The Listening of the Soul

Islam holds humans to be a special creation. Ennobled by Allah ﷻ, they are His vicegerent on earth and look forward to a sublime destiny. Their ancestor Adam was the exalted creature in whose direction Allah ﷻ ordered the angels to prostrate, even while his splendor drew the envy of Satan. They are indeed incomparable wonders in the creation of Allah ﷻ. Yet, despite this exalted stature, there exist many humans who view themselves as nothing more than a random assortment of molecules and atoms. But humans are much more. We are the only creatures capable of writing and reading the essays populating this publication, an ability atheists attribute to a sort of evolutionary miracle. Muslims affirm, of course, that Allah ﷻ can give non-human objects the power of a type of speech. We read in the Qur’an, for example; “The seven Heavens and Earth, and all beings therein declare His glory. There is not a thing but celebrates His praise. And yet you understand not how they declare His glory. Verily He is Oft-Forbearing, Most Forgiving (Surat Bani Israel 17:44) “On that Day will she (the Earth) Declare her tidings” (Surat Zilzal 99:4) “Their ears, eyes, and skin will testify against them concerning what they used to do. People will say to their skins, ‘Why did you testify against us?’ They will respond, ‘We were made to speak by God ﷻ, the Enabler of all speech’” (Surat Fussilat 41:20–21).

As with humans, it is Allah ﷻ who makes the speech of these objects, as well as of insects and animals, intelligible. For believers, however, humankind also possesses an incomparable ability to speak that represents not an evolutionary accident but a revolutionary gift from Allah ﷻ. The Qur’an affirms, “The Merciful has taught the Qur’an. He has created the human; taught him articulation” (Surat AR-RAHMÂN 55:1–4). It is interesting that Allah ﷻ, in these verses, does not use the word kalām كلام (speech) but rather بيان bayān (articulation). This linguistic usage bypasses the debate concerning the ability of animals to speak and leads us immediately to the unique distinction possessed by humans—namely, the ability to speak expressively, employing syntax, grammar, and rhetorical devices in the context of a propositional language, all aspects of language that remain undetectable in other creatures. The distinction of human language has always confounded philosophers and scientists alike. How do we explain such a categorical and revolutionary difference in the human, who exists, in the view of the accepted scientific paradigm, only because of an evolutionary process that links him to all else in the animal kingdom? Surely another creature could be found to approximate our linguistic prowess; still, we continue to be frustrated in our search for that creature. For Muslims, listening can be even more important than speech, for it is the ability to listen that serves as the beginning of spiritual guidance.