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''Fitra'' or ''fitrah'' (;
ALA-LC ALA-LC (American Library AssociationLibrary of Congress) is a set of standards for romanization, the representation of text in other writing systems using the Latin script. Applications The system is used to represent bibliographic information by ...
: ) is either the state of purity and innocence in which
Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
believe all humans to be born, or the ability to choose or reject God's guidance, with which both humans and
jinn Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic ...
are endowed. ''Fitra'' is an Arabic word that is usually translated as "original disposition", "natural constitution", or "innate nature of any Muslim." It has also been suggested that the religious meaning can be translated into the logical equivalent in philosophy, as Kant's concept of '
ought ''Ought'' may refer to: *One of the English modal verbs *One of the names for the number 0 in English * Ought (band), a Montreal post-punk band on the Canadian Constellation Records See also *Is–ought problem *Categorical imperative *Nought ...
'.


Root of word

The root verb F-Ṭ-R means to split or cleave, also found in
Iftar Iftar ( ar, translit=Iftar Ramadan, إفطار رمضان), also known as (from , , 'breakfast'), (), is the evening meal with which Muslims end their daily Ramadan fast at sunset. They break their fast at the time of the call to prayer ...
(breaking the fast),
Eid al-Fitr , nickname = Festival of Breaking the Fast, Lesser Eid, Sweet Eid, Sugar Feast , observedby = Muslims , type = Islamic , longtype = Islamic , significance = Commemoration to mark the end of fasting in Ramadan , date ...
, and in the 82nd chapter of the Quran ( Surah Al-Infitar - The Splitting). Arabic lexicographers also relate it to ''create''. ''Fatir'' is usually translated as ''originator'' or ''creator'', and thus ''fitra'' is also considered to refer to the "state of creation".


Quran, Hadith and interpretation

In
surah A ''surah'' (; ar, سورة, sūrah, , ), is the equivalent of "chapter" in the Qur'an. There are 114 ''surahs'' in the Quran, each divided into '' ayats'' (verses). The chapters or ''surahs'' are of unequal length; the shortest surah (''Al-Ka ...
30 of the
Quran The Quran (, ; Standard 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 from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , ...
, the word is used in the context of the following verse: "Set thy face to religion as a Hanif in the primordial nature from God upon which originated mankind there is no altering the creation of God; that is upright but most mankind know not."
Seyyed Hossein Nasr Seyyed Hossein Nasr (; fa, سید حسین نصر, born April 7, 1933) is an Iranian philosopher and University Professor of Islamic studies at George Washington University. Born in Tehran, Nasr completed his education in Iran and the Unite ...
links ''fitra'' in the Quran closely to the concept of '' Hanif'' (pre Islamic monotheist) and ''Nabi al-Ummi'' ("The Illiterate Prophet" or "The Aboriginal Prophet"), a notion also attested in older sources of Islamic tradition. If the term is understood to mean "divide", it might signify that God separates his creation into believers and unbelievers by means of the "true religion". In the prophetic traditions (''hadith''), the term gets new attention: “No one is born except according to intrinsic nature '(fitra)'' but their parents make them
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, or
Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ� ...
, or Magians, just as a cow gives birth to a calf that is whole do you find it mutilated?'" The
Muʿtazila Muʿtazila ( ar, المعتزلة ', English: "Those Who Withdraw, or Stand Apart", and who called themselves ''Ahl al-ʿAdl wa al-Tawḥīd'', English: "Party of ivineJustice and Oneness f God); was an Islamic group that appeared in early Islami ...
argue that Islamic law is rational and given to every born child, thus ''fitra'' is identified with ''Islam''. This viewpoint was also adapted by several canonical traditions. In others however, ''fitra'' refers to the pre-Islamic religion, originating in
Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
, before any religious obligations have been revealed. According to the
Maturidi Māturīdī theology or Māturīdism ( ar, الماتريدية: ''al-Māturīdiyyah'') is one of the main Sunnī schools of Islamic theology, founded by the Persian Muslim scholar, Ḥanafī jurist, reformer (''Mujaddid''), and scholastic ...
scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...
(''ʿĀlim'') Abu al-Layth al-Samarqandi, humans and jinn are created with ''fitra'', and thus obligated (''taklīf'') to follow God's law.Abu l-Lait as-Samarqandi's Commentary on Abu Hanifa al-Fiqh al-absat Introduction, Text and Commentary by Hans Daiber Islamic concept of Belief in the 4th/10th Century Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa p. 243


See also

*
Natural law Natural law ( la, ius naturale, ''lex naturalis'') is a system of law based on a close observation of human nature, and based on values intrinsic to human nature that can be deduced and applied independently of positive law (the express enacte ...
, the similar concept in Catholicism * Shuddhi, the similar concept in Hinduism


Notes


Further reading

*J.M. Cowan (1994), ''The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic'' *
John Esposito John Louis Esposito (born May 19, 1940) is an Italian-American academic, professor of Middle Eastern and religious studies, and scholar of Islamic studies, who serves as Professor of Religion, International Affairs, and Islamic Studies at Ge ...
(2003), ''The Oxford Dictionary of Islam'' *M. Masud (1996), ''Islamic Legal Interpretation: Muftis and Their Fatwas'' *Imam Ali, ''
Nahjul Balagha ''Nahj al-Balagha'' ( ar, نَهْج ٱلْبَلَاغَة ', 'The Path of Eloquence') is the best-known collection of sermons, letters, and sayings attributed to Ali ibn Abi Talib, fourth Rashidun Caliph, first Shia Imam and the cousin and s ...
: Sermons, Letters & Sayings of Imam Ali'' *Al-Kulayni, ''al-Usul mina ‘l-Kãfi'', vol. 2, p. 13; al-Bukhãri, Sahih, vol. 2 (Beirut: Dãr al-Fikr, 1401) p. 104{{refend Islamic terminology Quranic words and phrases Arabic words and phrases