A definition of humanity seems easy to think of yet difficult to propose, and there have been disputes about it among different schools of thought. Most pioneers in social thought and leaders of movements claim that the main feature of their activities is their humanism and humanitarian efforts. To avoid having misconceptions about humanity or sinking in the whirlpool of literal interpretations and logical disputes, we need to first focus on the reality of the human being and his different aspects, and then discuss the derived infinitive word form humanity, its meaning, virtues, and functions.
First, human beings are objective beings who are different from other objective beings with respect to freedom of choice, meaning that their actions
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The holy Qur’an emphasizes on the full alignment of religion and humanity. The following verses demonstrate this truth:
So if they believe in the like of what you believe in, then they are certainly guided; and if they turn away, then they are only [steeped] in defiance. Allah shall suffice you against them,
Message of Thaqalayn 34 and He is the All-hearing, the All-knowing. The baptism of Allah, and who baptizes better than
Allah? And Him do we worship. (2:137-138)
2. Who can define characteristics of man?
Defining man and his characteristics cannot be carried out by man himself. There are several reasons for this, the most important of which are listed below:
Firstly, people’s understanding of themselves and their feelings is influenced by their social and cultural standpoints, their unique situations, and their worldly interests.
Secondly, people are at various stages of continued development and therefore, they never exactly understand existential dimensions of human beings as they progress and make efforts to reach them.
Thus, if a human being wants to define human dimensions, features and virtues, his definition will be limited or biased to some extent. This leads to a multiplicity of definitions
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35 Winter 2011, Vol. 11, No. 4
Impact of belief in One God
The basic of Islamic beliefs is to believe in one God who has the
Most Beautiful names and noblest qualities; One who neither begets, nor was begotten. The belief in this core possesses several advantages: Firstly, it frees the human being from full submission to
(worshiping) any natural being or any human being of whatever position and rank, and this freedom saves him from being confined to any material limits.
Secondly, it results in mobilizing all human talents and power for one purpose and saves him from all that destroys his life and activities, such as polytheism, being spoiled, etc.
Thirdly, it leads a human being towards the infinite goal and carves a long and endless path for his ambitions in which he can progress from cradle to grave and even after death. Thus, death does not stop a human’s progress towards goals, As mentioned in hadiths, the progress will continue with righteous children, compiling useful books and giving an on-going zakat. If one introduces a good practice to the society and one or more