Muslim Perspective of Western thought on Human Nature: A Study of Muhammad Rafī-ud-Dīn’s Discourse

Abstract

This paper is a study of the thoughts of Dr. Muhammad Rafī-udDīn (1904-1969), a prominent Muslim theorist and philosopher of
subcontinent, about human nature and his refutation of Western
thinkers on the subject. It finds that modern world view and
episteme do not consider Man as the crown amongst all the
creations. All the eminent Western psychologists and writers on
Human Nature agree that man possesses an urge for ideals which is
responsible for his all kinds of activities. According to Freud it is the
sexual instinct, Adler relates this urge to the self-assertion and ego,
McDougall thinks it the outcome of a combination of all the
instincts. Karl Marx reveals that ideals are rooted in the economic
urge of man while Darwin already had declared Man as a result of an
automatic evolutionary process. These theories had played an
important role in creating the world view or weltanschauung of the
man of 20th century. But this explanation of Human Nature has
deprived Man from his classical position of spirituality and morality
and has depicted him as a social animal that is driven by his instincts
consciously or unconsciously. The Qur’ānic concept of Human
Nature as explained by Dr. Muhammad Rafī-ud-Dīn proves that the
urge for ideals is the real, the ultimate and the sole dynamic power of
human actions and it find its roots not in instincts but in something
transcendent and metaphysical.