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What Is Aql, Fitrat, Iqhlaqi Wajood, Insaani Shaksiaat, Insaani Salahiaat?
(Ongoing Discussion: How can we hold that we ‘know’ something. How can we be sure that the Eiffel Tower is real? Sure we see pictures- but they may be doctored…)
Umer writes: I remember Ghamidi sb. once said something along the similar lines, if you excuse my paraphrasing, ‘we know about our conscious self / our existence more than anything else that we’re aware of. Not even our appearance, in order to see our outer look we need to use a mirror, but this “self” of ours, we don’t need any gadget or anyone else for that matter to tell us that it exists or to know how real it is’.
Sohail writes: What is the difference betweeb Aql, Fitrat, Iqhlaqi wajood, Insaani shaksiaat?
Is there some type of overlap?
Umer writes: Again in paraphrased words of Ghamidi sb. as I understood them, ‘Aqal is a tool / mirror that helps us see / connect to that fitrat of ours which includes ‘iklaqi wajood as well’. Take ‘aqal’ away from a person and you can clearly that his abililty to see that fitrat has been taken away.
And in my humble opinion, insaani shaksiyat is an overall combination of all these factors, aqal, ikhlaqi wajood etc.
Sohail writes: Is it Aql that guides fitrat or fitrat that guides Aql?
Umer writes: Fitrat has been revealed (ilham) to humans by God but aqal helps us see it or communicate with it. I think.
Sohail writes: What if Aql and Fitrat are same things? Why do they have to be separate? What tools of knowledge were used to identify X is Aql and Y is fitrat? How did we learn this?
Umer writes: Religion is the source to know about fitrat when it talks about nafs and about good and evil revealed alongside that. Aqal and fitrat could be same, but I am more inclined toward it being a tool to see and use that fitrat. Take any insane man for example, his ilhami fitrat is there inside him but his aqal stopped working the way it was supposed to work. As a result, the person stopped seeing / using that fitrat within him.
Sohail writes: In this example of insane person, you assumed its the Aql that stopped working but fitrat was intact (capable to figure out right and wrong).
But it is quite possible fitrat and Aql are same things and both stopped working. Why fitrat cannot go insane?
Umer writes: As per Quran, fitrat can’t. That’s why I went after Aqal.
Sohail writes: How come fitrat of Asians (Chinese for example) gets messed up (maskh) if it always stays intact (example insane person) as it relates to their dietary situation?
If Asians can have maskh’ed fitrat why not the insane person?
Umer writes: Perversion from nature and insanity are two different things. Perversion can can be talked through and sorted out but not insanity.
Sohail writes: ok, so fitrat can be perverted into eating dogs, bats and other junk but same perverted fitrat in those same people know what is right and wrong.
Fitrat is not operating at 100% it seems?
How exactly culture/urf (or custom) impacts fitrat which should have been ilhaamed by the God? As in this perversion of ilhaam in fitrat is mainly seen in Asians.
Something else is going on here?
Umer writes: It operates exactly the same way the ilham of the fact that there is a creator of this universe operates. The ilham is there within everybody. The same way that ilham collects dirt around it because of environment, customs, upbringing and the kind of education one receives at times; similarly the ilhaam of that other fitrat gets buried under the heap of all the same factors. There will always be dialogue and discussion to remind people of their forgotten fitrat which lies somewhere deep within them.
Take the example of Alcohol at the time of Prophet. The same was part of their customs or maskhshuda fitrat. All that Quran did was it gave voice to their real fitrat within by reminding them that they knew it is an evil and sinful deed. & after some time the same fitrat started to respond and Arabs got rid of organized intoxication at a societal level. Had any prophet been sent to China instead, he would’ve reminded them of the same fitrat within them, which if heeded to, would repel all the khabais that they are eating.
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(feel free to add anything to the discussion)
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8 Replies
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What Is Aql, Fitrat, Iqhlaqi Wajood, Insaani Shaksiaat, Insaani Salahiaat?
updated 4 years, 2 months ago
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8
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In my understanding fitrat is potentiality, and it doesn’t change. When that potentiality materializes (or not), we see it’s effects in our personalities and behavior.
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divine salahiaat = fitrat?
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I think you can call it that.
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@UmerQureshi if you can revise the title to
What is the difference between Aql, Fitrat, Iqhlaqi wajood, Insaani shaksiaat, Insaani Salahiaat?
Thanks
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I agree with the word potentiality to some extent, but doesn’t it give a notion of something variable in its very existence? In my understanding, basic morality & the innate premise of existence of a creator are constant in every human being; while the iztaraari ilm (innate potential to materialize worldly knowledge) & aesthetic sense both do exist but have a certain element of variability in them. Shouldn’t we draw a little distinction?
Also where do you put aql in this whole potentiality and personality (materialized / non-materialized potentiality) equation?
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Insani Shaksiat (Human Personality): It is the conscious being of humans with the potential to do good and bad / sense of humor / aqal and other natural attributes. This plugs into the body (the shell with instinctive needs) to make a complete human.
Insaani Salahiat (Human Capability): Capacity to do stuff (good/bad/Skill/power) of humans
Ikhlaqi Wajood (Ethical being): Sense of ethics in humans
Fitrat (Nature): Is the set of attributes of humans. The personality (also called soul) comes in with conscious part of nature and plugs into the shell with the instinctive part of nature (jabillat). Collectively the complete set of these attributes is called fitrat. Aqal is one of the faculty of fitrat.
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Is ikhlaqi wajood not a potential actualised by the fitrat?
Also how do we prove that this fitrat is, in fact, constant? How do we know it is not simply a common culture of humans due to evolution and societal circumstance?
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To separate all of these categories let’s use an example
A drunk man:
Can he use basic reason- does he know 1+1=2? Yes. But can he use complex reason such as I shouldn’t drive in this state? Not really…
Ikhlaqi wajood- again- this is to an extent- he may be overcome by his desires and kill someone he had some hatred for. But as soon as he comes out of this state he knows he has done wrong. So it seems that drunkenness affects ikhlaqi wajood which I would consider a potential that the fitrah actualises.
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