Quran, Culture And Civilization

Quran, Culture And Civilization

An Examination of the Concept, Components, and Implications of Innate Human Dignity from the Perspective of the Qur’an, with a Comparative Assessment of Humanism

Document Type : Promotional

Authors
Ali Rahid 1
Hamid Arian 2
1 PhD Graduate in Qur’anic Exegesis and Qur’anic Sciences, Imam Khomeini Educational and Research Institute, Qom, Iran.
2 Associate Professor, Department of Qur’anic Exegesis, Imam Khomeini Educational and Research Institute, Qom, Iran.
10.22034/jksl.2025.510604.1444
Abstract
This study examines the Qur’anic perspective on the concept of innate human dignity (karāmah dhātiyyah), its essential components, and its practical implications, and then compares and evaluates it in relation to the humanist worldview. Employing a comparative approach and using library-based research and a descriptive–analytical method, the article demonstrates that the Qur’an grounds human dignity in several key elements: human reason and spirit, free will and volition, the bearing of the divine trust (amānah), and the innate primordial disposition (fiṭrah). The Qur’anic verses further indicate that the implications of such dignity include: endowment with khilāfah (vicegerency), the capacity for learning the Divine Names, worthiness of being the object of angelic prostration, the subjugation of the natural world to human benefit, the right to life, the right to freedom, entitlement to just social privileges, the obligation to protect personal reputation, and the prohibition of insulting or degrading any human being. While both the Qur’an and humanism affirm the principle of intrinsic human dignity, they differ significantly on several foundational issues: the scope and limits of innate dignity and human freedom; the rejection of absolute anthropocentrism; the primacy of the spiritual dimension in grounding dignity; the insufficiency of unaided reason in identifying the path to true human felicity; the absence of discrimination among human beings; and the Qur’an’s description of supra-animal pleasures and dignified modes of existence. These points represent major areas of divergence between the Qur’anic conception of human dignity and that of humanism.

Graphical Abstract

An Examination of the Concept, Components, and Implications of Innate Human Dignity from the Perspective of the Qur’an, with a Comparative Assessment of Humanism
Keywords
innate dignity
humanism
anthropocentrism
Qur&‌‌‌‌rsquo
an
comparative analysis

Subjects

The Holy Quran (Translated by Fooladvand).
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Quran, Culture And Civilization
Volume 6, Issue 4 - Serial Number 22
Autumn 2025
Pages 107-125

  • Receive Date 04 March 2025
  • Revise Date 28 April 2025
  • Accept Date 30 April 2025
  • Publish Date 22 December 2025