‘Fitrah’ is an arabic word. The root of the word “Fitrah” is: ( ف-ط-ر) and is used in Islamic theology to refer to the nature of human beings. Fitrah is the original state in which Allah (عَزَّوَجَلَّ) created all human beings.
Fitrah is an essential concept and is mentioned in the Qur’an and hadith . Several meanings have been ascribed to this word including splitting, creating and creating out of nothing. The word “fitrah” holds the meanings of creation (khilqat) i.e genesis, essence, nucleus, the original form of a thing, spirit, and nature.
It encompasses the human’s natural state guided towards that which is morally and spiritually pure, upright and wholesome. The concept of the Fitrah comes from the Qur’an which states:
فَاَقِمۡ وَجۡهَكَ لِلدِّيۡنِ حَنِيۡفًا ؕ فِطۡرَتَ اللّٰهِ الَّتِىۡ فَطَرَ النَّاسَ عَلَيۡهَا ؕ لَا تَبۡدِيۡلَ لِخَـلۡقِ اللّٰهِ ؕ ذٰ لِكَ الدِّيۡنُ الۡقَيِّمُ ۙ وَلٰـكِنَّ اَكۡثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعۡلَمُوۡنَ
So direct your face toward the religion, inclining to truth. [Adhere to] the fitrah of Allah upon which He has created [all] people. No change should there be in the creation of Allah. That is the correct religion, but most of the people do not know.
[Surah Ar-Rum: 30]
The Fitrah is an internal compass or parameter that always points in the direction of good which brings us closer to Allah (عَزَّوَجَلَّ). In this world mankind has many idealogies, religions, belief system and different world views. Islam teaches us that we are all born with the same inherent nature. After birth, we adopt our own culture, society and environment as per our upbringing. These are the ways through which we recognized our own “brand.” It is clear that parents and environment are responsible to so much corruption and oppression on earth.
The Holy Prophet ﷺ’s famous Hadith guides and explain about it clearly:
Abu Huraira (رَضِيَ ٱللَّٰهُ عَنْهُ) narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said:
يُصَلَّى عَلَى كُلِّ مَوْلُودٍ مُتَوَفًّى، وَإِنْ كَانَ لِغَيَّةٍ، مِنْ أَجْلِ أَنَّهُ وُلِدَ عَلَى فِطْرَةِ الإِسْلاَمِ، يَدَّعِي أَبَوَاهُ الإِسْلاَمَ، أَوْ أَبُوهُ خَاصَّةً، وَإِنْ كَانَتْ أُمُّهُ عَلَى غَيْرِ الإِسْلاَمِ، إِذَا اسْتَهَلَّ صَارِخًا صُلِّيَ عَلَيْهِ، وَلاَ يُصَلَّى عَلَى مَنْ لاَ يَسْتَهِلُّ مِنْ أَجْلِ أَنَّهُ سِقْطٌ فَإِنَّ أَبَا هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ كَانَ يُحَدِّثُ، قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: مَا مِنْ مَوْلُودٍ إِلَّا يُولَدُ عَلَى الفِطْرَةِ، فَأَبَوَاهُ يُهَوِّدَانِهِ أَوْ يُنَصِّرَانِهِ، أَوْ يُمَجِّسَانِهِ، كَمَا تُنْتَجُ البَهِيمَةُ بَهِيمَةً جَمْعَاءَ، هَلْ تُحِسُّونَ فِيهَا مِنْ جَدْعَاءَ»، ثُمَّ يَقُولُ أَبُو هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ: فِطْرَةَ اللَّهِ الَّتِي فَطَرَ النَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا.
“Every child is born with a true faith (i.e. to worship none but Allah Alone) but his parents convert him to Judaism or to Christianity or to Magainism, as an animal delivers a perfect baby animal. Do you find it mutilated?” Then Abu Huraira recited the holy verses: ‘The pure Allah’s Islamic nature (true faith i.e. to worship none but Allah Alone), with which He has created human beings.
(Sahih Bukhari: Hadith No: 1358)
According to this hadith, it is ensured that the Qura’an and Sunnah played a fundamental role in determining all of person ‘s conclusions. Each child is born upon the natural inclination to believe in Allah. They are then corrupted by the environment of their parents, which results in them becoming a Jew, a Christian or a follower of any other religion. Islam also teaches that human beings are born in a state of purity, as well as with a natural moral sense that enables one to differentiate between what is good and what is not.
The early hadith scholar, Ibn Qutayba al-Daynuri, in his book, Islah fi Ghalat Abi Ubayd, published by Dar al-Gharb al-Islami in Beirut, states that Islamic theology does not teach that children are born Muslim٫ but rather that they are born with a simple spiritual and intellectual inclination towards God and towards good for God took a covenant with humanity prior to their earthly existence as like The Holy Quran states:
وَاِذۡ اَخَذَ رَبُّکَ مِنۡۢ بَنِیۡۤ اٰدَمَ مِنۡ ظُھوۡرِھمۡ ذُرِّیَّتَھمۡ وَاَشۡھدَھمۡ عَلٰۤی اَنۡفُسِھمۡ ۚ اَلَسۡتُ بِرَبِّکُمۡ ؕ قَالُوۡا بَلٰی ۚۛ شَھدۡنَا ۚۛ اَنۡ تَقُوۡلُوۡا یَوۡمَ الۡقِیٰمَۃِ اِنَّا کُنَّا عَنۡ ھذَا غٰفِلِیۡنَ۔
And [mention] when your Lord took from the children of Adam – from their loins – their descendants and made them testify of themselves, [saying to them], “Am I not your Lord?” They said, “Yes, we have testified.” [This] – lest you should say on the day of Resurrection, “Indeed, we were of this unaware.”
[Surah Al-Araf: 172]
This is what accounts for our “moral conscience” that we use in our daily life. If it is not corrupted, our moral conscience will be upset when we know we are doing something wrong or sinful. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said:-
عَنِ النَّوَّاسِ بْنِ سَمْعَانَ الأَنْصَارِىِّ قَالَ سَأَلْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ -صلى الله عليه وسلم- عَنِ الْبِرِّ وَالإِثْمِ فَقَالَ « الْبِرُّ حُسْنُ الْخُلُقِ وَالإِثْمُ مَا حَاكَ فِى صَدْرِكَ وَكَرِهْتَ أَنْ يَطَّلِعَ عَلَيْهِ النَّاسُ ۔
“Righteousness is good character, while sin is that which agitates and disturbs your soul and you would hate others to uncover”
(Sahih Muslim)
It is natural that humans feel closeness to Allah (عَزَّوَجَلَّ).
Numerous verses of the Holy Qur’an give testimony and indicate this fact that whenever a person is in distress or suffering from tribulations is likely to call Allah (عَزَّوَجَلَّ). These give an insight into the innate nature of human beings as the Holy Qur’an states:
وَلَئِنْ سَاَلْتَـهُـمْ مَّنْ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْاَرْضَ لَيَقُوْلُنَّ اللّـٰهُ ۚ قُلْ اَفَرَاَيْتُـمْ مَّا تَدْعُوْنَ مِنْ دُوْنِ اللّـٰهِ۔۔۔۔
And if you asked them, “Who created the heavens and the earth?” they would surely say, “Allah.” Say, “Then have you considered what you invoke besides Allah?
(Surah Az-Zumar: 38)
An international study also approved this:-
A millennium worldwide survey by Gallup International in 60 countries found that two thirds of respondents reported that “God was very important in their personal life.” And 87% people considered themselves belonging to some religion. It is interesting to note that 97% of respondents in West Africa, (majority Muslim) said that God was very important in their lives. While 99 % of West African reported that they belonged to some religion. According to the findings, women were more religious than men (69% to 57%) and the elderly were more religious than young and middle-aged people (63% to 59%)
(Note:- This research was made by Gallup International Association, 2000 and I extracted it from the book Child Education in Islam by Abdullah Nasih Ulwan)
This analysis shows how much man is close to Allah (عَزَّوَجَلَّ) by nature.
It is incumbent upon us to harmonize nature with the environment so that we can nurture Iman٫ Islamic moral values, good character and Allah (عَزَّوَجَلَّ)’s commandments in our children. May Allah (عَزَّوَجَلَّ) grant us to establish Islam in our generations. Ameen
وما توفیقی الا باللہ۔
