The Human in the Qur’an - Physical Creature and Spiritual Creature

Thus, the Qur’an presents a view of the human as a physical creature, a spiritual creature, a creature naturally disposed to worship, and an enlightened creature. Our body, our spirit, our predisposition to worship Allah ﷻ, and our light are gifts sent directly from Allah ﷻ to serve as critical means toward our attaining human perfection. That perfection lies in cultivating those aspects of the spirit that transcend its animating qualities, actualizing our disposition to worship, and refining our light. When this happens, the human is a beautiful creature, and as such, a fitting object of divine love, for as our Prophet ﷺ mentioned, “Verily, Allah ﷻ is beautiful and loves beauty.”

This sociability is predicated, in part, on the upright stature of the human. His heart always points outwards. As a result, when he embraces another human, the hearts of two are joined, establishing a metaphysical connection between them. For this reason, the Prophet ﷺ has warned the believers, “Lā tadābarū (do not turn your backs to one another).” When believers turn their backs to one another, their hearts also turn away, breaking the metaphysical connection—a connection established by Allah ﷻ and facilitated by their upright posture—between them.

Physical Creation

Allah ﷻ says that He created the human with “His two Hands.” Nothing else in creation possesses this distinction. Addressing the progenitor of Satan and his dupes, Allah ﷻ says, “O Iblīs! What prevented you from prostrating unto one I created with My two Hands? Were you arrogant or were you haughty?” (38:75). The “one” being referred to here is Adam, peace be upon him, the father of humanity. As for the meaning of “created with My two Hands,” This is an example of the great care afforded to his [Adam’s] creation. An aspect of the affair of one that is scrupulously cared for is that he is handled with two Hands. One of the implications of this is that his creation was without the intermediary of a father or a mother. Also, he constitutes a small creation within which the entire wider creation is contained. Furthermore, he is suitable [for receiving] an overflowing of favors which do not grace other than himself. The efficacy displayed in this act of creating is more direct than the efficacy in the creation of types of existence predicated on ordinary means such as pregnancy and childbirth. This indicates that the human being began his journey as a physical creature with the direct, unmitigated creative act of Allah ﷻ. Without this distinction, there is much the human shares with other creatures.

For example, “Allah ﷻ has created every beast from water. Among them are those that creep upon their bellies, those that walk on two legs, and others that walk on all four” (24:45). Like the birds, the human walks on two legs, although his erect torso and upright gait still make him unique. While birds walk upright, their torsos are either parallel to the ground or face downward at varying angles.

 Spirit

Man’s uprightness also makes the human being a fitting receptacle for the rūĥ(spirit), a special and unique creation of Allah ﷻ, which not only animates the physical body of the human but also his senses and intellect. His physical stature and his spirit are two essential elements that define his humanity. Qur’an, “And when He had made him upright and breathed into him of His spirit” (38:72), Man, while his uprightness may lead the human to exalt in what could be viewed as a unique virtue, aspects of his physical creation should also lead him to humble himself. For example, in the Qur’an, Allah ﷻ reminds us, “Does not the human see that We made him from a drop of sperm? Then lo, he becomes a rebellious disputant who sets before Us parables and forgets his [lowly] origin” (36:77−78). Our beginning, in a sense, originates from the same channel that urine exits our bodies. How could such a creature behave arrogantly? The breathing of the spirit into the human makes him a composite creation, The Qur’an reminds us that the spirit is a distinct nonphysical creation breathed into the physical body (see 32:9, 15:29, 38:72, 21:91). The spirit and the physical body of the human, this means, were two distinct entities when they were brought together. The Qur’an does not indicate that they lose their individual natures upon uniting. The great attention and detail paid to the creation of the human represents another unique attribute of the human’s physical creation. We read, for example,

Verily, We have created the human from a quintessence of clay; then We placed him as a drop in a fixed resting place. We then made the drop into a clot and that into a fetus. We then made bones and clothed the bones with flesh and from that brought forth another creation. Therefore, blessed is Allah ﷻ, the very Best of those who create”. (23:12−14) Similar narrations are found in 22:5, 35:11, and 40:67. This level of detail is not found in the description of the creation of any other creature in the Qur’an. One reason for this detailed description could be that the human is the only physical creature capable of reflecting on the miraculous processes culminating with his entrance into the world. It follows that we are the only creatures who can recognize that we have a marvelous Creator, who should be rightfully thanked for the incredible process that brought us into existence. The Qur’an implores us to do just that in 16:78, 23:78, and 33:9.

As mentioned above, the most notable physical distinction of the human is his ability to stand permanently upright. Allah ﷻ says, “Do you reject belief in the One who has created you from dust, then from a clot, then made you an upright man?” (18:37; also 82:7, 32:9, 38:72). A nonphysical reality—namely, sociability—accompanies this unique physical distinction.

We read in the Qur’an, “Remember the favor of Allah ﷻ upon you, how you were enemies, and He placed sociability between your hearts, and you became, by His blessing, brothers” (3:103). Additionally, many hadiths clearly indicate that the spirit enjoys an existence that is distinct from the body, both before and after physical life. For example, “The spirits are varied troops. Those who knew each other [precorporally] find familiarity, and those who were ignorant of each other find disharmony.” Many scholars use this narration as a proof that the spirits were created before the body. After the spirit enters the body, those who knew each other in the precorporeal realm experience familiarity upon meeting in this world, whereas those who were unknown to each other in that realm sense an estrangement upon meeting in the world. As for the fate of the soul after death, we are told, among other things, that the spirits of martyrs live on in the bodies of green birds in Paradise. These and similar narrations make it clear that the spirit has an existence distinct from the body.

Once the human has been animated by the spirit, he can undertake his primary purpose: namely, to worship and to know his Lord. We read in the Qur’an, “I have not created the jinn and humankind except that they worship Me” (51:56). Many Muslim exegetes mention that this verse can also be interpreted to mean “that they know Me.” These two meanings are consistent with the nature of the human, as worship involves bodily actions associated with the physicality of the human, while true knowledge of Allah ﷻ requires a metaphysical process.