Abdal Hakim Murad - The Cambridge Companion to Islamic Theology

Theological dimensions of Islamic law 251
complemented and perfected human nature. An account attributed to
Ibn ‘Abbas, a Companion of the Prophet, held that God’s primordial
covenant with humanity (Qur’an 7:172–3) accounts for the essentially
moral and spiritual proclivities of human nature:
God took from [human beings] as a covenant the pledge to worship
Him and to associate no partners with Him. The Hour [of the day of
judgement] will not come until all humans are born who were given
the covenant on that [first primal] day. Whoever encounters the
second covenant [i.e. the Prophetic message] and fulfils it will profit
from the first covenant. Whoever encounters the second covenant
but does not fulfil it will not be benefited by the first. Whoever dies
as a child before encountering the second covenant dies in the state
of the first covenant in accordance with the natural human
condition [fiṫra]. 57
The soul knows God instinctively, is conscious of His perfection and
glory, and desires nearness to Him. It possesses basic knowledge of good
and evil, a love of truth and a hatred of falsehood, a consciousness of
justice and injustice, and even, according to some, an intuitive knowledge
that good and evil will receive full recompense. ‘Alı al-Qarı
(d. 1607) affirmed that human natures are intrinsically equipped for the
knowledge of God and the distinction between right and wrong. If left in
their original state without negative influences, they would continue for
ever to live according to their upright primordial natures. 58
Some understood humanity’s inborn knowledge of moral and spiritual
realities to be ‘‘subconscious’’. Consequently, it could be confounded,
forgotten and lost. The self’s capricious nature and its inclination towards
passions and selfish interests are among the fit _
ra’s greatest adversaries.
Humans often turn away from their better natures, and require inducements
to turn back to their natures and stimulate the goodness intrinsic
to them. Ghazalı exemplified the fit _
ra’s need of positive motivations by
using the metaphor of digging a well. The water lies hidden within the
earth, but only shovels (positive outside stimuli) make it accessible. He
also invoked the images of extracting oil from almonds and water from
roses; neither feat can be accomplished without an oil press. 59
the law and sufism
The law is essential to the perfection of divine servitude. As such, it
is also fundamental to Sufism and the spiritual disciplines of Islam.
Santillana notes the marked mystical tendency of Islamic law, which he
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