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 (2:173; 5:4). The drinks which Islam considers harmful and destructive to the human spirit and morality as well as to the physique and morale of man are included in the Qur’anic verse which forbids all intoxicants and all forms of gambling or games of chance (5:93-94) The prohibition of these foods and drinks is not by any means an arbitrary action or a dictatorial decree of God. It is first and foremost a Divine intervention in the best interest of man and for his own sake.