What it is and what it achieves are of no significance either for itself
or for the world. It is like the flame of a candle which shines for a
moment and then is quickly swallowed up by the surrounding
darkness. Finally, being unreal itself, it cannot enter into a
meaningful relationship and co-operation with the Real. The
characterisation of the self, which we find in the Qur’an, will enable
us to form an adequate idea of the self and a just estimate of its
capabilities.
- The self partakes of Reality and consequently enjoys
permanence and stability. It retains its identity throughout its career.
The trials which it undergoes and the influences to which it is
exposed change it without transforming it into something different
from itself. It starts its career in an undeveloped form but equipped
with immense potentialities. It may or may not actualise these
potentialities but it never ceases to be itself. It is not a passive
material which is moulded by external forces; it is essentially active
and dynamic. Its typical activity is dini activity in the highest sense of
the term, viz., the development and actualising of its basic
characteristics, and thereby “drawing closer” to the Most perfect
Self – God – whose attributes serve as an objective standard for the
human self, and thus tasting the joy of proximity to Him. Death
does not terminate the activity of the self; it is but an episode in its
career. - Further, the self, as conceived in the Qur’an is free. Freedom is
an inalienable property of the self. Although it operates in the
sphere of nature, its activity flows from its own nature and is not
determined by natural causes. As Dr. Rhine, in his book, New World
of the Mind, aptly remarks: “There is something operative in man
that transcends the laws of matter.”
It is because the self is free that it functions as a moral agent.
Duties and obligations have no meaning for a being which is
completely determined. If the self were not free, it would be
insensitive to the demands of “ought” and would respond only the
demands of “must.” Its sense of responsibility springs from its
sense of freedom; it is capable of leading a moral life only because it
is free. This view implies that the self has a real choice of action. It
can choose any one of the alternative courses of action open to it,
and responsibility for its choice rests squarely on it.
The Function of Deen 61