A Muslim perspective on the ethical dimension of life in relation to its beginnings and end
Introduction
This article discusses certain topics relating to the sacred nature of life as viewed from a Muslim perspective. Among these, abortion and euthanasia, which have been made subjects of lively and intense debate by both religious and secular groups, will be given priority. Our discussion draws attention to some of the differences found within Muslim approaches: while in the West these topics are considered in the framework of bioethics, in Islamic traditions their context is that of, modern medicine, jurisprudence and morality together. Although some theological differences separate the two traditions, it is hoped that this article will help Muslim scholars actively engage with other religious communities in the area of biomedical ethics, and work collectively and coherently for a common goal, helping create awareness within the wider community of their care and sensitivity with respect to issues of life and death. Limitations of space prevent a thorough examination of the voluminous literature produced by scholars of both religions on the many aspects of this complex area. Therefore this article concentrates on the relevant works of Fethullah Gülen, a contemporary Turkish Muslim scholar.
The concepts of life and death in Islam
I would like to begin with a quotation from Bediüzzaman Said Nursi’s epistle Risale-i Nur. Nursi says ‘The greatest Divine gift, bounty, kindness or favour is not makingHis servant perceive or feel His benevolence.’[1] In my view, of all the countless gifts of God, life is the most unique and the most precious, which we do not value greatly during our daily activities. Its preciousness and importance seem obvious; but theologically speaking, its significance is that ‘life’ is, first and foremost, one of the most prominent personal attributes of God, al-Hayy (Ever-Living) and al-Muhyi (Giver of life). The attribute of life has a priority and superiority over other Attributes of God because those other attributes such as His Power, Knowledge and Will cannot be imagined without the existence of life.[2] The Qur’an frequently draws our attention to this fact with these words allahu la ilaha illa huwa al-hayy al-qayyum ‘Allah, there is no deity but He,—the Living, the Self-subsisting, Eternal.’ (2:255) or wa-tawakkal ala al-hayy alladhi la-yamut ‘And put thy trust in Him Who lives and dies not’. Thus a Muslim considers life as the most important aim of the universe, its greatest result, its most brilliant light, its subtlest leaven, its distilled essence, its most perfect fruit and the source of its perfections.[3]
To stress the importance of life, Nursi makes striking comparisons between the gigantic and inanimate and the tiny and animate. He asks us to contemplate on the following metaphor: a lifeless object, even if it is a great mountain, is an orphan, a stranger, and alone. Its only relation is with the place in which it is situated, and with the things which encounter it. Whatever else there is in the cosmos, it does not exist for the mountain. The mountain has neither life through which it might be related to life, nor consciousness by which it might be concerned. Nursi contrasts the mountain with a tiny living creature, a bee. Its life establishes such a connection with the universe that it is as though the insect concludes a trading agreement with it, specifically with the flowers and plants of the earth. It can say ‘The earth is my garden; it is my tradinghouse.’ Thus, through the unconscious instinctive senses which impel and stimulate the bee, in addition to the well-known five external senses and inner senses of animate beings, the bee has a feeling for, and a familiarity and reciprocal relationship with, most of the species in the world, and they are at its disposal.[4]
Since life is the comprehensive attribute of God, Islam places great stress on the value of life. Briefly, the bodies of all creatures including human beings are God’s creation, but after fashioning the human body from clay, God breathed His own spirit into the body to distinguish humanity from other created beings (15:29, 32:9, and 38:72). This Divine spirit transforms an inanimate human body into a living being having a spirit or soul. Muslim scholars make it very clear that the body (the material aspect of a human being) exists and fully functions together with its spirit, ruh; therefore the human body is an important instrument that serves the development of a person’s spiritual being. Hence the spirit is neither part of the body nor completely independent of it. Fethullah Gülen describes the connection between body and spirit in the context of the human being’s relation to two realms, namely the seen and unseen worlds. To put it another way: he states that the material aspect of human beings intimately connects them to the other living things around them whereas the spiritual side places them within the Angelic community.[5] Nevertheless, because a Muslim acknowledges the hand of God in all creation, animate or inanimate, His role as the sole life-giver to His best creation makes the human body and soul a complete trust (amanah) of the Divine. The proper attitude of human beings towards this trust is a very well-established notion in Islam: the human being is only a caretaker or steward; the real owner is God. As caretakers, we have to be very sensitive and aware in regard to protecting both our physical and spiritual life. The notion that we own our life and are free to do with it whatever we please is an alien concept in Islam.[6] This sensibility is rooted in the Islamic notion of the sanctity (hurmah) and dignity (karamah) of the human body, a cornerstone of Islamic legal-moral thinking.[7] In short, Islamic theology tends to see human dignity as residingin the believer’s relationship to God, a position which is quite different to the modern secular approach to the definition of human dignity.
Understanding the very essence of human life depends on the recognition of the interaction between the ephemeral physical substance and an eternal spiritual entity that departs.[8] Contemplating this relationship brings the notion of death to the fore. Besides being the Ever-Living and Giver of life, God also has the attribute of taking life, al-mumit, or causing death.[9] Several verses in the Qur’an (80:16–23) touch on God’s intimate involvement with His creations at the beginning of life and emphasize His interaction with them at every moment up to the end of time; from life to death and resurrection. Here it is important to note that the determination of lifespan is one of God’s essential qualities.[10] In Islamic theology, there are various stages of the human soul’s existence, which Nursi calls an ‘exile’ or ‘journey’. Each successive stage is longer than the previous one. This long journey passes from the world of spirits (ʿalam al-arwah) through the world (life in the womb, then from birth until death) and then the grave (the intermediate realm, barzakh) to the resurrection, a new life in the hereafter.[11]
The Qur’an’s representation of various death themes directs the attention of humanity to the purpose of death, which is always seen as being intimately interconnected with creation and resurrection.[12] Because of this, the Qur’an criticizes unbelievingArabs who say ‘There is nothingbut our present life; we die and we live and nothing but time destroys us,’ referringto their opinions as mere conjecture and ignorance (45:23). Life is the key to death; it is a preparation for the return to God, while death is the gate or the entrance to eternal life. In this sense, death is never seen as extinction in Islam; rather, it is viewed as an altered state of being. Nursi summarizes this point very well in the interpretation of the verse (67:2) ‘Who creates death and life that He may try you, which of youis the best in conduct.’ He says: ‘This verse makes it understood that, like life, death too is created, and it too is a bounty.’ Those who see death as dissolution, non-existence, decay, the extinction of life and the annihilator of pleasures might ask how death could be created and also serve as a bounty. To answer this question, Nursi states:
Death is a discharge from the duties of life, it is a rest, a change of residence, a change of existence; it is an invitation to an eternal life, a beginning, the introduction to an immortal life. Just as life comes into the world through a creation and a determining, so too departure from the world is through a creation and determining, through a wise and purposeful direction. As the death of the seed is the start of the life of the shoot, since it is like life itself, this death is as created and well ordered as life is. Similarly, as a seed sown in the ground becomes a tree in the world of the air, so too a man who is laid in the earth will surely produce the shoots of an everlasting life in the hereafter.[13]
To summarize: since life is the most important bounty and fruit of the universe, and its purpose is creation, then certainly that elevated reality is not restricted to this fleeting, brief, deficient, painful worldly life. The aim and result of worldly life is eternal life in the hereafter; it is life in the realm of bliss, the very stones, trees, and earth of which are alive.[14] The eternity of the spirit is clear evidence of life after resurrection.
Albayrak, İsmail. The art of coexistence: Pioneering role of Fethullah Gülen and Hizmet Movement. April, 07 2015.