Basic HTML Version
the individual and empower him with self-confidence and Heavenly authority to
expand the domain of his mind into all fields of thought: physical and metaphysical,
scientific and philosophical, intuitive and experimental, organic and otherwise. That is
how Faith in God nourishes the intellect and makes the intellectual life prosperous
and productive. When the spiritual and intellectual activities of man are organized
according to the teachings of Islam as mentioned above, the internal nature of man
becomes sound and healthy. And when man is internally secure and sound, his
external life will be of the same nature.
THE EXTERNAL NATURE
The External nature of man is as complex, subtle and wide as his internal nature. We
need to re-emphasize the fact that the soundness of the former is greatly dependent
upon that of the latter and vice versa, because man’ s complete nature is made up of
both aspects. For the sake of clarification, once more, we have to classify the external
nature of man into divisions and subdivisions. But we should always bear in mind that
any imbalance in the system of human nature may become destructive and fatal. The
fact of the matter is that both the internal and external natures of man act and interact
responsively, and that Islam has extended its Divine touch to the internal as well as
the external aspects of life
The Personal Life
Islam deals with the very personal life of man in such a way as to insure his purity and
cleanliness; as to give him a healthy diet and show him the proper manners of
clothing, behavior, adornment, sports and so on.
Purity and Cleanliness
It is an Islamic injunction that before offering the Prayer the Muslim must perform an
ablution, unless he has done one earlier and kept it valid. This obligatory ablution is
sometimes partial, sometimes complete, depending on his or her condition. Now, if
we remember that a Muslim has to offer at least five obligatory prayers every day in
pure heart and mind, in clean body and clothes, on pure ground and intention – we can
very well realize the vital effect and beneficial results of this single act for man (cf.
Qur’ an, 4:43, 5:7).
Diet
To maintain a pure heart and a sound mind, to nourish an aspiring soul and a clean
healthy body, special attention should be given to the diet on which man lives. And
this is exactly what Islam does. Some superficial or self-deceived persons may
imagine that food and drinking stuff has no direct or important effect on the general
condition of the person who fills his stomach regularly. But this is certainly not the
viewpoint of Islam which takes the matter in a most serious way. The general
principle of Islam in this respect is this: All the things which are pure in themselves
and good for man are lawful for diet as long as they are taken in moderate quantities.
And all the things which are impure and bad or harmful are unlawful under all
ordinary circumstances. There is always room and flexibility for exceptions to meet
cases of absolute necessity (Qur’ an, 7:157; see the section on Islamic Morals above)
Beyond this general principle, there are certain foods and drinks specified by God as
forbidden. Among these are: meat of dead animals and birds, the flesh of swine and
that of anything slaughtered with the invocation of any name other than that of God
80
www.islamicbulletin.com