ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Perfect Man Part 1: The Perfect Man The subject under discussion is about the perfect man from the Islamic perspective. A perfect man means an exemplary human being, who is superior and exalted, or any other inference of the sort. Like everything else, a human being may be perfect, or he may be imperfect, regardless of normal functioning, or, being deficient. However, a normally functional person could be perfect, or imperfect.

It is necessary for Muslims to know the definition of a perfect human being from the viewpoint of Islam because it would serve as a model and example, by emulating what we can by trying to attain our perfection per Islamic teachings. Therefore, we should know what is meant by a perfect man? How he appears spiritually and intellectually, with his peculiarities, in order that we may improve ourselves, and our society based on that model?

If we do not know the Islamic definition of a perfect human being, we cannot become a perfect Muslim, or even a relatively perfect human being. From the viewpoint of Islam, there are two ways of knowing a perfect person: One way is to refer, firstly, to the Holy Qur’an, and secondly, to the traditions (Hadith), for definitions of a perfect man meant to be a best practising Muslim.

A perfect Muslim is a person who has attained perfection in Islam; a perfect believer is one who has attained perfection in his faith. Now, we must see how the Holy Qur’an and tradition have portrayed such a person, and with which peculiar attributes. To be considerate, we have many things to quote from both of these sources.

The second way is to regard a real individual who is built up on the model of the Holy Qur’an and Islam, and not an imaginary phantasmal being; but a real and objective personality who exists in various stages of perfection: at its highest level, or, even at slightly lower stages. The holy Prophet (S) himself is an example of a perfect man in Islam. Imam ‘Ali ibn Abu Talib is another example.

The process of knowing ‘Ali (a.s.) reveals a perfect man, meaning that one knows him thoroughly, and not only his name, lineage and apparent identity. We may know that ‘Ali is the son of Abu Talib and the grandson of Abd’ul-Muttalib, and that his mother is Fatima, daughter of Assad-bin-Abd’ul-Ezi, and his wife is Fatima Az-Zahra’ (a.s.), and he is the father of Imam Hassan (a.s.), and Imam Husayn (a.s.), and the dates he was born and died, and the battles he fought etc.