred to in Surah 7 v.171. Muslim tradition tells us that they were drawn-out of their ancestor's loins in the form of small ants endued with understanding. They were given the opportunity to acknowledge Allah as their lord, and then returned again to their ancestor's loins. After forming man, Allah is said to have given His spirit to man (Surahs 15 v. 30; 32 v. 8) that is Allah infused into man a created thing.

At his creation the angels were ordered by Allah to adore Adam (Surahs 7 v. 10; 15 vv. 25-44); and, Satan was reprobated because he refused to adore any other than Allah. Islam regards Adam as the first prophet, and declares that he had writings delivered to him in the form of leaves (suhuf). Allah has subjected creation to man (Surah 31 v. 19), and man is preferred by Allah over many things which He has created (Surah 17 v. 72) Man was created weak (Surah 4 v. 32), and is hasty and rash by nature (Surahs 17 v. 12 ; 21 v. 38 ; 70 v. 19), but his intelligence is superior to that of the generality of angels (Surah 2 v. 32).

Allah created woman from the first man (Surahs 7 v, 189; 39 v. 7). Adam and Eve sinned in obeying Satan and were expelled from the Garden, but Allah accepted Adam's repentance (Surah 2 v. 35); thus, in the light of this and other considerations, Muslims hold that there was no taint of original sin which could be passed on by Adam to his descendants. All that is in man is the direct and immediate creation of Allah, and He it is who fashions each soul and teaches it its sin and its piety (Surah 91 v. 8).

The Quran declares that each soul is responsible for its own actions and that no soul can bear the burden of another (Surahs 6 v. 164; 17 V. 16; 35 V. 19). This position is somewhat modified by the statement in Surah 5 v. 32, where Abel is said to have allowed Cain to kill him, in order that Cain might draw upon himself the sins of Abel.

Man is composed of body and soul (nafs); the soul being a subtle body which is infused into the physical body 'as water permeates the rose’. Islam believes that when the body dies, the soul leaves it for the first judgement, and then returns to the body in the tomb and is questioned by the two terrible angels Munkar and Nakir. Apart from the souls of prophets and martyrs, which go directly to Paradise, the souls of men stay in the grave until the Resurrection. In this latter connection the Quran teaches that there will be a resurrection of the physical body.

As we have already noted, the spirit is given by Allah, and in the Quran this giving of spirit (ruh) and the creation of the soul are different operations. When the spirit is given, something extra is bestowed on man, and some Muslim theologians have argued the Allah may give as many as seven spirits to a man. (Here too, we must remember that the spirit is a created thing which is bestowed by Allah.)

The above is a brief statement of the Quranic and Muslim teaching about the creation of man and his constitution. There is, however, another important factor to be taken into consideration, which follows from the central and fundamental doctrine of Allah's nature, namely, that all is as Allah wills, and all that each man does and is, is related to Allah‘s decree.

The Doctrine of the creation of man in the Traditions

As is usual, the teaching of the Quran takes more formal and definite shape in the books of Traditions.

In such books there is always a section dealing with Allah’s decree and in the famous Mishkat al Masabih there are many Traditions dealing with this subject we read for example; 'Allah wrote the fates of created things fifty thousand years before He created the heavens and the earth.' We also read: 'It is related from Muslim bin Yasar that he said: Umar bin al Khattab was asked concerning the verse of the Quran (Surah 7v. 171): And when thy Lord brought forth their descendants from the backs of men. Umar said: I heard the Apostle of Allah questioned concerning this verse, and he replied:

Verily, Allah created Adam and then stroked his back with His right hand and brought forth Adam's descendants from it, and He said: I have created these for Paradise and they will perform the acts of people of Paradise. Then Allah stroked Adam's back and brought forth (other) descendants from it and He said: I have created these for the Fire and they will perform the acts of people of the Fire. Then a man said: Of what use, 0 apostle of Allah, will deeds of any kind be? Then the apostle of Allah replied: When Allah creates a servant for Paradise, He bids him perform the actions of the people of Paradise until he dies doing the actions of the people of Paradise, and thereby He causes him to enter Paradise. And when Allah creates a slave for the Fire, He bids him perform the actions of the people of the Fire until he dies doing the actions of the people of the Fire, and thereby He causes him to enter into the Fire.'