The Bear
3-27-2007
A creation story is a narrative that relates a certain interpretation on how the first events in the universe occurred, as well as portraying the fundamental laws that govern its existence. The creation story relates the events of the earliest moments of the relevant reality, and as such, all events after creation can logically be seen as a derivative of these initial events, because it is from these initial events that the events after creation are derived. One such creation story is found in Islam. The creation story of Islam shows the nature of man and his relationships. In Islam, man is intrinsically an individual, and has a goal to create a social order on earth that promotes the individual. However, man forgets this because of Satan, so God gives man specific duties, and the judgment day, to remind him of his true nature; God also gives man specific injunctions against certain actions to ensure man is able to create a viable, moral social order.
The Islamic creation story serves as a template to understand the nature of man his relationships. The Islamic creation story, according to the Qu'ran:
“When God intended to create Adam in order to establish 'a vicegerent on earth,' angels protested, saying, 'Will You put there a being who will work mischief on the earth and shed blood, while we sing Your glories and exalt Your utter holiness?' God did not deny these allegations against man, but replied, 'I know what you do not know.' He then brought a competition in knowledge between the angels and Adam, asking the former to “name things”. When the angels could not do so, Adam could. This demonstrated that Adam possess the capacity for creative ability that the angels lacked, whereupon God asked all the angels to prostrate themselves before him to honor him. All angels so acknowledged Adam's superiority, except Iblis, who was one of the Jinn, who disobeyed God by refusing to honor Adam, and later became known as Satan. Satan then requested from God the ability to tempt mankind until the judgment day, to which God agreed. ” (Rahman, 17-18; Qu'ran 2:30, 7:16, 18:50)
Some noteworthy aspects of this narrative are: humans have a unique capacity for creativity, the purpose of the human existence on earth is to act as God's vicegerent, and that there is a force out there, Satan, that tempts man away from God. These points are noteworthy, because it is through these points that the individualism of man becomes apparent, as well as the nature of mans' relationships to God, Satan, and society.
In analyzing man as portrayed in the creation story, man has a unique creative ability, as well as is only a single person; this promotes the individuality of man. According to the Islamic creation story, Adam is unique because he has creativity. It is because of this creativity that God chose Adam, and not angels, to inhabit Earth. Despite their overwhelming numbers, no angel possessed creativity. This initial conflict, between the angels and Adam, emphasizes the individuality inherent in man. To realize their true nature, man needs to have taqwa, as Rahman writes,
“Perhaps the best way to define taqwa is to say that, whereas action belongs to man, real and effective judgment upon that action, as well as the standard by which that action is to be judged, lie outside of him...when a man or society is fully conscious of this, while conducting himself or itself, he or it has true taqwa...conscience is truly as central to Islam as love is to Christianity.” (Rahman, 29)
Taqwa is the realization that you are going to be judged as an individual by someone else, so you as an individual need to be mindful of your actions and God. If actions belong to man, and judgment of those actions belongs to things outside of man, then there is a separation between man and those that judge man. Because each man has the capacity for creativity, as well as that man is judged as an individual, the inherent nature of man is individualistic.
Although man is naturally individualistic, man is also tempted by Satan to forget his true nature; thus man is required to perform certain duties to remember his initial composition. According to the creation story, Satan has the power to tempt mankind, or as Rahman states, “confuse or temporarily cloud mankind's inner senses” (Rahman, 124). Because Satan temporarily clouds mankind's inner senses, Satan makes mankind temporarily forget their true individualistic nature. Thus, because Satan makes mankind forget their true individualistic nature, it becomes necessary for mankind to be mindful, or have taqwa, if they are to remember their basic constitution. The Qu'ran accomplishes this mindfulness among Muslims through requiring all Muslims to perform certain duties, as well as presenting an individualistic interpretation of the judgment day.
One duty for the individual is the duty to pay the zakat; this serves economically and publicly as a reminder to man of his true nature. The Qu'ran relates to all believers the need for them to pay the zakat, “You shall give the due alms to the relatives, the needy, the poor, and the traveling alien, but do not be excessive, extravagant” (17:26). The Qu'ran commands individuals to give money to certain classes of people, but not to do it in such a way that draws excessive or extravagant attention to the act. The requirement of the zakat shows that the Qu'ran believes wealth and publicity can have corrupting influence over the individual. If the purpose of the zakat were to make sure that there were no needy or poor people, then God did not have to create needy or poor people. The emphasis is on the act of giving wealth, with the clear implication that hoarding wealth blinds people of their true nature. Similarly, because the Qu'ran frowns upon the excessive or extravagant giving of alms, there is also a clear implication that receiving publicity for giving alms blinds people of their true nature. The duty to pay the zakat is a way to make man mindful of his true nature, by dispelling the corrupting power of wealth and publicity.
Another duty given to Muslims is the duty to perform the hajj; this duty reminds man spiritually of his innate nature. The Qu'ran commands the Muslims to observe the pilgrimage, "And proclaim that the people shall observe Hajj pilgrimage. They will come to you walking or riding. They will come from the farthest locations."(22:27-8) The hajj is the obligation of all able bodied Muslims to make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in their lifetime. The notable point here is that this duty makes no distinction between believers, for it is placed upon all Muslims. The hajj attempts to correct the differences caused be peoples' different status in society, or the differentiating of people based on their social rank. Implied here is that the Qu'ran believes social status is a power that can easily blind man to his true nature. People begin to define themselves not as who they are as individuals, but what they are in society. Thus, through the duty to pay the zakat, as well as the duty to perform the hajj, the Qu'ran attempts to dispel the corrupting power of wealth, publicity, and status over the individual, and remind them of their true individualistic nature.
The nature of the judgment day shows that man, despite any relationships within society, is always an individual. According to Islam, on the judgment day, “Every person will find there his deepest self, fully excavated from the debris of extrinsic and immediate concerns, where the ends and even pseudo-means are substituted for means...”(Rahman, 106-107). On the judgment day, each person will realize that they are absolutely, in this life and the afterlife, an individual. It is through understanding this, that man is absolutely an individual, that the structure of an ideal Islamic society can be understood.
In analyzing the Islamic society as it appears in the creation story, there is a clear promotion of the individual within society. The creation story tells us of only one man, and that he was created to establish a vicegerent for God on earth. In the beginning, Adam was only a single person. This promotes the idea, that although society is constituted by many people, the individual is more important than society, for Adam existed before society. Furthermore, the definition of the term vicegerent can be analyzed by the context in which it was used. The reason why Adam was superior to the angels is that he had creative capacity, while the angels only could “sing His praises”. Thus, man ideally should not continually worship God; man should use his creative ability to act as His vicegerent, or create a society where the individual is promoted. Rahman states precisely this, “There is no doubt that a central aim of the Qu'ran is to establish a viable social order on earth that will be just and ethically based...individual and society appear to be correlates” (Rahman, 37). Rahman writes that the Qu'ran is supposed to establish a society that promotes justice and ethics. Society also needs to promote the individual, because only through realizing his true nature, is any man able to truly act as God's vicegerent. Yet, man acts as an individual, and not necessarily as God's vicegerent – this becomes a problem if these actions undermine the stability of the society. The structure of an Islamic society is that unless the stability of the society is threatened through individual actions, those individual actions are sanctioned.
One such action that the Qu'ran determines threatens the stability of society is the consumption of wine. However, the Qu'ran is not consistent with this injunction; this is explainable by the history of the Muslim community in Mecca and its history in Medina. Initially in a Meccan chapter, the Qu'ran relates, “We give you a drink from the extract of food...and in the fruits of the date-palm and the vine, from which you obtain inebriating drinks...”(16:66-67). The Qu'ran relates wine has been created by God for people. This is indicative of the nature of the Muslim community in Mecca, for there was no separate Muslim community; thus, the inebriating drinks could not destroy a community that does not exist. However, once they emigrated to Medina, there was the first separate Muslim community. There was a need to make the Muslim community self-sustaining if Islam was to survive. In a Medinian chapter, the Qu'ran relates, “O believers, this wine and gambling, these idols, and these arrows you use for divination, are all acts of Satan; so keep away from them” (5:90). In Medina, the Qu'ran issues an injunction against the consumption of wine. It appears that the Qu'ran is not consistent, however, the difference is attributed to the different situation of the Muslim people at the different times of revelation. Although there are different interpretations over the proper role of wine in society, these interpretations are both derived from the same principle – that the individual should be promoted unless such promotion undermines the stability of society.
The Qu'ran bans usury; this is necessary, because for a society to treat all people as individuals, it needs to treat them financially as individuals. Usury prevents this, for usury is the practice of lending money with a very high interest rate, oftentimes forcing people into pseudo-slavery. The Qu'ran forbids usury, “...this because they say that trade is like usury. But trade has been sanctioned and usury forbidden by God” (2:275). The Qu'ran makes a distinction between trade and usury. Trade benefits society, whereas usury keeps debtors perpetually in debt. If debtors are perpetually in debt, they are like a slave to those that they owe money. Usury naturally benefits those that lend money. Therefore, the ban on usury makes sure that financially, all people are treated equally as individuals.
The Qu'ran bans unjust retaliation, because it is through just retaliation that society is able to establish a rule of law. Unjust retaliation is the situation of Jahiliyah, or cyclical, blood vengeance, that consumes and destroys society. The Qu'ran bans unjust retaliation in a Medinian chapter, “And do not take a life, which God has forbidden, except in a just cause” (5:33). The Qu'ran allows some forms of retaliation, as long as they are for a 'just cause'. A definition of 'just cause' is the basis for establishing justice in society. Justice is essential in a society, for without justice, there will be Jahiliyah, and no rule of law. The injunction against excessive retaliation creates a rule of law, which is vital to any society. Thus, the injunction against the consumption of wine, usury, and unjust retaliation, all promote the individual, unless doing so would conflict with the need to create a viable social order.
After analyzing the creation story of Islam, we can understand that Islam is highly individualistic religion that also promotes the individual within society. The duties placed on Muslims serve to make them mindful of their individual nature, and the injunctions against certain actions serve to create a stable society to promotes the individual. It becomes important to understand this, because it is through understanding these Qu'ranic ideas that those associated with Islam are to be judged. By properly judging them, just as a Muslim is supposed to be mindful that other people are the ones who judge them, they can properly reform and begin to truly be submissive to God.
Bibliography
Al-Qu'ran.
Trans. Ahmed Ali. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993.
McAuliffe, Jane. “Creation.” The Encyclopedia of the Qu'ran: Volume A-D. 2001, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Rahman, Fazlur. Major Themes of The Qu'ran. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Bibliotheca Islamica, 1980.
Rodinson, Maxime. Muhammad.
Trans. Anne Carter. New York, New York: The New Press, 2002.