In this day and age of the internet, social media, and great technological advancements, we have witnessed a shift that has never occurred in the history of humankind. Social relationships have changed. Many of our daily interactions happen before a screen, and some people can go on for days without leaving their homes. In most places worldwide, life has not been easier or materially better. Gross domestic product (GDP) is a widely used economic indicator of a country’s growth. It measures the value of products being produced in a certain country, and economists believe it is a good measure of how the country is performing materially. GDP per capita is another indicator used to measure a country’s economic prosperity. It is simply GDP divided by the total population. It is a well-known fact that GDP per capita has been increasing for most countries—with “developed” countries ranking the highest on the list alongside the GCC countries. Our World in Data, a website that publishes data on various matters, highlights, “If we compare the economic prosperity of every region today with any earlier time, we see that every single region is richer than ever before in its history” (see here).
Even though the data does not lie, it does not paint a complete picture of the state of the world. From a purely material standpoint, the world is much better off than it was a hundred years ago, but material well-being has never been the only indicator of human happiness. For example, more people die from suicide each year than by homicide, and one of the major reasons for suicide is depression (see here). I believe that one of the main causes of depression, especially in young adults, is the pure focus on material gains and complete denial of the soul.
It is important to clarify what I mean when referring to the soul. The soul is the part of the human that is independent of the body; it is the part that does not decay with the passing of time and that will be separated from the body at the time of death. Only through the soul may humans reach the higher-self and recognize what is behind the material veil. Even though the presence of a soul is well established in Islam, there is no “material” evidence for it. The soul is and has been a subject of Islamic thought since the beginning of the divine revelation:
“And they ask you, [O Muhammad], about the soul. Say, ‘The soul is of the affair of my Lord. And mankind have not been given of knowledge except a little’”
17:85
It is quite often viewed that humans are made up of a soul and a body, where the former is more metaphysical in nature and the latter is more material. The soul cannot be “examined” in the material sense of the word. Hence, in the materialistic scientific paradigm that exists today, you cannot prove that a soul exists. You cannot conduct tests to prove that a human goes beyond their material self. This fact could be one of the reasons the modern world, specifically since the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, slowly moved away from any religiosity and replaced it with materialistic science.
Over the past few centuries, the progress humans has been purely materialistic. The technological advancements and science that facilitated these achievements led to a common understanding in the West that religion ought to be replaced by science as the sole arbiter of morality. But the more dangerous part is the belief that the soul or any metaphysical aspect of reality should be treated as nonexistent. Essentially, the modern world moved away from any notion of belief that could not be tested, attributing it to myth or legend.
The ridicule of the metaphysical notion and the view that the human psyche is made up of electrical nodes in the brain without acknowledging the existence of the soul, naturally leads to the rejection of a Creator. If there exists a soul, which transcends all physical manifestations that cannot be empirically tested, then there exists something outside the realm of the material. This fact is rejected in today’s paradigm.
In the Quran, the soul is mentioned countless times, sometimes explicitly and sometimes hinting at something beyond the material. The soul, in the Quran, refers to the higher-self. Without purification of the soul and deep inner self-reflection, human beings will gravitate towards their animalistic self. The human part that is more animalistic is, by nature, more focused on material pleasure and gain. It is focused purely on what arouses the material senses, be it eating, visual observation, or sexual intercourse, and what can be accessed through the material faculty. This does not necessarily imply that it is wrong to engage the material senses. However, without the higher-self to control these desires, animalistic behaviors tend to take over and lead astray. All these desires tend to lead to major tribulations when let loose. For example, having unrestricted sexual activities with as many partners as one desires does more harm physically and mentally than it could do good. And when one pursues this, one is only satisfying one’s animalistic self and desires. The same could be said for eating, drinking (especially alcohol), and any activity related to the material senses.
In Surah Al-Araf, Allah speaks of a man who was granted knowledge of Allah and His revelations. However, this man decided to abandon his covenant with Allah and cling to his worldly desires:
“And recite to them, [O Muhammad], the news of him to whom we gave [knowledge of] Our signs, but he detached himself from them; so Satan pursued him, and he became of the deviators. And if We had willed, we could have elevated him thereby, but he adhered [instead] to the earth and followed his own desire. So his example is like that of the dog: if you chase him, he pants, or if you leave him, he [still] pants. That is the example of the people who denied Our signs. So relate the stories that perhaps they will give thought”
7:175-176
This is a truly remarkable scene with many powerful imageries. The man who decided to abandon Allah’s covenant is described in Arabic with the word insalakha (translated here as “detached”). This word is often used in Arabic for the act of a butcher skinning sheep. This imagery not only describes how the man abandoned Allah’s revelations but also portrays the peeling off of Allah’s guidance as he would skin himself—thus leaving him exposed to Satan and without protection, which eventually leads him astray. Essentially, he abandoned his higher-self, the soul, to pursue his worldly materialistic desires. Notice how Allah says that he could have been “elevated” but decided to cling to the earth and follow his desires. This is precisely what is meant by the higher-self or the soul. Without the soul, human beings will cling to their desires and deviate from their ultimate goal.
Allah then compares the man to a dog. Upon contemplation, you can clearly see why this man would be compared to an animal. Fundamentally, a dog is not endowed with a rational faculty that elevates it above its animalistic desires. A dog does not pursue any kind of spiritual activity that elevates it from the material to the metaphysical. It has a few simple concerns in life, the most important being food and sexual intercourse. These are purely material endeavors, and anyone who observes a dog cannot deny this fact. Al-Mawdudi explains as follows:
This is followed by a statement in which God likens the person in question to a dog. A dog’s protruding tongue and the unceasing flow of saliva from his mouth symbolize unquenchable greed and avarice. The reason for likening the human character described above to a dog is because of his excessive worldliness. For what, after all, is the characteristic of a dog? It is nothing else but greed and avarice. Just look at the dog! As he moves around, he continuously sniffs the earth. Even if a rock is hurled at him, he runs at it in the hope that it might be a piece of bone or bread. Before he discovers it to be a rock, he hastens to seize it in his mouth. Even a person’s indifference does not deter a dog from waiting expectantly for food – panting for breath, his tongue spread out and drooping, and a whole world from one perspective alone – that of his belly! Even if he discovers a large carcass, he would not be content with his portion of it but would try to make it exclusively his and would not let any other dog even come close. It seems that if any urge other than appetite tickles him, it is the sexual urge. This metaphor of the dog highlights the fate of the worldly man who breaks loose from his faith and knowledge, who entrusts his reins to blind lust and who ends up as one wholly devoted to gratifying his own appetite.
The Quranic verses show how detaching oneself from the higher-self and abandoning the part of the human that needs constant nurturing does not only cause harm to the person but could be dangerous, as the denial of the soul and the belief that humans are only made up of flesh and bone leads to nihilism and depression. Allah has given us a soul that enables us to connect with Him. The soul—which will extend and does not decay, even after death—is the only window to the metaphysical. The soul, which the message of the Quran attempts to address, is the only way for humans to lead a life of eternal happiness that is not bounded by material gain. Denial of the soul is the denial of life, as life starts and ends with the soul and our bodies are merely carriages that carry it for a short period of time.
“Then He proportioned him and breathed into him from His [created] soul and made for you hearing and vision and hearts; little are you grateful”
32:9