Street Prophets

Ramadan Day 9: Verses from the Quran

by lauramp

Thu Oct 13, 2005 at 04:04:54 PM PDT

Each day during Ramadan, I am presenting a verse from the Quran with a few thoughts or comments. An introduction to this series is here. Inshallah (God willing), I hope that this may be of benefit to any who are interested in learning a bit more about Islam and Muslim belief.

Quran 7:172:

And when your Lord took from the loins of the Children of Adam their offspring, and He made them bear witness about themselves: Am I not your Lord?, they said, Yes, we bear witness. This is lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, We were heedless of this
The traditional commentary on this verse connects it to another verse, 30:30:

So set your purpose (O Muhammad) for the religion as a man by nature upright - the nature created by Allah (fitrah), in which He has created man. There is no altering (the laws of) Allah's creation. That is the upstanding religion, but most people do not know

The fitrah (innate human nature; literally, the way God created us) is an important concept in Islam. Verse 7:172 explains that the fitrah or innate nature of human beings is to bear witness to God's oneness. That is, all people have an innate sense of religion and this is the true religion, that God is One.

What happens next is that we move away from this, either by forgetting what we innately know, or through being brought up in a specific religion, that may contain man-made doctrines. The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) explained this in a hadith (which is also referenced in the commentary):

Abu Huraira reported the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) as saying: No child is born but upon Fitra. It is his parents who make him a Jew or a Christian or a Polytheist

The purpose of the prophets and scriptures that God has sent is to call people back to their innate religion, to remind them of what they have forgotten, and to help them distinguish between the His message and man-made doctrines.

To put this another way, we do not need the specific form of the religion to give us knowledge we would not otherwise have that is necessary for salvation. A person who remained closely in touch with their fitrah could find the way on their own.

This explains the state of people who die as children, or who were never brought any message or scripture. They will be judged by how true they were to their innate knowledge of right and wrong.

However, most people would be unable to achieve this on their own, without some reminder. So God sent a prophet to every nation with the reminder.

This is the basic Islamic concept of religion.

More information about the fitrah is available at The Definition of Fitrah, which is a bit more technical.


Tags: (all tags)

Permalink | 11 comments

  • Oh my (0 / 0)

    Thank you for doing this every day,
    lauramp. I never had any idea. I sometimes have no idea what the passages mean but your explanations are great! You are blessing US during Ramadan :)

    by A Missionarys Kid on Thu Oct 13, 2005 at 04:29:35 PM PDT

    • yes (0 / 0)

      Laura, I appreciate you showing and explaining passages that indicate that Islam doesn't "hate" people of other religious traditions.

      by Elizabeth D on Thu Oct 13, 2005 at 04:39:55 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

      • speaking out for the truth (0 / 0)

        No, Islam does not "hate" other religions. It is very sad that we Muslims have allowed such an idea to take root among others. I do whatever I can to correct this misapprehension and speak up for the truth as I know it.

        "Riches does not mean having a great amount of property, but riches is self-contentment." (Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him)

        by lauramp on Thu Oct 13, 2005 at 05:42:14 PM PDT

        [ Parent ]

  • Interesting (0 / 0)

    CS Lewis wrote of a "natural law" in Mere Christianity, which argues essentially the same thing: we are born with an innate sense of right and wrong, and a desire to get in touch with our Creator. The problems start when we know what is right and choose to do wrong.

    It's an important concept, and one not taught very explicitly in Christian circles that I'm aware of. Thanks for bringing it up.

    My religious conservatism informs my political liberalism.
    Life as it happens...

    by FARfetched on Thu Oct 13, 2005 at 07:05:03 PM PDT

    • Christian views (0 / 0)

      I would love to hear a Christian perspective on this, and of other religions or traditions as well. Is this a concept that appears in most religions or traditions? How does it differ among them, if it does?

      "Riches does not mean having a great amount of property, but riches is self-contentment." (Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him)

      by lauramp on Thu Oct 13, 2005 at 08:03:11 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

      • Jesus said (0 / 0)

        "Be as the little children"  I think that hints at "fitrah".  Children don't discriminate, they are wide open.  They are taught to be distrustful, bigoted and hateful.  

        Every Muslim I have met has been generous, kind & mild.  Bin Laden did as much harm to Muslims as Phelps, Jim Jones, et al, have done to harm Christians, & Rajneesh did to harm Hinduism, & by association, Buddhism, & the Jewish radical fundies have done to harm Judaism.  It's not the teachings, it's a few misguided leaders that have screwed up perceptions.  It is a fundamental perversion of the spiritual & ethical tenets of the various paths that sows discord.

        I believe that all religions teach the same principles.  Unscrupulous "leaders" muck it all up. And too many people don't dig deep enough to understand.  I know atheists & agnostics with more altruism than some religious dogmatists.  

        Thank you again, Laura, for this very fine series.

        The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals. Kalhil Gibran

        by x on Fri Oct 14, 2005 at 02:08:07 AM PDT

        [ Parent ]

      • The Abolition of Man (0 / 0)

        Lewis also touched on this in The Abolition of Man.  If I remember right, he had a whole section of the book devoted to showing the similarities between the "rules for living" of numerous very diverse cultures.  He was trying to get at a kind of universal morality.  

        And then there's Aristotle.  My classics are super-weak, but wasn't natural law a big component of Aristotelian thought?  I'm sure the concept of being born into the world with clear knowledge of the divine, which is clouded or hidden by our physical life, but which must be reclaimed throughout our life, is from Aristotle.

        Thank you Lauramp for a great series.  Here's to hoping you can keep it up beyond Ramadan :-)

        by Austin in PA on Fri Oct 14, 2005 at 01:37:57 PM PDT

        [ Parent ]

        • beyond Ramadan (0 / 0)

          Thanks for sharing this information. I love to learn about comparative religion like this.

          After Ramadan is over, I'll probably switch to doing something every Friday, God willing.

          I have a set of 30 verses that I found during a previous Ramadan and am just writing out my notes from before. Doing this every single day is probably beyond me right now, but I should be able to do something once a week, God willing.

          "Riches does not mean having a great amount of property, but riches is self-contentment." (Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him)

          by lauramp on Fri Oct 14, 2005 at 03:40:17 PM PDT

          [ Parent ]

  • You are amazing. (0 / 0)

    I've been bookmarking your diaries and sharing them with my eldest son(12). He's keen on politics and quick to catch inferences in our culture re:bigotry and hatred. Old soul, that one. The reason I am sharing your diaries with him is because they are plainly written and provide wonderful insight. Thanks.

    by one bite at a time on Thu Oct 13, 2005 at 07:36:01 PM PDT

    • a great honor (0 / 0)

      I feel humbled that you're sharing these with your son. Wow! I hope that it brings benefit to both you and him.

      Some people can write these wonderfully long and lyrical diaries. I usually don't seem to be able to, but I do try to write clearly at least so that people who aren't familiar with the subject can understand it.

      "Riches does not mean having a great amount of property, but riches is self-contentment." (Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him)

      by lauramp on Thu Oct 13, 2005 at 08:01:34 PM PDT

      [ Parent ]

  • once again, thank you (0 / 0)

    touche pas à mon pote!

    by MrBula on Thu Oct 13, 2005 at 08:11:58 PM PDT

Permalink | 11 comments