Materialistic Concept of Life and Human being Evolution

Materialistic Concept of Life and the Enigma of Human Self and Curiosity, Knowledge, and Human being Evolution

Curiosity and Knowledge

Every person wants to know the truth of whatever new thing comes in front of him. Man's curiosity leads him to mountains, rivers and seas. The entire secret of getting knowledge is satisfaction of curiosity. It is this immense desire of man to unveil the face of reality that motivates man to seek knowledge. The innate curiosity of humanity fuels the pursuit of knowledge, uncovering the secrets of reality and self-discovery
Questions that arise in the thoughts of an individual can be classified into several kinds. But now we'll talk about the questions that every conscious human being has.

For example, in the words of Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881);

What am I?
What exactly is this universe's endless system?
What really is life?
What exactly is death?
What should my life motto be?
What should I do?

These are the questions that not only occur in the mind of every aware being, but also attempt to be answered.

One of the ideas about human life is that it is simply a form of water. That the various ingredients came together by coincidence in a way that turned lifeless stuff into living matter. Man is said to be alive as long as this order is maintained, and life ends when this stability is disrupted by an accident. This is referred to as the material concept of life.

The Materialistic Concept of Life:

According to the materialistic concept of life, the aim of life is to eat, drink, and have pleasure, which are basic human needs. The goal of life is to live a life of luxury. This way of living requires wealth. That's why anyone who gets wealth by any legal or illegal means by avoiding the grip of the law is considered successful in society, whereas someone who is unable to obtain wealth is regarded as a failure.

The Enigma of Human Self, Personality or Ego (NAFAS):

The question now is whether human life is limited to the physical body or if there is something else. It is not merely a theoretical question, but it has a significant basic relationship to life's concerns.
It is scientifically proven that a large number of cells in the human body are constantly lost and replaced by new cells. This cycle of annihilation and renewal continues and the previous body is totally converted into a new body after some time. 

It is evident that when I say "I" I do not mean my body, but something apart from my body. Which is called human self or human personality (NAFAS) which is unaffected by physical changes. The human personality (NAFAS) is not related to the material world in which every change continues. Rather, God blesses it with divine energy., and it gives man authority and will.

This divine energy is present in every human being, but only in a potential form. Through correct development, its potential abilities are gradually developed and manifested. This is known as growing oneself, or self-purification.

Western Denial and Counterargument:

Western thinkers deny the existence of this object and consider human life as limited to mere physical life. An argument for this is also presented that "human personality" or "I" (NAFAS) is not an object, it is only a human memory. And since memory ends with death, nothing remains of a person after death.

This argument appears to be weighty, but upon reflection, the truth emerges that the human being obviously uses all its acts through the body. When I decide to do something, my body fulfills my intention, but if my body stops moving due to some disease or paralysis etc., then none of my decisions are applied to my body. Thus, by stopping the movement of the body, we cannot declare that "human personality" or "I" (NAFAS) has come to an end. Rather, we would state that the means (hands, feet, etc.) of using "human personality" or "I" (NAFAS) have become flawed, despite the fact that the person or personality remains intact.

Mind, Memory, and Human Being or Personality:

Because the memory or the mind itself is not the human being, so the fact that the mind is damaged or disappeared by death does not mean that the human being or human personality has also ended. It can be understood with an example that the mind is like an instrument through which the human being shows his feelings and impressions. Even if the mind is damaged, the feelings and impressions of the human being are still there, but since the mean of their expression has become useless, we cannot feel these impressions. And memory is the name of the record room of feelings and impressions of the human being. Therefore, memory and mind are two different things. The mind is associated with the physical body, whereas memory is associated with the human being or self, which is non-physical because it is not impacted by physical changes.

Harmony of Purpose: Human Efforts Aligned with Divine Design:

Since the human being, self or ego manifests its energies through the body, the importance of the material body cannot be denied. According to the program set by God, man should subjugate the material things of the universe and keep the gains of his conquest open for the welfare and development of all mankind. The more a person strives for the welfare of all mankind according to the program set by God, the more expansion and stability is created in his personality.

Iqbal's Perspective: Good Deeds, Self-Purification, and Human Growth:

According to Sir Allama Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938), the good deed is the one that leads to human growing oneself,or self-purification and the evil action is the one that leads to weakness and disorientation. As a result, human being or personality is the criterion for determining what is good and bad. And if according to the material concept of life, human personality is completely denied, then there is no standard of good and evil left in the world. Because of this concept of human life, neither faith in God has any meaning nor the reality of legal punishment. After then, life degrades to a mere animal level, with no purpose or objective other than the nutrition of the body.

 

Continuity of the Human Being, Personality: Beyond Physical Demise:

Human personality, self or ego, which does not expire with the human body, all of a human being's deeds, even his eye movements and heart thoughts, all continue to leave their mark on the human personality. Whether a person is conscious of it or not, his actions and intentions have an effect on his personality.

This is the name of the law. This is the book of deeds in which everything is recorded. This process continues until a person dies, at which point his body disappears from existence, but his personality transcends this dimension of life and ascends to another. Some other means will be found for the manifestation of the actions of the human self. A change of means does not change the original object.
That is why identifying the position of the material world and the human being, personality, or ego (NAFS) is critical, and after conquering the material world, it is our duty as humanity to ensure that it is used for its intended purpose, i.e. for the welfare and development of all humanity.