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Who is Human?

What does it mean to be human?

Human nature is a concept that denotes the fundamental dispositions and characteristics- including ways of thinking and feeling and acting- that humans are said to have naturally. The term is often used to denote the essence of humankind, or what it 'means' to be human.

According to Abrahamic Scriptures, God has created man in the image of Himself. He is The One True God, Our Creator and Source of Life- and to Him belong the Most Beautiful Names and Attributes. According to Scripture, man has been granted 'freewill' and has the ability therefore to choose what he or she believes. This is a given right to all humans. Man therefore has the ability (which might vary from individual to individual) according to the use of his mind and heart, through his or her perception of reality and life, and intellect and reason, to establish a relationship with others through knowing and understanding how to incorporate His Attributes into his or her own life. Hence through gaining wisdom and seeking truth with sincerity of the heart and reflecting on and incorporating those attributes through our own experiences and our experiences with each other, we are able to draw closer to 'Knowing' Him and therefore living in 'Peace' within ourselves and one another. According to Scripture: without having a good relationship with our Creator, we are unable to establish good relationships with each other- because all the attributes which enable us to have better relationships with one another depend on 'righteousness' and the ability to judge 'right' from 'wrong.' In order to be able to 'treat one another how we ourselves want to be treated' the Scriptures invite us to taking responsibility of our lives according to our abilities, and incorporating the concepts of 'peace, loving kindness, truth, honesty, integrity, humility, trust, justice, respect, tolerance, sacrifice, forgiveness, joy, gratitude, perseverance and righteousness' into our lives. The Abrahamic description of God through Scriptures passed down through 'prophets and Messengers' is that He is the Source of Life, The Source of Creation, The Source of Truth, The Source of Wisdom, The Source of All-Knowledge, The Source of Light, The Source of Love, The Source of Mercy, The Source of Forgiveness, and Source of all that is 'Good' and all that exists. The Scriptures invite mankind to turn to their Source in order to attain Peace, The One True God, for help and guidance in order for man to be 'saved' from the evil that results from man's own 'free-will.' 

According to Scripture, without God's guidance, man naturally inclines to evil, and without surrendering to a way of 'seeking truth' with honest hearts, man is inclined to following the pleasures of this worldly life which results in loss, and suffering. When man assumes himself to be 'self-sufficient' he can become ungrateful and 'arrogant' and stop learning and growing spiritually. This can result in lack of understanding and wisdom that can lead mankind to be driven by 'ego' and 'greed' and 'selfishness' which can cause harm to our planet, its creatures and to our relationship with one another. According to Scriptures, the more that a human is given knowledge, the more 'free-will' he or she has, and therefore the more 'responsibility' he or she has to use this in the best way possible in order to establish a better relationship with our Creator and with creation. 

To better understand the natural inclinations of human nature- let us look at children and their natural tendencies. Children are born into this world, pure and innocent, without the knowledge of how to read or write or speak or create labels to be able to communicate. This creates a sense of 'innocence' about them and they depend solely on the kindness and compassion and love of others to provide and look after them and cater for their needs. As they get older, we see that children live in the moment- they naturally seek the worldly pleasures of fun and games and toys and jokes, and laughter and amusement. They take adults as 'role models' because they naturally seek 'guidance' in order for their development as they get older. They may copy our behaviours because they look unto us as role models. They do not easily reflect on their behaviours at a young age because they lack a certain type of wisdom that comes with experience and knowledge. They make promises and do not keep to them. They are often hasty and do not understand the meaning of 'patience'- when they want something they want it 'now.' CHildren go through a phase of being inconsiderate to others' feelings because to them all that matters is that 'it is my toy and I must have it.' They do not understand naturally the value of money or the requirement to earn something through work. CHildren put their lives in our hands, and surrender to the parents for provision and guidance. This allows them to act irresponsibly- when we provide and provide and if we do not guide them as to what is right and what is wrong. When they behave or say hurtful things that cause harm to others they require discipline and a reminder and often punishment of some sort in order to help them reflect and mend their ways. Once we start to use disciple and punishment as a way of teaching them what is right and wrong, we see that children are much more likely to pay attention to their behaviour. But the punishment we give them tends to come from love for them, because we want them to grow in a way that they take responsibility for their words and actions and want them to grow into adults who have a good sense of what is right and wrong, in order for them to be successful. When children are rewarded for an act that pleases us and we know is good them, they become more likely to continue doing that act. If they are punished for something that they have said or done which has caused harm to them or others, they are more likely to continue avoiding that behaviour. They however are easy to forget, and require constant discipline and consistency in the way that an adult teaches them in order to develop a strong sense of morality of right and wrong.  They depend on their parents to help to 'show them the way' and yet we see that children are much better than adults at generally 'living in the moment' and therefore being happy and at peace with themselves. Without our guidance of what is 'right and wrong' children are inclined to being selfish and inconsiderate of others' around them. However as they get older, and their level of reason and logic and intellect develops, children learn how to question themselves and the behaviours of both themselves and others around them. They may begin to think for themselves and even question the guidance that their parents have shown them. They learn to start to make decisions according to their level of free -will, and understand the concept of free-will and reach an age of maturity where they do not live their lives according to the will of others but according to their own will. 

Now- if we see ourselves as children, with child-like natural tendencies to behave in a certain way- we can relate to what we learn about the natural human nature from our understanding of the behaviour of our children and apply it to ourselves. We are not much different to children in the sense that all humans require some sort of guidance from a Higher Being in order to be rightly guided. Without guidance and without discipline in our lives, and without reminders of what is right and wrong- we naturally as human beings, incline to forgetfulness just like children do- and get distracted by play and amusement- just like children do- and get distracted by what our physical being as human desires for themselves  making it less likely that we will behave in a spiritual sense of wanting to help others, and treating others how we want to be treated. To children, we are like the higher being and the guidance and light that helps them through their age of darkness. But even they reach a point in maturity that they start to question us and our guidance according to their level of free-will, intellect, and us of reason and logic to help guide them to Truth. The older we become, the more experience we have, and the more opportunity we have to learn from our mistakes and reflect on our behaviours. Our development through childhood can hugely impact the way we live our lives as adults, and much of what we believe and the way we behave is dependent on our upbringing. However it is not definite. When we choose to use God as our Guide and look to Him for wisdom and knowledge- we see that we are no longer bound by living our lives in a way that others expect or will- we start living according to our own understanding and according to His Divine Will. He can guide to the best of characters by His will, and we break free from the normal Societal expectations. Man naturally makes mistakes, has imperfections and therefore his speech or actions will often be contradictory. Man is naturally inclined to seeking perfection- and by having faith in a Higher Being who is Perfect- from a child's perspective they naturally assume this is their parents- but as we become more wise- we learn that even our parents make mistakes which lead to contradiction and therefore falsehood- so we are more likely to look at the universe and turn to God when seeking perfection. We become to see Him like a 'Parent figure' and perhaps this is why some refer to Him as 'Father who art in Heaven.' Humans have the ability to use Him as a role model and a guidance to help them develop their morality and character and shape their behaviour according to what is Best, and His attributes. By seeing ourselves as created in His image, we find strength in His beautiful attributes and strive towards trying to incorporate these attributes to ourselves. For this to happen, we must live in this world of duality, because what is truth without falsehood, what is love without hatred, what is mercy without punishment, what is good without evil, what is life without death?

Is a human a physical being or are they a spiritual being? When we see being human as simply a physical being- we can sometimes be distracted by the by seeking the physical pleasures of this physical world-  live as we would if we were apes or monkeys, without giving much attention to our spiritual being or the well-being of our human soul. By looking after our spirituality on the other hand, we are more likely to have a level of consciousness which stops us from causing harm to others, and helps to encourage us to treat others as we ourselves want to be treated. If we see being human as more of a spiritual being- we are more likely to seek true happiness through seeking peace in the concepts of love, kindness, compassion, forgiveness, integrity, honesty etc which form the basis of our moral structure, enable to understand and use our consciousness to guide us and differentiate us from other animals and help one another, and look after our species of humanity and the planet on which we live with others of His Creation by seeing ourselves through the reflection in others. 

Humans are not Perfect. They make mistakes, and without knowledge and wisdom they often cause harm to others without knowing, even though the intention behind the behaviour might be pure. They have free-will to choose what to believe, to think freely, and many have been given the intellect and the ability to learn to read and write and therefore be 'creative' and gain wisdom through knowledge and experience. Humans are advanced when compared to other creatures. Through choosing words to label the physical objects in the world within which we live, and label our perceptions and by writing down names that we have labelled ourselves and reading what others have written we can seek knowledge and pass on this knowledge from generation to generation. Without the ability to learn by 'The Pen' let us ask ourselves what our lives would look like? How would we learn at schools? How would we record historical events and learn from them? How would we learn about Scripture and religion and make advancements in scientific knowledge? The human brain, the intellect, and our eyes, our ears, our tongues and use of speech and sound- has enabled man to be able to 'name' objects and therefore create language as a way of communicating with one another at a level that other species cannot do. Even though we are of the same species as other humans, we have the ability to create new ways of communicating according to our groups and tribes- it is not only an instinctive behaviour- but in fact a huge responsibility given to us. Sometimes we get things wrong. Sometimes our desire for the world life urges us to pass on false knowledge in order to mislead others or because of our selfish desires for wealth, power and and success in this world life. This often leads to contradiction in the knowledge that we sometimes choose to pass to one another. Therefore that huge responsibility of man relies on all of us to ask questions regarding the knowledge that we seek- and use use our own logic and reason and intellect to help distinguish truth from falsehood. 

According to knowledge from Scripture we learn that free-will enables man to be able to 'choose' whether he or she wants to live in the physical or the spiritual as a human. A good 'balance' of the spiritual with the physical enables humans to achieve their greatest potential. The physical allows us to express and create a positive environment for ourselves and others through spirituality. The duality of the physical and spiritual form of humans is what makes them unique and special. 

 

The 'soul' is something that we do not know much about- except that according to religious Scripture- it is from God, and that all humans and living creatures have been given one. Scripture advises us to look after our souls by being true to our purpose in life and encourages humans to seek knowledge, wisdom, truth, justice and act in loving kindness by treating others as we treat ourselves. It teaches us that whether even though we might be different in the physical sense- black, white, different colours, shapes and sizes, male, or female- that we are all in fact the same in the sense that we all have a soul from Him- and that the only thing which makes one person better than another is their level of righteousness. Free- will gives us the ability to 'choose' what we worship. This is a God-given right to all humans. According to Scripture, angels are made of Light and do exactly what they are told, so they worship their Lord out of compulsion and not out of free-will. Humans however have the free-will to be able to choose whether to worship ( and therefore obey) Him, or be left to their own ways and understanding and reject any guidance that He has shown us. Humans can choose to worship other 'deities'- they can choose to worship a shoe or a fly if they wish- even if it goes against logic or reason as to why they might choose to do so- if that is what they really want to do- God has granted them ability to do so. Scriptures tell us that there is no compulsion in religion. However His guidance advises us that this is man's choice of making a conscious decision to choose to be physically human rather than spiritually human- and that eternal spiritual life is not compatible with living purely in the physical of this world.

This world we live in is a world of duality. Our perception and understanding and moral judgement of what is good and what is evil comes from our natural inclination and desire to 'know' and 'to understand' while living through human experience ourselves. The existence of our need to use logic and reason gives us the ability to pick out 'truth' from 'falsehood' in a world of contradiction. However as being human we also understand that simply asking questions and seeking answers in not enough- our intellect alone does not answer everything. Our hearts and minds and souls must all be well balances and help one another in the path to Truth and Love. Science for example cannot answer everything: it can help to answer 'how but can it answer 'why?' -only through human experience can humans relate to and understand the concepts of the opposites of existence, and thereby through reflection and mindfulness become more aware of their 'consciousness' and the attributes of a Higher Being: 'what is love and where does it come from?' 'what is compassion and where does it come from?' 'what is forgiveness and where does it come from?' 'what is kindness? and where does it come from?'- and why is it that humans have the ability to feel strong emotions such as love and compassion, and mercy, and kindness? What is Justice and how do we make the moral judgement of right and wrong? How do we measure these things? 

 

According to Abrahamic Scriptures, God has made man in a form that can express and therefore relate to His Beautiful Attributes. Man kind goes through a life of duality or opposites in order to really appreciate His Attributes. Human speech and behaviour if left to its own accord often brings about contradiction. If we believe that only God's Truth and Words are non contradictory- Can we not use this as guide to help us to distinguish Truth from falsehood, and a guide to how we as humans can be more truthful in our ways?- do our intentions thoughts and speech and behaviour contradict one another? If so- then how can it be truth? If only God knows our soul desires, our intentions in our hearts and our innermost thoughts of our subconscious- and Scripture teaches us that He Alone knows everything- He is the Best of Judges, and Most Compassionate, Most Merciful while also being Just- Who is a better Judge than He? So let us not judge one another- let us all take responsibility ion acting in accordance to truthfulness, and live and learn through experience, while intending to help others in our deeds, and if we make a mistake or err- let us forgive one another, pardon each other, and keep trying and learning from our experiences and from each other for we all share a soul- the same soul- which we must look after, protect in order to have spiritual life in this world full of distractions and play.

We are Human. We can choose how to live our life according to what has been given to us and according to what we have of talents and blessings. We can choose to live a life seeking the pleasures of this world- the physical- the material- such as investing in physical things which give us more financial gain- we can choose to be selfish and cheat and lie and steal and deceive one another for our own financial or material gain or for a short lasting pleasure of the flower of this world which eventually withers and disappears. Or we can choose to live our lives and use our blessings according to what we have of talents, eyes, ears, mouths with which to speak, hearts with which to hear- and our material possessions- not just to help ourselves, but to help the lives of others who are less fortunate than us. This way we can invest in the life of the hereafter- invest in what God according to Scripture invites all of mankind to do regardless of their 'religion label' - to invest in Him who is all Good, by helping one another, while turning to Him for guidance and wisdom, with honest truthful hearts-  in any way that we can. Sometimes the human being must struggle and face hardship in this world in the physical sense, but spiritually he or she will not face 'suffering' but be granted 'inner peace' and blessed with love and compassion and forgiveness and the ability to judge between 'right' and 'wrong' in the face of affliction- He or she will be granted 'wisdom' through making that conscious choice to choose spiritual life over the physical material pleasures of this world which comes through helping others and seeking His Pleasure and worshiping and obeying Him once we have been given the knowledge of what we define to be 'Truth.'

Humans are constantly changing. We have the ability to learn from the past and from our mistakes and the mistakes of others, and we have the God-given freedom to be able to choose what we believe, learn about who we are and who we want to be- we have the freedom to choose how we want to use what we have been given, our blessings in this world that we have been born into. 

Through Scripture and experience and reflection we can learn that 'Wisdom' can help feed the soul and protect it from spiritual death. Wisdom from scripture, when sought with seeking truth in loving kindness can help guide us into shaping our behaviours in a way that is form what we understand to be pleasing to the Lord.

How can we become more 'Righteous?'

 

Here are some characteristics of what God describes from Scripture to be characteristics of a 'righteous' human:

Honest, peace-loving, truth-seeking, wisdom-seeking, reflective, mindful, thoughtful,  kind and generous, charitable, Loving, compassionate, merciful, gracious, Just and fair, humble and modest, moderate and well balanced, oft- repentant, grateful, forgiving and pardoning to others, non-judgemental, self-critical, disciplined, obedient to Him, respectful to others, tolerant, patient, perseverant, joyful, trustworthy , faithful, peaceful, self-less, chaste, wise, hopeful, light, knowledgeable, having integrity. non-envious, non-gossiping...

Abrahamic Scripture also describes the righteous as those who Believe in God, The Last Day, The Angels, The Book, The Prophets and in The Act of Giving for the Cause of God. 

Here are some characteristics of what God describes from Scripture to be displeasing traits of a human:

Selfish, greedy, untruthful, false,  murderous, unjust and unfair, unwise, impatient, hasty, judgemental, proud, non repentant, ungrateful, unforgiving, angry and vengeful, extreme in religious practice, unkind, uncharitable, untrustworthy, intolerant, disrespectful, conflicting, neglectful, hopeless, destructive, ignorant, wasteful, misleading, lustful, arrogant, idolatrous, disobedient and rebellious despite knowledge, envious, dark, without integrity, gluttonous, depressive, gossiping, slandering...

( Based on reflections and understanding of Dr Lale Tuncer- May He increase us in knowledge and wisdom, help us to seek truth, help us to and give us the ability to judge 'right' from 'wrong' to the best of our abilities, and help us to fulfil our potentials as humanity according to His Divine Will. Amen) 

The Seven Noahide commandments given to Noah to all humanity according to the Torah: 

According to Abrahamic Scripture- The 7 Universal Laws are rules that all of us are advised to keep, regardless of who we are or from where we come. Without these seven things, it would be impossible for humanity to live together in harmony. 

  1. Not to worship idols
     

  2. Not to curse God
     

  3. To establish courts of justice
     

  4. Not to commit murder
     

  5. Not to commit adultery, bestiality, or sexual immorality
     

  6. Not to Steal
     

  7. Not to eat flesh torn from a living animal

For more knowledge and information about the seven Noahide Laws from a

Jewish perspective please see:

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/62221/jewish/The-7-Noahide-Laws-Universal-Morality.htm

 

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4157474/jewish/Seven-Laws-for-a-Beautiful-Planet.htm

 

For more knowledge and information about the Quranic Perspective on Noahide Law:

http://www.wikinoah.org/en/index.php/Islam_and_Noahide_Law

The five Pillars of 'Faith' to help guide us and discipline us to leading a more righteous life: 

1.  The declaration of Faith 

2. Prayer

3. Alms-giving

4. Fasting

5. Pilgrimage

The Ten Commandments given to the 'Children of Isreal': through Moses;

First Commandment (Exodus 20:2)

I am the Lord Your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Second Commandment (Exodus 20:3-6)

You shall have no other gods beside Me. You shall not make for yourself any graven image, nor any manner of likeness, of any thing that is heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them, nor serve them, for I, the Lord Your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.

Third Commandment (Exodus 20:7)

You shall not take the name of the Lord Your God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes His name in vain.

Fourth Commandment (Exodus 20:8-11)

Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath unto the Lord Your God, in it you shall not do any manner of work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your man-servant, nor your maid-servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger that is within your gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day. Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and made it holy.

Fifth Commandment (Exodus 20:12)

Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord God gives you.

Sixth Commandment (Exodus 20:13)

You shall not murder.

Seventh Commandment (Exodus 20:13)

You shall not commit adultery.

Eighth Commandment (Exodus 20:13)

You shall not steal.

Ninth Commandment (Exodus 20:13)

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Tenth Commandment (Exodus 20:14)

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, nor his wife, his man-servant, his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.

 

'And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.' Genesis 1:26-27

'And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.'Genesis 2:7 

Genesis 2

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made. These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of Life; and man became a living soul. And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.' Genesis 2

'And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.'Genesis 8:21 

'And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made He man.' Genesis 9:5-6

'I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in Thy Book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.'Psalm 139:14-16 

'So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. 'Isaiah 41:10 

'Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again.'Deuteronomy 22:4 

'Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.'Psalm 51:5

Psalm 148

'Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord from the heavens: praise him in the heights. Praise ye Him, all His angels: praise ye Him, all His hosts. Praise ye Him, sun and moon: praise Him, all ye stars of light. Praise Him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens. Let them praise the Name of the Lord: for He commanded, and they were created. He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: He hath made a decree which shall not pass. Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps: Fire, and hail; snow, and vapours; stormy wind fulfilling His Word: Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars: Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl: Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth: Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children: Let them praise the Name of the Lord: for His Name Alone is Excellent; His Glory is above the earth and heaven. He also exalteth the horn of His people, the praise of all His saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye the Lord.'Psalm 148

'When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?'Psalm 8:3-4

The rich and poor meet together: the Lord is the maker of them all.Proverbs 22:2 

And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.'Leviticus 19:33-34

...'And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 'Luke 4 

'And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.' Matthew 26:39

'Verily, We have created the human from a quintessence of clay; then We placed him as a drop in a fixed resting place. We then made the drop into a clot and that into a fetus. We then made bones and clothed the bones with flesh and from that brought forth another creation. Therefore, blessed is God, the very Best of those who create.' Quran 23:12−14

'Does not the human see that We made him from a drop of sperm? Then lo, he becomes a rebellious disputant who sets before Us parables and forgets his [lowly] origin' Quran 36:77−78

'Remember the favor of God upon you, how you were enemies, and He placed sociability between your hearts, and you became, by His blessing, brothers' Quran 3:103

'...your Lord said to the angels, "Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority." They said, "Will You place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood, while we declare Your praise and sanctify You?" God said, "Indeed, I know that which you do not know."And He taught Adam the names - all of them. Then He showed them to the angels and said, "Inform Me of the names of these, if you are truthful."They said, "Exalted are You; we have no knowledge except what You have taught us. Indeed, it is You who is the Knowing, the Wise."He said, "O Adam, inform them of their names." And when he had informed them of their names, He said, "Did I not tell you that I know the unseen [aspects] of the heavens and the earth? And I know what you reveal and what you have concealed."And [mention] when We said to the angels, "Prostrate before Adam"; so they prostrated, except for Iblees. He refused and was arrogant and became of the disbelievers. And We said, "O Adam, dwell, you and your wife, in Paradise and eat therefrom in [ease and] abundance from wherever you will. But do not approach this tree, lest you be among the wrongdoers."But Satan caused them to slip out of it and removed them from that [condition] in which they had been. And We said, "Go down, [all of you], as enemies to one another, and you will have upon the earth a place of settlement and provision for a time."Then Adam received from his Lord [some] words, and He accepted his repentance. Indeed, it is He who is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful.We said, "Go down from it, all of you. And when guidance comes to you from Me, whoever follows My guidance - there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve.'Quran 2:30-38

Righteousness does not consist in turning your faces towards the east or the west.  True Righteousness consists in believing in God and the Last Day, the angels, the Book and the Prophets, and in giving away one's property in love of Him to one's kinsmen, the orphans, the poor and the wayfarer, and those who ask for help, and in freeing the neck of slaves, and in establishing prayer and dispensing the zaikai. True righteousness is attained by those who are faithful to their promise once they have made it and by those who remain steadfast in adversity and at the time of battle (between truth and falsehood). Such are the truthful ones; such are the God- Fearing. Quraan 2: 177

'I have not created the jinn and humankind except that they worship Me' Quran 51:56

'When your Lord brought the descendants of the Children of Adam from their loins, and caused them to bear witness against themselves, ‘Am I not your Lord?’ they said, ‘Certainly, we bear witness,’ lest they should say on the Day of Resurrection ‘We were heedless of this’' Quran 7:172

 

'And We have certainly honoured the children of Adam and carried them on the land and sea and provided for them of the good things and preferred them over much of what we have created, with ( definite) preference.' Quran 17:70

'O people, we created you from the same male and female, and rendered you distinct peoples and tribes that you may recognise one another. The best among you in the sight of God is the most righteous. God is omniscient, Cognisant.' Quran 49:13

'Whoever kills a human being without (any reason) like manslaughter, or corruption on earth, it is as though he had killed all mankind.' Quran 5:32

You shall not kill any person- for God has made life sacred- except in the course of justice... Quran 17:33

O you who believe, do not consume each other's properties illicitly- only mutually acceptable transactions are permitted. You shall not kill yourselves. God is Merciful towards you.' Quran 4:29

And We have certainly created you, [O Mankind], and given you [human] form. Then We said to the angels, "Prostrate to Adam"; so they prostrated, except for Iblees. He was not of those who prostrated. [ God] said, "What prevented you from prostrating when I commanded you?" [Satan] said, "I am better than him. You created me from fire and created him from clay."[ God ] said, "Descend from Paradise, for it is not for you to be arrogant therein. So get out; indeed, you are of the debased.[Satan] said, "Reprieve me until the Day they are resurrected."[ God ] said, "Indeed, you are of those reprieved."[Satan] said, "Because You have put me in error, I will surely sit in wait for them on Your straight path.Then I will come to them from before them and from behind them and on their right and on their left, and You will not find most of them grateful [to You]."[ God ] said, "Get out of Paradise, reproached and expelled. Whoever follows you among them - I will surely fill Hell with you, all together."And "O Adam, dwell, you and your wife, in Paradise and eat from wherever you will but do not approach this tree, lest you be among the wrongdoers."But Satan whispered to them to make apparent to them that which was concealed from them of their private parts. He said, "Your Lord did not forbid you this tree except that you become angels or become of the immortal."And he swore [by God ] to them, "Indeed, I am to you from among the sincere advisors."So he made them fall, through deception. And when they tasted of the tree, their private parts became apparent to them, and they began to fasten together over themselves from the leaves of Paradise. And their Lord called to them, "Did I not forbid you from that tree and tell you that Satan is to you a clear enemy?"They said, "Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers."[ God ] said, "Descend, being to one another enemies. And for you on the earth is a place of settlement and enjoyment for a time."He said, "Therein you will live, and therein you will die, and from it you will be brought forth."O children of Adam, We have bestowed upon you clothing to conceal your private parts and as adornment. But the clothing of righteousness - that is best. That is from the signs of God that perhaps they will remember. O children of Adam, let not Satan tempt you as he removed your parents from Paradise, stripping them of their clothing to show them their private parts. Indeed, he sees you, he and his tribe, from where you do not see them. Indeed, We have made the devils allies to those who do not believe.And when they commit an immorality, they say, "We found our fathers doing it, and God has ordered us to do it." Say, "Indeed, God does not order immorality. Do you say about God that which you do not know?"Say, "My Lord has ordered justice and that you maintain yourselves [in worship of Him] at every place [or time] of prostration, and invoke Him, sincere to Him in religion." Just as He originated you, you will return [to life] - Quran 7:11-29

'And it is He who has made you successors upon the earth and has raised some of you above others in degrees [of rank] that He may try you through what He has given you. Indeed, your Lord is swift in penalty; but indeed, He is Forgiving and Merciful.' Quran 6:165

'[They will be asked], "What is [wrong] with you? Why do you not help each other?"' Quran 37:25

'Indeed, those who believed and those who were Jews or Christians or Sabeans - those [among them] who believed in God and the Last Day and did righteousness - will have their reward with their Lord, and no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve.' Quran 2:62

'And of all things We created two mates; perhaps you will remember.' Quran 51:49

'And verily, when We cause man to taste of Mercy from Us, he rejoices thereat, but when some ill befalls them because of the deeds which their hands have sent forth, then verily, man (becomes) ingrate! To God belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth; He creates what he wills. He gives to whom He wills female [children], and He gives to whom He wills males. ' Quran 42:48-49

'And We certainly sent into every nation a messenger, [saying], "Worship God and shun evil." And among them were those whom God guided, and among them were those upon whom error was [deservedly] decreed. So proceed through the earth and observe how was the end of the deniers.' Quran 16:36

'Man was created of haste. I will show you My signs, so do not impatiently urge Me.' Quran 21:37

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