Tag: human dignity

Islam & The Meaning of Life

The course explores how Islamic thought engages questions such as: What is the ultimate purpose of human existence? What is true happiness? How can human beings overcome alienation and find inner peace? How are faith and reason related in the search for meaning? What grounds moral obligations, justice, and human dignity? And how does belief in God shape the understanding of human destiny? The course approaches the meaning of life from three complementary perspectives within Islamic intellectual tradition: The Qur’anic perspective, the mystical perspective, and the philosophical and rational-theological perspective.

Human Dignity / Karāmah

According to the Qur’an, human dignity is universal, regardless of religion, sect, piety, gender, race, and color. It is an essential character of humanity, allowing humans to take on the role of stewardship. The human soul is the bearer of dignity and has the potential to reason and distinguish between good and evil. The human species is noble because of the soul that God breathed into it. Human dignity and human original nature (fiṭrah) are two sides of one coin. There is a link between divine trust and human dignity.

Islam & the Meaning of Life

The range of topics implicated by the “meaning of life” as essentials of Islamic philosophy and theology includes the features of the good life; true happiness; the quest for eternity and not to be forgotten; overcoming loneliness and alienation; peacefulness; seeking truth and reducing suffering; living in a purposeful universe; free will; the ultimate purpose of the human life; necessary cause for moral obligations; faith and reason; human dignity; the quest for absolute beauty and good; knowing the Beginning and the Return; the observation of transcendence and immanence.