Fitrah | A Qur'anic Keyword | Paul Williams (2021-09-16) ​

0:00:00 one of my favorite key words in the
0:00:03 whole of the quran is this word fitra
0:00:06 and wanted to explain to you why i found
0:00:09 it so interesting
0:00:21 what it tells us about our human nature
0:00:23 and also what it tells us about religion
0:00:25 which is usually seen particularly in
0:00:27 the west as a kind of a an alien moral
0:00:30 or philosophical religious system that's
0:00:32 imposed on people they have to kind of
0:00:35 somehow conform to it and this makes
0:00:37 people unhappy of course
0:00:39 but the quran has a very interesting
0:00:41 insight into this whole subject of our
0:00:43 human nature and religion and this word
0:00:46 fitra uh is a key word encapsulates this
0:00:49 very notion and uh it's going to read a
0:00:51 few words from quranic keywords a
0:00:53 reference guide by abdul rasheed
0:00:55 siddique siddiqui
0:00:57 who lives in the uk
0:01:00 excuse me so he says uh under the
0:01:03 section entitled fitra fitra
0:01:06 means natural disposition temperament
0:01:10 constitution innate character or
0:01:12 instinct
0:01:14 in the quran it refers to human nature
0:01:17 which is essentially good
0:01:19 so unlike in say christianity where
0:01:22 particularly in its more severe forms
0:01:24 our nature is so corrupted
0:01:26 by the fall this catastrophic cosmic
0:01:29 event that happened at the beginning of
0:01:31 uh the human race adam and eve fell and
0:01:34 this effect actually the universe
0:01:36 traditionally that was the view uh that
0:01:39 you know the disease and death we see in
0:01:41 the world all came from this primordial
0:01:44 fall and obviously bequeathed to us
0:01:47 original sin as well this is not in the
0:01:50 quran obviously so um the author
0:01:52 continues very helpfully he says there's
0:01:55 an inborn sense of morality in all human
0:01:59 beings
0:02:00 throughout the ages certain qualities
0:02:02 have been warmly approved of by society
0:02:05 while others have been consistently
0:02:08 condemned people by instinct appreciate
0:02:11 truthfulness charity
0:02:13 courage honesty hospitality loyalty
0:02:16 sympathy
0:02:18 fidelity justice and many other good
0:02:21 qualities equally
0:02:23 they disdain
0:02:24 they reject they dislike hypocrisy
0:02:27 bigotry injustice
0:02:29 falsehood betrayal infidelity cowardice
0:02:33 cruelty and rudeness
0:02:36 when they become part of the collective
0:02:38 behavior of society
0:02:40 the personal moral values bring about a
0:02:43 just compassionate and morally upright
0:02:46 society and state
0:02:49 and this is summed up in the verse in
0:02:51 the quran
0:02:52 by the soul and the proportion given to
0:02:55 it
0:02:56 and its enlightenment as to its wrong
0:02:59 and its right
0:03:01 that's surah 91 verse 7 to 8. it's worth
0:03:04 looking that up actually
0:03:06 fitra is the duty imposed by allah on
0:03:09 human beings as it is stated in the
0:03:12 quran now this is a key verse 30 30 the
0:03:16 30th chapter of the quran
0:03:18 30th verse
0:03:20 the different translations of it but the
0:03:22 one here
0:03:23 set so set your face steadily and truly
0:03:28 on the faith
0:03:29 establish allah's handiwork according to
0:03:33 the pattern which he has made for
0:03:35 mankind
0:03:36 let there be no change in the work
0:03:39 created by allah
0:03:42 yusuf ali in his uh translation and
0:03:45 commentary in this one
0:03:47 maintains that this verse indicates that
0:03:50 man is created innocent pure true free
0:03:54 inclined to right and virtue and endured
0:03:57 with true understanding about his own
0:04:00 position in the universe and about
0:04:02 allah's goodness wisdom and power
0:04:07 allah in his mercy has given us the
0:04:09 basic instincts to differentiate between
0:04:12 good and evil
0:04:14 and you'll find as as this analysis
0:04:16 suggests you will find this in any
0:04:18 civilization this is not peculiarly
0:04:21 arab or western or it could be china it
0:04:24 could be mesopotamia it could be
0:04:26 anywhere
0:04:27 these virtues and vices are universally
0:04:30 uh understood to be real and they
0:04:33 attract criticism or praise accordingly
0:04:37 allah in his mercy has given us the
0:04:39 basic instincts to differentiate between
0:04:42 good and evil but human affairs are much
0:04:44 more complex
0:04:46 and need more precise guidance
0:04:49 hence through his messengers and
0:04:51 prophets allah guided humanity in all
0:04:53 ages as promised to the prophet adam
0:04:56 upon whom be peace and his progeny so if
0:05:00 you look at surah baqarah the second
0:05:01 surah verse 2 sorry verse 38
0:05:05 238
0:05:07 back to the verse quoted above 30 30
0:05:11 it's preceded by the injunction
0:05:14 to set your face steadily and truly to
0:05:17 the true religion
0:05:20 this signifies says our writer that
0:05:22 religion is not an imposition on human
0:05:25 beings but is the fulfillment of their
0:05:28 basic need
0:05:30 thus the quran refutes those who assert
0:05:33 that man is shaped by his environment
0:05:36 instead man is created in the best of
0:05:40 moulds look at surah 95 verse 4.
0:05:44 so this is really really interesting so
0:05:47 the true religion is in a sense in
0:05:49 accord in harmony with our human nature
0:05:53 with our hearts it's not an alien
0:05:55 external imposition on the human being
0:05:58 which is a view that's very popular in
0:05:59 the west coming from the enlightenment
0:06:02 in europe uh in the 18th century onwards
0:06:04 where catholicism was seen as something
0:06:07 uh tyrannical and and not really in
0:06:10 harmony with our basic needs in islam in
0:06:12 the quran very different
0:06:14 that the faith
0:06:16 islam is
0:06:18 part of our natural disposition is how
0:06:20 we're created how we're made according
0:06:22 to islam
0:06:25 so man is created in the best of moulds
0:06:28 created by god of course and then
0:06:30 there's an amazing hadith of the prophet
0:06:32 upon him be peace
0:06:34 he is reported to have said
0:06:36 every child who is born of fitra is the
0:06:39 natural disposition
0:06:41 it is his parents who later convert him
0:06:44 to be christian
0:06:46 jew or fire worshiper that's a kind of
0:06:49 zoroastrian faith and that's in bukhari
0:06:53 and in muslim
0:06:54 so that's absolutely remarkable i think
0:06:57 that and
0:06:59 what little i read on this uh iben tamir
0:07:02 is particularly uh famous for having
0:07:04 really elaborated uh this concept hugely
0:07:07 in his work more than anyone else before
0:07:10 and possibly
0:07:11 since and i think it really is a key
0:07:13 psychological insight into our nature
0:07:16 it speaks to our physicality our dna
0:07:19 because the dna which is an incredibly
0:07:22 sophisticated piece of information
0:07:24 technology hardly a a random product of
0:07:27 meaningless non-directed evolution it's
0:07:30 intelligently designed
0:07:33 you know this concept of the fitra can
0:07:35 now be unpacked much more richly and
0:07:38 with much greater knowledge in the light
0:07:39 of what we now know in science
0:07:42 confirming actually this key
0:07:44 keyword in the quran anyway i found that
0:07:47 very interesting there are other
0:07:48 keywords in here i might uh explore as
0:07:51 well we'll see until next time
0:08:00 you