Human Growth and Development (Part 1)

AS-SALAAMU ALAIKUM, WA REHMATUL LAAHI WA BARAKAATUH,

Wait for adhaan

Standard Introduction:

AUZO BIL LAAHI MIN ASH SHAYTAANIR RAJEEM,

BISMIL LAAHIR RAHMAANIR RAHIM

AL HAMDU LILLAAHI RABBIL ‘ALAMEEN. WAS SALAATU WAS SALAAMU ‘ALAA ASHRAFIL MURSALEEN. SAYIDINAA WA NABI YENAA WA MOULANAA MUHAMMADIN WA’ALA AALEHEE WA AS HAABEHEE WASALLIM.

All praise is due to Alláh, the Lord of all the Worlds; may the greetings and peace be upon the best messenger, Prophet Muhammad (SAW), and upon his family and upon all of his companions.

AL-HAMDU LILLA HIL LAZI HADAANA LIHAAZA WAMA KUNNA LANAHTADIYA LAW’LA ANN HADAANA ALLAH. (You must expand this Arabic portion of Khutbah, depending on the month/season, e.g. Hajj, Ramadaan, etc.)

Meaning:

Praise is due to Allah,

Praise is due to Allah who guided us to the righteous path, and indeed we wouldn’t have attained this state of guidance without Him Allah,

AMMA BA’AD.

English Part of the Khutbah:

IKHWATI FIL ISLAM, ASH-HAAB AL ILM, WA RUWAAD AL ILM, Brothers in Islam, Learned Colleagues and Scholars,

AS-SALAAMU ALAIKUM, WA REHMATUL LAAHI WA BARAKAATUH,

In the last couple of weeks we performed a number of Science based Khutbahs. So for example, we learned about the process of Creation and Yawm Al Aakhirah in the light of the Holy Quran and compared this with Astrophysics, the Big Bang Theory, the Cosmic Crunch, the Black Hole etc. In fact we learned that there are hundred of scientific facts in the Holy Quran and we quoted the exact Ayaats to strengthen your Imaan, as seeing is believing.

Since then those of you who have not majored in Science have e mailed and felt that we covered enough Science in our Khutbahs, so the scope should now be widened to include 3 other subjects in the future Khutbahs, as follows:

1. Anthropological aspects mentioned in the Holy Quran because the Holy Quran coupled with the Hadiths of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) indeed gives us a complete guide to a way of life which is what Islam is about and which equates to the following 3 beautiful words:

Islam = Peaceful + Plural + Tolerant

We mentioned before Ayaat, 256, from Surah 2, entitled, “Baqara” that:

Translation: Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. And Allah heareth and knoweth all things.

Incidentally, Anthropology is defines as the study of the human race, its culture and society and its physical development.

2. “Principles of Human Growth and Development” : Derivable from the Qur’an and Hadith proving that the Human Life and its Development is a gradual process, as determined by ASWT.

3. Scientific and Psychological proofs about the Wisdom of the age of 40 in Islam.

As per your kind request, Insha Allah (IA), we can cover these 3 topics but due to the time constraints, IA, it will be done in 3 separate Khutbahs.

Basic Concepts and Definitions

So in today’s Khutbah, lets cover the first 2 topics which are intermingled, i.e., Anthropology coupled with Human Growth and Development.

As we learned during our science based Khutbahs that present day Science has still a long way to go and catch up with the with the hard core scientific facts mentioned in the Ayaats in the Quran, for truly Quran anticipated many of the modern scientific discoveries which were simply beyond human imagination 14 centuries ago.

In a similar mode, the next stage may sound boring but we have prove to ourselves just how backward Sociology and Psychology are today and how they have tackled the “Principles of Human Growth and Development” by looking at the works of leading psychoanalysts and psychologists as follows. After that we will recite the many beautiful Ayaats that deals with the concept of Principles of Human Growth and Development.

In terms of organisational behaviour, by studying different stages of life and work (Super, 1957), the concept of “Career Stage” evolved, as follows, i.e., developmental psychologists such as Buehler, Levinson, Piaget concentrated on stages of psychological development.

Leading sociologists like Form and Miller identified periods of individuals’ working lives, and by combining these two foci the concept of “Career Stages” first emerge in the literature.

For example, the Exploratory Stage defined by Buehler (1933), a German developmentalist, and the Initial Work Period classified by sociologists Form and Miller (1949) both describe the experience of adolescents’ exploration of work. As a developmental stage, the Exploratory Stage represents the time period in which adolescents define their adult identities through spousal, social, and career choices, while the Initial Work Period describes the first jobs adolescents take to explore the world of work. In this way, the contributions of both psychologists and sociologists created a framework for understanding careers using the concept of career stage.

In 1950, Erik Erikson, a leading Psychoanalytic psychologist, described eight stages of the human life cycle, from infancy to old age, with each stage marked by a crisis that individuals must resolve before continuing to the next stage. In his seventh stage, middle adulthood (40-65), has as its conflict generativity stagnation, which refers to a person’s ability to care for another person. The most important event in this stage is parenting. Does the adult have the ability to care and guide the next generation? According to Erikson, “A person does best at this time to put aside thoughts of death and balance its certainty with the only happiness that is lasting: to increase, by whatever is yours to give, the good will and higher order in your sector of the world”. Generativity can also be seen at work; it is during this stage that individuals are more likely to become mentors and leaders and begin to think about succession planning if the work calls for. AND Brothers that’s it.

Modern day developmental psychologists and Sociologists haven’t got much to add. Conversely, now lets see how ASWT describes the whole concept of the Human Growth and Development, Ayaat by Ayaat in the Holy Quran.

Principles of Human Development Derivable from the Qur’an and Hadith

In the opening Surah of the Holy Qur’an, the Fatihah, ASWT declares that He is the Lord and Cherisher of the worlds:

Translation: Praises be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.

What this means is that He is the sole creator of the universe and that He nourishes and sustains it. The implication is that He is the originator of everything (seen and unseen, known and unknown) and that everything depends on Him for sustenance, growth, and development. This interpretation is conveyed in the following Ayaat of the Qur’an:

Surah 39, Zumar, or the Crowds, Ayaat:62:

Translation: Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is the Guardian and Disposer of all affairs.

ASWT is the creator of all things, and He is the guardian and disposer of all affairs. These Ayaats provide the background for our discussion on aspects and principles of human development in the Qur’an, particularly cognitive development. Incidentally the word cognitive is an adjective before the noun, connected with thinking or conscious mental processes.

In fact, as far as the Qur’an is concerned, the meaning of these two Ayaats is the fundamental principle of human development. So, ASWT is the creator of man, and He is the sole determinant of the pattern and process of his growth and development. The following paragraphs enunciate (or explain) this dominant principle in forms of sub principles of human development. In the Islamic perspective of developmental psychology, the following principles are identifiable:

Human Life (Growth and Development) Is a Gradual Process

This is the first principle of development that can be derived from the Qur’an. Having told us that He is the creator, guardian, and disposer of all things, ASWT also told us that He created man in various progressive stages of growth and development. In other words, man’s life has been patterned in stages from conception to death. The stages through which man passes in his growth and development are not merely a matter of chance or accident. They were predesigned, predetermined, and graduated by ASWT Himself. ASWT mentions this basic fact in a number of Ayaats in the Qur’an. Examples of such Ayaats are the following:

Surah 25, Furqaan or The Criterion, Ayaat 2:

Translation: He to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth: no son has He begotten, nor has He a partner in His dominion: it is He who created all things, and ordered them in due proportions.

This Ayaat clearly spells out the fact that the life of everything has been designed in such a way that every aspect of it is proportionately graduated. In the case of human growth and development it means that the various phases mentioned above have been duly proportioned and all humans have to pass through each stage up to old age and death. That growth and development does not take place at once but pass through the duly and proportionately designed phases is what makes them a gradual process. The following Ayaat clearly mentions that we have been created and caused to grow in phases, not at once:

Surah 71, Nuh (AS), Ayaat 13-14:

Translation: What is the matter with you, that ye place not your hope for kindness and long-suffering in Allah;

Translation: Seeing that it is He that has created you in diverse stages?

Ibn Kathir reported that H. Abdullah ibn Abbas (RA), hereinafter referred to as H.Ibn Abbas (RA) and others interpreted this Ayaat to mean that man has been created from a drop of sperm, then transformed into a clot of blood, then into a morsel of flesh, and so on. Allah says in the Qur’an:

Surah 84, Inshiqāq, or The Rending Asunder, Ayaat 19:

Translation: Ye shall surely travel from stage to stage.

Ibn Kathir again reported that H. ‘Ikrimah (RA) one of the disciples of H. Ibn Abbas (RA) interpreted this Ayaat to mean that man shall grow from one condition to the other such that he becomes a toddler after being an infant, old after being young and strong.

The above Ayaats tell us in general terms that man’s growth and development definitely follow certain stages. These stages are specifically spelled out in some other Ayaats in the Qur’an in more elaborate and particular terms. The Prophet Muhammad (SAW) himself enunciated and expounded them in more detail in some of his Hadiths. These will be seen in our subsequent discussions. It is however important to note that the phases through which growth and development pass are themselves spread over two broad stages.

Human life (growth and development) has been categorized in the Qur’an into two broad phases: the prenatal and the postnatal. Each of these phases has been subdivided into different substages having different terms and periods. The following Qur’anic Ayaat succinctly describes the first phase of human life:

Sura 39, Zumar, or the Crowds, Ayaat 6:

Translation: He created you (all) from a single person: then created, of like nature, his mate; and he sent down for you eight head of cattle in pairs: He makes you, in the wombs of your mothers, in stages, one after another, in three veils of darkness. such is Allah, your Lord and Cherisher: to Him belongs (all) dominion. There is no God but He: then how are ye turned away (from your true Centre)?

In another Ayaat, the Qur’an describes the two phases in a precise and concise manner:

Surah 40: Mū-min, or The Believer, Ayaat 67:

Translation: It is He Who has created you from dust then from a sperm-drop, then from a leech-like clot; then does he get you out (into the light) as a child: then lets you (grow and) reach your age of full strength; then lets you become old though of you there are some who die before and lets you reach a Term appointed; in order that ye may learn wisdom.

The Qur’an has also told us that the first phase has a certain fixed and definite term within which it reaches its apex of development. Then it is terminated through birth (by delivery). But in much more elaborate, precise, and detailed terms the following Ayaat further describes these two broad stages with their respective specific phases. It reads thus in :

Surah 22: Hajj, or the Pilgrimage, Ayaat 5:

Translation: O mankind! if ye have a doubt about the Resurrection, (consider) that We created you out of dust, then out of sperm, then out of a leech-like clot, then out of a morsel of flesh, partly formed and partly unformed, in order that We may manifest (our power) to you; and We cause whom We will to rest in the wombs for an appointed term, then do We bring you out as babes, then (foster you) that ye may reach your age of full strength; and some of you are called to die, and some are sent back to the feeblest old age, so that they know nothing after having known (much), and (further), thou seest the earth barren and lifeless, but when We pour down rain on it, it is stirred (to life), it swells, and it puts forth every kind of beautiful growth (in pairs).

The Prophet (S.A.W.) has precisely and accurately described the first broad stage with fixed time specifications stipulated for each of the phases within it. The Hadith reads thus:

Lo! The creation of each one of you is composed in the womb of his mother (first) as a nutfah (mixed drop of sperm and ovum) for forty days then after that he transforms to alaqah (a clot of congealed blood) for a similar term, then he transforms to mudghah (a lump of flesh), and then an Angel is sent to blow the rooh into him.

Therefore, the Qur’an has established that the prenatal period is definite and fixed (usually 9 months under normal circumstances as enunciated in one of the Hadiths) and as experienced practically in daily life. However, the Qur’an further mentions to us that there are exceptional cases whereby the prenatal period terminates, before or after the normal term. And all these happen in accordance with ASWT’s Absolute Will and Decree. The Qur’an says:

Surah 3, Al Imran,: Ayaat 6:

Translation: He it is Who shapes you in the wombs as He pleases. There is no god but He, the Exalted in Might, the Wise.

This means that the nature, form, size, and time in which individuals are created and shaped in the womb may vary according to the will and wishes of ASWT. Because of this, He affirms that some pregnancies may be delivered before or after the normal time of delivery. But the knowledge of that (addition or reduction in time) is His exclusive preserve:

Surah 13, Ra’d, or Thunder, Ayaat 8 & 9

Translation: Allah doth know what every female (womb) doth bear, by how much the wombs fall short (of their time or number) or do exceed. Every single thing is before His sight, in (due) proportion.

Translation: He knoweth the unseen and that which is open: He is the Great, the Most High.

As for the postnatal phase of growth and development, the Qur’an does not mention any fixed span of life that is generally applicable to all individuals; it differs from one individual to the other. That is why in the Ayaat referred to earlier, the Qur’an says:

“And some of you are called to die (at different ages) and some are sent to the feeblest old age.”

Due to time constraints, we will stop here and IA, continue next time.

Conclusion of the First Part of the Khutbah:

NAD’OO ALLAHA AN YAGHFIR LANA ZUNUBAKUM”

Meaning: We make Duas to ASWT, so that he will accept all our Ibadat & forgive our sins.

WA AAKHERO DAA’ WAANA ANIL HAMDO LIL LAAHEY RABBIL AALAMEEN

Second Khutbah:

FORMAL ARABIC KHUTBA WILL BE RECITED AT THIS JUNCTURE.

Globally Standardized Conclusion:

ALLAHUMMAGH FIR LIL’ MUSLIMEENA WAL MUSLIMAAT

WAL MOAMINEENA WAL MOUMINAAT…

AL-AHYAA’EE MINHUM WAL AMWAAT…

INNAKAA SAMEE’UN MUJIBUD DA’WAAT

Meaning:

Ya Allah, forgive all our Muslim men and women,

Forgive the believing men and women,

Those who are alive and those who died,

You are indeed the One who listens and accepts all supplications.

RABBANA LAA TUZIGH QULOOBANAA, BA’DA ITH HADAY TANAA WAHAB LANAA MILLA DUNKA RAHMA. INNAKAA ANTAL WAH-HAAB.

O Allah, do not let our hearts deviate from the Truth now that we have been guided , but grant us Mercy from Your very Presence, for You are the Grantor of bounties without measure.

RABBI JA’ALNI MUQEEMUS SALAATI, WAMIN DUR-RIY-YATI, RABBANAA WATA QABBAL DU’AAH.

Ya Rabb, help us to perfect our salaat, and of our descendants, Our Lord, accept the duas of all these brothers.

RABBIGH FIRLEE WALI WAALI DAYYA, WALIL MU’MINEENA YAWMA YAQOOMUL HISAAB.

My Lord, forgive us, and our parents, and all Believers until the Yawm al Qiyamah.

Ya Allah, accept our Ibadat and forgive us.

Ya Rabb, have mercy on us. Help us obey you and praise you.

Ya Allah, we make dua so please lead us to prosperity and growth, to triumph and solidarity, to unity and wealth beyond our imagination.

Ya Allah, we beg for your MAGFIRATAK, and ask you for success, health and wealth for all the brothers who are present here and now in this blessed room.

Ya Rabb, increase our love that binds us together now, and in the future to come.

With regards to their dear beloved ones who have passed away, Ya Rabb, may you grant them a place in Jannatul Firdaus. May you forgive all their KHATAYAA, KABEERA WA SAGHEERAH. May you fill their Qabr with your holy noor and light. Ya Rabb, may you also save us from ADHAAB AL QABR. Ya Allah, grant their rooh, eternal peace, AR RAAHA AL ABDIYYAA on the YAWM AL HISAAB.

Ya Allah, accept all our duas, fulfil all our righteous wishes, fulfil our dreams,.

Ya Allah, may your rehma and safety encompass all our families, wherever they may be.

Ya Allah, grant these brothers who are present, here and now, SABR that is YUHIB HUM AS SABR.

Ya Allah, make the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) intercede or YASHFAAH on our behalf on YAWM A QIYAAMAH.

Globally Standardized Conclusion:

IBAA DAL LAAH:

IN NAL LAAHA YA’A MURU BIL ADLI WAL IHSAN

WA EE TA’EE ZIL QURBAA WA YANHAA ANIL FAHSHAA’EE WAL MUNKAREE WAL BAGH’YI

YA EE ZUKUM LA AL LAKUM TAZAK KAROON.

FAZ KU ROONI AZ KUR KUM WAS KU RU LI WA LA TAK FURUN.

Then you conclude by saying to the mu’azzin:

WA AA QIMUS SALAAH