Turkish), is an honorific title to describe the Islamic prophet
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
. The phrase means "the person who has reached perfection", literally "the complete person". It is an important concept in Islamic culture of the
prototype
A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...
human being, pure
consciousness
Consciousness, at its simplest, is sentience and awareness of internal and external existence. However, the lack of definitions has led to millennia of analyses, explanations and debates by philosophers, theologians, linguisticians, and scien ...
, one's true identity, to be contrasted with the material human who is bound by their senses and materialism. The term was originally used by
Sunni
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...
Sufis
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spiri ...
and is still used by them, but it is also used by
Alawis
The Alawis, Alawites ( ar, علوية ''Alawīyah''), or pejoratively Nusayris ( ar, نصيرية ''Nuṣayrīyah'') are an ethnoreligious group that lives primarily in Levant and follows Alawism, a sect of Islam that originated from Shia Isla ...
and
Alevis
Alevism or Anatolian Alevism (; tr, Alevilik, ''Anadolu Aleviliği'' or ''Kızılbaşlık''; ; az, Ələvilik) is a local Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Alevi Islamic ( ''bāṭenī'') teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, wh ...
.
This idea is based upon a hadith,
which was used by
Ibn Arabi
Ibn ʿArabī ( ar, ابن عربي, ; full name: , ; 1165–1240), nicknamed al-Qushayrī (, ) and Sulṭān al-ʿĀrifīn (, , 'Sultan of the Knowers'), was an Arab Andalusian Muslim scholar, mystic, poet, and philosopher, extremely influenti ...
, that states about Muhammad: "I was a prophet when Adam was between water and clay."
The Sunni
Islamic scholar
In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of reli ...
Muhammad Alawi al-Maliki
Al-Sayyid Muhammad al-Hasan bin ‘Alawi bin ‘Abbas bin ‘Abd al-‘Aziz (1944–2004), also knowing as Muhammad ibn Alawi al-Maliki, was one of the foremost traditional Sunni Islamic scholar of contemporary times from Saudi Arabia. He was ref ...
, has published a
Sirah on Muhammad as ''al-Insān al-Kāmil''.
Al-Jili
Abd al-Karīm al-Jīlī, or Abdul Karim Jili (Arabic:عبدالكريم جيلى) was a Muslim Sufi saint and mystic who was born in 1365, in what is modern day Iraq, possibly in the neighborhood of Jil in Baghdad. He is known in Muslim mysti ...
was the author of an Arabic text entitled ''al-Insān al-Kāmil''.
Ismailis
Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja'far al-Sa ...
believe that each
Imam
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...
is a perfect man.
The origin of ''al-insān al-kāmil''
Mansur al-Hallaj
Al-Hallaj ( ar, ابو المغيث الحسين بن منصور الحلاج, Abū 'l-Muġīth Al-Ḥusayn bin Manṣūr al-Ḥallāj) or Mansour Hallaj ( fa, منصور حلاج, Mansūr-e Hallāj) ( 26 March 922) (Islamic calendar, Hijri ...
and
Al-Biruni
Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni (973 – after 1050) commonly known as al-Biruni, was a Khwarazmian Iranian in scholar and polymath during the Islamic Golden Age. He has been called variously the "founder of Indology", "Father of Co ...
expressed the idea within their works.
[.] The concept is evident in the works of
Ahmad Yasawi
Ahmad Yasawi ( kk, Қожа Ахмет Ясауи, Qoja Ahmet Iasaui, قوجا احمەت ياساۋٸ; fa, خواجه اَحمدِ یَسوی, Khwāje Ahmad-e Yasavī; 1093–1166) was a Turkic poet and Sufi, an early mystic who exerted a pow ...
(1093–1166) whose influence spread
Sufism
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...
across Central Asia. The concept was also applied by
ibn Arabi
Ibn ʿArabī ( ar, ابن عربي, ; full name: , ; 1165–1240), nicknamed al-Qushayrī (, ) and Sulṭān al-ʿĀrifīn (, , 'Sultan of the Knowers'), was an Arab Andalusian Muslim scholar, mystic, poet, and philosopher, extremely influenti ...
, a well-respected and influential Islamic thinker. The origin of this concept is derived from the
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
and ''
hadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...
'', as mentioned in Ibn Arabi's ''Fusus Al-Hikam'':
Muhammad's wisdom is uniqueness (''fardiya'') because he is the most perfect existent creature of this human species. For this reason, the command began with him and was sealed with him. He was a Prophet while Adam was between water and clay, and his elemental structure is the Seal of the Prophets.
In the Quran, man's hierarchical status above all beings is seen, as it states that God created humans in the fairest stature.
[Bowering, Gerhard. "Ensan-e-Kamel." Encyclopedia Iranica (1998): Web. 3 Apr 2011. http://iranica.com/articles/ensan-e-kamel .] Due to this occurrence the human is favored by God and is said to be given God's light which leads through them to complete perfection. The previous saying illuminates the idea that behind the true objective behind creation is God's desire to be known which is fulfilled through the perfect human being.
[
]
''Al-Insān al-kāmil'' and Ibn al-Arabi
''Al-Insan al-kamil'', or the perfect being, was first deeply discussed in written form by Ibn Arabi
Ibn ʿArabī ( ar, ابن عربي, ; full name: , ; 1165–1240), nicknamed al-Qushayrī (, ) and Sulṭān al-ʿĀrifīn (, , 'Sultan of the Knowers'), was an Arab Andalusian Muslim scholar, mystic, poet, and philosopher, extremely influenti ...
in one of his most prolific works entitled Fusus al-Hikam. Taking an idea already common within Sufi culture, Ibn al-Arabi applied deep analysis and reflection on the issue of the Perfect Human and one's pursuit in fulfilling this goal. In developing his explanation of the perfect being al-Arabi first discusses the issue of oneness through the metaphor of the mirror.[Little, John T. "Al-Insan al-Kamil: the perfect man according to Ibn al-‘Arabi." Muslim World 77.1 (1987): 43–54.] In this metaphor al-Arabi compares an object being reflected in countless mirrors to the relationship between God and his creatures. God's essence is seen in the existent human being, as God is the object and humans being the mirrors. Meaning two things, that since humans are mere reflections of God there can be no distinction or separation between the two and without God the creatures would be non-existent.
The contribution of al-Jili
Abd al-Karim b. Ibrahim al-Jili was born in 1365 and was a Sunni Sufi who spent much of his life in Yemen being taught by the Shaiyk Sharaf al-Din al-Jabarti.[Ritter, H. "ʿAbdal-Karīm, Ḳuṭb al-Dīn b. Ibrāhīm al-ḎJ̲īlī." Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Edited by: P. Bearman; Th. Bianquis; C.E. Bosworth; E. van Donzel; and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2011. Brill Online. Augustana.]
See also
* Al-Aḥzāb
Al-Ahzab ( ar, الأحزاب, ; the confederates, George Sale translation or "the clans", "the coalition", or "the combined forces") is the 33rd chapter ('' sūrah'') of the Quran (Q33) with 73 verses ('' āyāt''). The ''sūrah'' takes its ...
References
External links
Perfect Man
by Ayatullah Murtada Mutahhari
God and the Perfect Man in the Experience of 'Abd al-Qâdir al-Jaza'iri
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080304105332/http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=1633 Radical Islamic Anthropology: Key to Christian Theologizing in the Context of Islam, by David Emmanuel Singh]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Al-Insan Al-Kamil
Arabic words and phrases
Titles of Muhammad