Three Temperaments

[sheikhonderun]

Excerpt from Ibrahim Dewla’s speeches and notes.

Human beings have the potential to develop three different temperaments.

(1) Animalistic:

Every animal’s focus is to fulfill its own needs and desires. And nothing else. Whether fulfilling desires harm someone or not, the concern is to satisfy one’s own needs.

“They are like cattle…” (7:179)

The pursuit of fulfilling one’s desires is an animalistic temperament. Such a person benefits no one and only thinks about themselves. This is a path to corruption.

(2) Satanic:

If this temperament worsens, the animalistic temperament leads to a satanic temperament. A person becomes so lost in their desires that they neither understand the truth, follow it, or accept it.

“Satan responded, “My Lord! For allowing me to stray, I will surely tempt them on earth and mislead them all together” (15:39)

They do not accept the truth themselves or allow others to do so. They neither submit nor let others submit. They refuse to obey and prevent others from obeying. They neither follow the right path nor let others follow it.

The satanic temperament is the ultimate stage of corruption.

(3) Faith:

Allah sends revelation to help people overcome their selfish desires, abandon their self-centeredness, and submit to His obedience. Prophets are sent to this world so that people will adopt Allah's obedience.

“And We did not send any messenger except to be obeyed (liyuta’a) by permission of Allah.” (4:64)

This is a faith-based temperament.

 

[NidarNidar]

The first two paths lead to wealth in this world, but to hellfire in the hereafter.

"Vying for increase in worldly gains distracts people from obedience to God and remembering the Hereafter (Q, Ts). ‘Distraction’ (lahw) indicates an amusement, something that keeps people from achieving their real goals (Al, Is). In this vein, the Quran advises, Let not the life of this world delude you (31:33; 35:5; see also 45:35). Vying for increase translates takathur, which implies both competing and boasting. It can pertain to anything that people seek for the gratification of their egos rather than for God’s sake. According to a saying attributed to the Prophet, it means gathering wealth without right, withholding it from those to whom it rightfully belongs, and hoarding it (Q)."

This does not restrict us from gaining wealth, but by doing it in a moral way, and through hard work.

 

[cunug3aad]

Those temperments are because of the free will allaah has given us to choose whether we worship him or not, which is a privilege restricted from the angels and the animals.
The angels were created solely for worship and serving allaah and are thus unable to do wrong, so their actions are not rewarded like ours. Animals and plants are created to provide provision for humans in the form of labour and food, and so perform their own animaliatic behaviours unbecoming of a being with caqal like human. They do supplicate in ways that we don know but they are also not rewarded like us
That is because we are between the angels and the animals. We are given intellect and the choice to pick a way to live, so we can spend it in worship as the angels do and achieve a higher rank than them due to our struggles against evil; or we can spend it in degeneracy as the animals do and get a lower rank than them due to our knowledge of the right path.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah was asked about those who obey Allah among the ummah (followers) of Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): are they superior to the angels?
He replied: It was proven that ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The angels said: O Allah, You have created the sons of Adam, and they eat and drink and enjoy life in the world; create for us the Hereafter as you created the world for them. He said: I shall not do that. They asked Him again and He said: I shall not do that. Then they asked Him again two or three times and He said: By My Glory, I cannot regard the righteous among the descendants of the one whom I have created with My own Hand as being like one to whom I said: Be! And he was (i.e., the angels). This was narrated by ‘Uthmaan ibn Sa‘eed ad-Daarimi.

It was narrated from ‘Abdullah ibn Salaam that he said: Allah has not created any creation dearer to Him than Muhammad. It was said to him: Not even Jibreel and Mika’eel? He said to the one who asked him: Do you know what Jibreel and Mika’eel are? Jibreel and Mika’eel are subjugated creations like the sun and the moon. Allah has not created anyone who is dearer to him than Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him).

Ibnul qayyim said: The righteous among mankind are superior to the angels, because the worship of the angels is free from any contamination of the whims and desires of the human nafs (soul); it is done by beings that have nothing to prevent, undermine or resist it. It is like breathing for the living. As for the acts of worship of human beings, they are done despite the inclinations of their hearts and by suppressing their whims and desires and going against their natural urges. So they are more perfect. Hence most of the scholars have said that humans were superior to the angels for this reason and others.