the Message Continues ... 11/16
Article 11
The
Meaning of Innate Nature (Fitra)
Shaykh F. Haeri
According to the Qur'an, the creation began with the divine
command, 'Be!' (Qur'an 16:40; 19:35; 36:82).
Within that command is contained the entire book of Reality. From the Sufi point
of view, every 'heart' contains a blueprint of truth. Most people know what
happiness and unhappiness are, what contentment and discontentment are. How do
they know this? How do I know that I am not content? How do I know that I am now
disturbed? My body may be completely out of balance, and yet I will still know
what balance and tranquility are, and what discord and imbalance are.
There is something within the core of everyone which reveals the
truth. That something does not change, for it is primal and sub-genetic.
Physically, everyone appears to be different, but that which is ingrained
sub-genetically in man is his innate nature, as we mentioned earlier. The word
in Arabic for innate nature is Fitra. The original blueprint of divine laws is
preserved in this innate nature of man. If that blueprint is not tarnished or
obscured, then it is easier for a man to recognize and acknowledge the
messengers and Reality. In other words, if a person is brought up in a clean,
natural and healthy environment, then his chance of discovering the truth and
the way to freedom is better than that of others who are caught up within
adverse environmental, racial or cultural constraints.
The Sufis always say that if you follow your 'heart', you will be all right. God
also says in the Qur'an that the 'heart' never lies. How does one distinguish
between guidance coming from the 'heart', and that which is coming from one's
emotions, desires, fears and imagination? How does one distinguish one's
original innate nature from one's imagination? The innate nature in each one of
us has been tarnished to varying degrees, due to family and other influences
during our early life. In order to return to our original state of innate
nature, we need again the guidance of the outer code of divine law. This is why
original Islam is much more easily followed by people who have not been educated
or trained to analyze, doubt and debate.
In olden times, in China, India and the Middle East, we find that there were
many prophets and saints. They all reflected the primal truth, which is that we
have come from one Reality and our physical existence is not a permanent reality
but only a shadow which we have to learn to transcend and, by so doing, discover
within us that which is timeless and permanent. The
early simple folk of tribes and villages in olden times could more easily
reflect the ultimate truth behind creation. The great Sufi master, Ibn Arabi,
says that the first group of people who will be submitted to the Garden of
Paradise after death will be the simple folk.
Our innate nature is something with which every human being is endowed. It is
like a spring of fresh, clear, cool water, or a well of sweet water. During a
person's upbringing, however, and because of the intellectual clutter and
culture which is gradually accumulated, the well begins to fill up with rubbish,
and the time comes when it is found that there is no more fresh water flowing,
because the well of his innate nature has been filled with debris. Many of those
who live in crowded modern cities or in urban, industrialized societies have to
do a lot of digging and archaeological work before reaching the original
foundation and the source of the spring in the well.
These people need more discipline and hard work, such as meditation, reflection
and intellectual de-brainwashing, than people who live in simple rural settings
open to nature where material needs and competition are less, and whose innate
nature is
preserved so that part of the original blueprint of divine laws is still
readable.
The difference between the wise simple folk who still have access to their
innate nature and the prophets is that the latter receive the divine teaching
through revealed ways, whereas the former receive understanding through
witnessing, reflection and insight. Many others also are endowed with
inspiration whenever there is a crack in their veil, the veil being nothing
other than the lower self, and once it is removed, there are strange and
wondrous glimpses of reality.
We have seen that Islam, the original divinely intended way of conduct which, if
adhered to, leads a person towards his Creator, is not a religion that came into
existence some 1,400 years ago, but rather, is the Adamic way, molded on the
first creation from the beginning of humanity. With the rise of Adamic
consciousness, there arose parallel to it an inner crack, or innate knowledge or
understanding, regarding how to behave in this existence so as to avoid being
confused.
The way of Islam is the Adamic way of behavior. Every prophet, every man of
awakening and freedom, has been in submission and is therefore a Muslim. Every
thinker, philosopher and wise man has been a Muslim to varying degrees of
clarity and consciousness. All human beings in fact are born in submission to
natural reality and therefore in Islam. It is the society and the parents who
often then corrupt that innate Islamic state. There are people all over the
world who discover Islam in themselves during some period of their lives, and
not as a result of having come across the conventional religion Islam. Rather,
it is an echo of something far deeper and pre-creational which is centered in
the hearts of all human beings. However
the conventions, both behavioral and conceptual, which society, community and
personal habit impose upon a person, veil recognition of this reality. Hence we
need divine laws to guide us to lead a life which is unified and which leads to
knowledge of unity.
Original Islam has existed right from the beginning of humanity and it was
revealed in different degrees until the totality of it was revealed through the
Prophet Muhammad in such a way that God promised to people that it would be
preserved forever.
Accordingly, no one has any excuse if they try to distort or change it. The
differences that exist between the various Muslim schools of law on matters of
Islamic Law are minor and insignificant. However if people want to see
differences, then they see great differences, and this often happens to those
who do not have access to their innate nature.
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