HUMAN-SOUL AND ANIMAL-SELF
The verses of the Holy Quran and narrations about human-self could be divided into two categories. Some of the verses define human-self as a precious valuable jewel – possessing Heavenly excellence, descended from Heaven – which is the source of all superior characteristics and human virtues. These verses recommend that human beings must strive for achieving self-refinement and self-perfection through training, and must be careful for its protection, never to lose such a precious Heavenly gift. For example God-Almighty in Holy Quran defines this precious jewel as follows:
They will ask the (of Mohammad) concerning the spirit. Say: The spirit is by command of my Lord, and knowledge ye have been vouchsafed but little.
Quran, 17:85
In the above verse the spirit has been defined as an existence belonging to the celestial world which is superior to the material world. Also, it is clearly stated that very little knowledge has been given about the identity of the spirit. The reason for giving little knowledge is perhaps that already the preceding messengers had given a great deal of this knowledge, be it by Krishna among the Indo-Aryans or Avicenna among the Greeks. However, the spirit that is being described in the Quran is not the spirit that is in our bodies. It is the Divine Spirit (about which we will know more later) which created the devatma-sakti which is both in Noor and Spirit state and which divided into 7 Noorani Roohs [spirits] that work to guide mankind and help them lead their self towards the Divine Self [Spirit].
Muslims have been told a great deal about development of their self. But despite the fact that it were the Devatas who took birth in human bodies and were called Ahlulbayt, many of them discarded the Ahlulbayt altogether, while the rest merely saw them as pious human beings, chosen by God, thus forgetting the true role of Ahlulbayt in leading our self to the Manifest Self. They talk of self (atma) but know nothing of the Manifest Self (Paramatma), which has to be the final destination. This shows they too are groping in the dark, despite being so close to the Divine Spirit whose constituents were working in the bodies of the Ahlulbayt.
To give an example, 5 times daily prayers are meant to create a connection with God. Prophet Mohammad said in a tradition that if you wish to know whether your prayer (salaat) has been accepted, see whether some good values have emerged in your personality after the prayer. Question arises, when will this good values emerge? Good values will be visible in the character when the rooh (spirit) inside us becomes purer and this will happen when our rooh (spirit) attains proximity with the Higher Spirit [Paramatma] during prayers. The elevation of self is directly proportional to goodness emerging in our character. As the self gets elevated further, more of good virtues will be visible in our personality. On the other hand, once we become afflicted with material world, the self descends to lower position and hence vices will start showing in the personality. Therefore, a Muslim whose prayers are being repeatedly accepted must continue to excel in values and character at all times. His spirit must continue to become purer. The real purpose is to continue elevating the self to such levels that it becomes permanently enjoined with the Manifest Self, a stage where all actions are performed keeping the remembrance of God. If the soul leaves the body when the self is in union with the Manifest Self, this is the stage of salvation. Thus, we may conclude, salvation is directly proportional to elevation of self to a level, which is attained through performing good deeds (karmas) keeping the remembrance of God (or his divine representatives) in mind.
Quran, Chapter Az-Zukhruf (Ornaments of Gold), verse 36 says:
And whosoever is blinded against the remembrance of the Beneficent (God), for him We appoint a Satan and he shall be his close companion.
Surah Al-Balad (The City) is talking of the ascent of the self to the desired level. Muslims, unfortunately, don’t understand it. Al-Balad says:
What! Made We not for him, (his) two eyes?
And a tongue and two lips,
And We showed him the two high-ways (of good and evil),
But he strove not unto (crossing over) the Ascent steep,
God knew that when it will be the time for all religions to shed their deviations and come to the One and Only True Path, truth will get unveiled even if it has been discarded and lies underneath several layers of untruth.
Fact remains that the teachings of Upanishads and Gita contain far greater depth of knowledge about self and its true relationship between us and the Manifest Self and with the Absolute God. This knowledge is far greater in proportion to that given by all other religions of the world. It is only through recourse to the Upanishads and Gita that a lot many mysteries related to Quranic verses and the sayings of the Ahlulbayt can be understood. Whereas it is only through recognizing the Ahlulbayt that a true relationship with one’s self can be built with the Absolute God.
The true composition of the Divine Spirit (Paramatma) is the subject of Upanishads. How the spirit has to be recognized has been dealt in the narrations belonging to Islam. Isn’t it evident that in the present conditions, Hindu scriptures cannot be understood without recourse to Islamic scriptures and neither can Islamic scriptures be properly comprehended without access to Hindu scriptures? The two are made complimentary to each other. We are only revealing the mysteries now!
Coming back to the subject of Self in Islam, see this saying from Imam Ali:
Self is like a precious jewel, whoever strives for his protection, he will help him attaining exalted positions, and whoever acted negligently in his protection he shall pull him towards humiliation.
Gharar al-Hukm, p-226
And said:
Whoever knows the worth of his self, will never allow himself to be indulging into passing worldly amusements and shameful deeds.
Gharar al-Hukm, p-669
And said:
Whoever discovers the nobility of self shall guard him against lowness of passions and false desires.
Gharar al-Hukm, p-710
And said:
Whoever possesses the nobility of self will have more compassion.
Gharar al-Hukm, p-638
Also see this portion from Gharar al-Hukm, p-669, wherein Ali said:
Whoever possesses the nobility of self will become free from wants.
From the above quoted verses and narrations whose examples are frequent, it can be derived that human self is a valuable and precious jewel which should be carefully guarded, protected and nourished.
The second category of verses and narrations defines the self as something wicked and dangerous enemy responsible for all sort of evils, against whom we are supposed to wage a great struggle (Jehad-e-Akbar) till it becomes completely submissive, otherwise it will inflict terrible misfortune and cruelty upon the defeated person.
Following are some examples:
But as far him who feared to stand before his Lord and restrained his soul from lust, Lo! The garden will be his home.
Quran, 79:40-41
The Quran quotes from Prophet Joseph:
I don’t’ exculpate myself. Lo! The (human) soul enjoineth unto evil, save that whereon my Lord hath mercy. Lo! My Lord is Forgiving, Merciful.
Prophet Mohammad said:
Your greatest enemy is your self, which is located between your two sides.
The Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 70, p-64
Imam Ali said:
Self commands you continuously to indulge into evil deeds, therefore, whoever trusted his self – he will deceit him, whoever believed his self – he will destroy him; and whoever is satisfied with his self – he will lead him to face worst kind of disasters.
Gharar al-Hukm, p-226
He further said:
Trusting self – provides the most dependable opportunities for devil’s entrance.
Gharar al-Hukm, p-54
Imam Ali ibn Husain Zainul Abidin, the sixth Ahlulbayt, said:
Oh God! I do complain to you against the self – which continuously commands; to indulge into sinful acts and deviations; stands up against your wrath and punishment; and pulls me towards the path of absolute destruction.
Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 94, p-143
From the above quoted verses and narrations whose examples are frequent, it can be derived that human self constitutes an evil existence which is the source of all sort of sins and therefore, should be made submissive through efforts and waging greater struggle (Jehad-e-Akbar). Here it is quite possible that some may consider that these two categories of verses and narrations are incompatible and contradict each other; or one might imagine that a human being possesses two selfs, namely: human self which is the source of all goodness and blessing, and the other one animal-self which is the source of all evil and sinfulness.
Both of the above mentioned interpretations are incorrect because firstly there exists no conflict between the above mentioned verses and narrations of two categories; secondly, the sciences had already proved that a human being is not more than a single reality possessing a single self and it is not such that his animalism and humanism are separate from each other.
But human self comprises of two stages and two dimensions of his single existence. At the lower stage, self is an animal possessing all animalistic characteristic, while at higher stage, the self is a human possessing Divine-spirit – descended from the Celestial Heavenly Kingdom. When it is said: Self is noble, precious, source of all virtues and blessings; one must endeavour for his nourishment and perfection – here the higher stage of self has been indicated.
But when it is said: Self is your greatest enemy; don’t trust him because he will lead you to eventual destruction, control and make him submissive through greater struggle – here his animal and lower stage has been pointed out. If it is said: Nourish and strengthen your self, here the human dimension of the self is meant. When it is said: Wage greater struggle for his total submission, here the animal dimension of the self is meant.
There exists a continuous confrontation between these two selfs or two stages of human existence. The animal self continuously strives to dominate by keeping human being amused with whims, passions and lower animal desires, thus, closing the path of advancement, perfection, exaltation and movement towards God-Almighty and making a human being captive of his animal self. While on the contrary his human self or the higher stage of his existence continuously strives for attaining the higher sublime spiritual stations of human perfection leading towards God’s Countenance, and in order to accomplish his cherished goal, tries to control, and forces the animal-self for his absolute submission. This internal struggle, within the human existence continues until one of the combatants becomes victorious defeating the opponent.
If the human or celestial-self gets upper hand – the human values become alive, thus, leading human being towards the road of spiritual excellence and perfection, ultimately achieving the highest position of God’s Countenance. But, on the contrary if the animal-self becomes victorious – he turns off the light of wisdom, thus, throwing the human being into the deepest valley of darkness, confusion and deviation. It was because of this internal confrontation within human existence that Divine Messengers/Avatars came to help, guide and support the human beings in their holy struggle, which ultimately determines their destiny.
Therefore, if someone assigns authenticity to animal existence, strives and endeavours seriously day and night to fulfill his animal lower desires and passions; considers the aims of life simply eating, drinking, sleeping and reproducing – had indeed fallen into intense darkness of deviation and misguidance. Because, he has removed the human wisdom and Heavenly spirit from the position of power and have confined them into a forgotten place. Such an individual does not deserve to be called as a human being – rather he is an animal with a human face. The Holy Quran considers such an individual as an animal and even worse and more deviated than the animals and it describes such individuals, as follows:
And if they answer thee not, then know that what they follow is their lusts. And who goes farther astray than he who followeth his lust without guidance from God? God guideth not wondering folk.
Quran, 28:50
And further said:
Already we have urged unto Hell many of the Jinn and humankind, having hearts wherewith they understand not, and having eyes wherewith they see not, and having ears wherewith they hear not. These are as the cattle – nay but they are worse! These are the neglectful.
Quran, 7:179
The Holy Quran further defines these creatures as follows:
Hast thou seen him who maketh his desire his god, and God sendeth him astray purposely and sealeth up his hearing and his heart, and setteth on his sight a covering? Than who will lead him after God (hath condemned him)? Will you not then heed?
Quran, 45:23
How unfortunate and losers are those who have sacrificed their heavenly-self, prosperity, and human perfection for the sake of passions and desires of their animal existence? They have exchanged their human self with their animalistic pleasures.
Imam Ali has said:
This world is not a place of permanent settlement, it is passage, a road on which you are passing. There are two kinds of people here: those who have sold their souls for eternal damnation, the other type are those who have purchased their souls and freed them from damnation.
Nahjul Balaghah, SMA Jafri p-543 [Tr]
At another place he said:
Whoever becomes involved into world’s allurements, thus giving up his gains from his immortal life in the Next World – has indeed been cheated.
Gharar al-Hukm, vol. I, p-88
He also said:
Restrain your self from indulgence into lower shameful deeds no matter how attractive or appealing they might appear because, in this exchange or trade you do not receive the genuine value of your self. Do not allow yourself to be slave of other because, God has created you as free. The goodness, which cannot be obtained except through the evil, is not goodness. Also a thing acquired except with serious efforts would not be easy to retain.
Nahjul Balaghah, Sabhi Saleh, vol. 31, p-401
And said:
What a bad trade it is that one exchanges his self for this world instead of trading it with whatever is available with God-Almighty (in the Next-World).
Nahjul Balaghah, Sermon, 32-75.
The Holy Quran about the recognition of virtues and vices by the pure human nature writes as follows:
And a soul and Him who perfected it and inspired it (with conscience of) what is wrong for it and what is right for it. He is indeed successful who causeth it to grow.
Quran, 91:7-9
The Prophets came with the intention of awakening human nature and to charge their unconscious-self into conscious-self; they came to help, support and guide human beings in recognizing and paying attention to higher moral values, and utilizing them for attaining God’s-Nearness; they came to remind human beings about their exalted human position and need for safeguarding and motivating the superior human virtues; they came to emphasize the important point that: You are not animals, instead the humans, and possess the potential of being superior than the angels. World affairs and animalistic manifestations are far below before your exalted celestial dignity and therefore, you should not sell yourself for them.
The fourth Imam and the sixth Ahlulbayt Imam Ali ibn Husain Zainul Abidin was asked:
“Who is the most exalted and most noble person?”
“The one who does not regard the world worthy of greatness of his self.” Replied the Imam.
Tohf al-Aqul, p-285
Imam Ali said:
Whoever consider his self honourable will regard selfish passions low and mean.
Nahjul Balaghah, Qisar 449
The Messengers/Avatars and Prophets continuously strived for awakening the upright human nature so that, they could learn about their jewel of existence and could discover their dependence and link with God-Almighty; thus, spending everything in their possession for attaining the position of nearness and pleasure of the Lord of the worlds, to the extent that their eating, drinking, sleeping, seeing, speaking, working, living, and dying become sacred and ethical. Truly, when men become God’s servant and do not cherish for any other goal except his pleasure everything becomes ethics, worship, virtue.
The Holy Quran said:
Say: Lo! My worship and my sacrifice, and my living, and my dying are for God – the Lord of the worlds.
Quran, 6:162
Therefore, because of the above-mentioned reasons, recognition of self in Islam has been assigned a special importance. Imam Ali has said:
Self-consciousness is one of the most profitable assets of a person.
And said:
Whoever succeeds in recognizing his self – his affairs will be improved.
Gharar al-Hukm, p-628
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