The Human Condition: An Islamic Perspective

Coming from a Judeo-Christian background myself, I can easily relate to the human condition of Islam. In many ways, the three great monotheistic religions (Judaism, Islam, and Christianity) are very similar. Just as Judaism and Christianity, Islam believes in the creation of man from clay by Allah, followed by a fall from grace at the hands of Satan (in Islam, Iblis).
A uniqueness of Islam is the role of angels in the story. Allah creates man to be praised by angels, since humanity was made in the image of Allah. It was Iblis' denial to worship man that led to his banishment from paradise. The story of Adam and Eve differs in that their repentance for their first sin was forgiven, and therefore no original sin plagues humanity for the rest of time. Humanity now, is subject to the deception of Iblis in order to make them disobedient to God. Humans are charged with not repeating the mistakes of Adam and Eve, but all humans fail and sin because of the passion that Satan puts on them and their carelessness about the demands of the Quran.
Therefore, Islam calls for humans not to sin, and the sins that they do commit, as well as the good deeds they do, follow them until the time of Judgment. Those who follow Islam are charged with following the Quran, living a good life, and have a life full of good deeds. Allah puts these charges to Muslims as a guide to enter paradise. All of this shows the close similarities of the three great monotheistic religions.

Most of the world news from this week comes from the Caribbean. The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck the island nation of Haiti has caused massive death and destruction. The world sections of the BBC and NY Times are showing the massive international efforts to give aid and relief to the Haitian people. This follows the Islamic perspective of the human condition. Allah calls for humanity, even if full of sin, to perform good deeds. According to Islam, two angels are assigned to each human, one one the right and one on the left. The role of these angels is to record both the sins, and the good deeds of each person. Therefore, Muslims should feel the call to help their fellow humans in need.
Along with the news from Haiti, the world news is full of war. While some religions permit the use of 'just wars', it would be hard to believe that the arming of Hezbollah that could spark an Israeli-Syrian war, along with the fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Palestine/Israel, along with constant fighting all over the globe, could all be considered just wars. Therefore, someone with the Islamic faith would feel that all this fighting, killing, and destruction would not follow Allah's wishes. That these actions all over the world are stemming from passions spurred on by Iblis (Satan).

I believe that the Islamic perspective on the human condition has similar problems to those in all religions that offer eternal paradise and eternal punishment. Do humans do good and avoid evil because it is the right thing to do, or because they are afraid of fiery punishment that lasts an eternity? If this is the case, then all good done by the followers of these religions are doing good deeds for selfish reasons. This critique is not alone with Islam, it is in all religions. For those that do not have an eternal punishment, there is no motivation to do good and avoid evil. In the Christian denomination Calvinism, there are people called the 'elect' that are 'predestined' for heaven and hell. They believe that only certain people are chosen by God to enter heaven, and this decision is made at birth and cannot be changed throughout the lifetime. This brings up the question again of motivation to do good. If you know that there is no way to change your eternal status, what motivation do you have to do good? If I know that my eternal destination has already been determined, whether it be fire or paradise, I am going to be living it up, not worrying about doing good or helping others, not caring about what I do to others or myself.

But since these religions, including Islam, have a punishment set out for those who do wrong, there is great motivation to do good and avoid evil. Whether it be for selfish purposes or not, Islam still has its followers doing good deeds and avoiding evil.