And this is one of the key factors in its survival under...

And this is one of the key factors in its survival under very trying conditions and its extraordinary development. The following verse shows this fact. “Then set your face upright for the religion in the right state - the nature made by Allah in which He has made men; there is no altering of Allah's creation; that is the right religion, but most people do not know.” (30:30) Almighty Allah has created man in a manner that he becomes aware of the right religion and has strong affinity towards it.

These are two dimensions of fitrat (the manner of our creation). We will not discuss fitrat in detail, but here it is necessary to say that this quality is the nature in man instilled by Allah. The term fitrat means a God-given quality in all human beings. Innate matters are of two kinds: knowledge and desire. So, man's fl(n (natural) instinct consists partly of knowledge and partly of desire (natural drives).

Therefore, we can say that every person through his innate God-given knowledge and desire is instinctively aware of the pure religion and has an affinity towards it. However, when a person is immersed in material life and ordinary affairs and does not pay any attention to nonmaterial ideas, his fitrat (innate knowledge) and desire will become clouded. We know that proper nourishment is necessary for the growth of the body.

If we neglect the right type of diet, it could lead to different kinds of complications that could cause a malfunction in the body. It is the same with fitrat. If we just indulge in material life, the other side will be weakened or clouded by material affairs. But in difficulties, when our attention to the material life is temporarily diverted, we turn entirely to Allah and slowly begin to feel the change from inside.

Besides the corporeal body, there is a Divine element or spiritual element in the human being. What does the Divine spirit mean? Does it mean that Allah has a spirit and has part of it in humans? Definitely not. When we attribute spirit to Allah, it is something symbolic, just like the House of Allah. Although every thing is created by Allah, some things are more precious and respected than others, so we attribute them to Allah.

Thus, we can conclude that all men have a Divine element in them, which is very important and which makes man a worthy being. The angels were commanded to prostrate before Adam (a.s.) only after Allah had breathed life into him-that is instilling the Divine Spirit into Adam.