Four Lessons from the Story of First Murder on Earth
Man becomes an insatiable being when he leaves his desires to go astray. His animal nature dominates his spiritual being and ultimately he descends from higher human status to a lower animal rank. Unbridled desires — of material, luxury, love, or fame— are the most stimulating forces that keep on dragging the man towards apathy, ruin, and enmity. In the words of Thomas Hobbes, when people start aspiring for the same thing which most of them cannot get, they become enemies of their own kind. They start behaving wildly and greedily in the state of nature. Greed is not just wanting more but it also makes one ungrateful for what he already has. Greed can never be satisfied thus every person must learn to live happily with what he has; otherwise, his dissatisfaction will take him to the path of sin and evil.
Most of us must have heard the story of Qabil (Cain) who killed his younger brother Habil (Abel) out of intense envy and arrogance. The incident is narrated in the Holy Bible and the Holy Quran. Yesterday, while I was reading Surah Maida (Chapter 05) of the glorious Quran, I descried four imperative lessons from the story. I am writing this article to share what I learned from that short but meaningful passage of the Holy book. The crux of the matter is, we all must realize the importance of warding off envy from our hearts since it never allows us to live a satisfying life.
For those who are unaware of this epic, here is a brief summary. Others can simply skip this paragraph.
Qabil and Habil were the sons of Adam, the first man and prophet on earth. A dispute arose among the brothers regarding the decision of marriage made by their father upon the commandment of God. It happened because Qabil rejected the proposal saying that his bride-to-be was ugly and he deserved a better one. He not only disobeyed his father but also God who himself had fixed this marriage. Habil, on the other hand, was a god-fearing man who did not utter a single word and agreed to marry as per his father’s wish. Upon the protest of Qabil, God asked both of them to individually offer a sacrifice to God. Upon doing so, Habil’s sacrifice was accepted and that of Qabil was rejected because it was done in animosity and not with the purity of heart. Despite understanding the cause of rejection, Qabil got more wrathful at his brother and threatened to slay him. Habil was a righteous and kind person; he tried to placate his brother and advised him to stay calm but the bitterness in Qabil’s mind was unalterable. Qabil was burning in jealousy and he reasserted that he was going to kill his brother. Upon that, Habil said that he was a God-fearing person and he would never attack him first but if Qabil did so, he would have full right to protect his sacred life. He told him that during retaliation, whatever means he used to protect his life would not earn him any sin and his sin would also go to his brother (Qabil). It was said to make Qabil realize that he would become a huge sinner if he attacked and slew his brother because of envy. However, Qabil could not hold his grudge, attacked his brother and took his life. Just right after committing this murder, he started feeling remorseful. Now he could not undo it. He was nervous thinking about what he had done. Exactly that moment, God says that He sent a crow at the murder site who started digging into the earth with his talons and told Qabil to hide the dead body into the earth. Qabil, in the state of extreme anxiety, followed the crow's instructions. He dug into the earth and got rid of the dead body of this brother and while doing so, he was continuously thinking that how unfortunate he was that he had not thought about disposing of the dead body before killing his brother. And now a petty crow was teaching him how to do it.
Here, it is worth-considering why God included this story in the Holy books for us. Anyway, here are the four takeaways:
First; the seed of envy quickly becomes a tree of enmity; it must be crushed at the embryonic stage
If Qabil had crushed his sentiment of jealousy at the very beginning he would not have lost his brother. If he had fought with the evil forces inside him, he would not have become a remorseful sinner. He neither accepted the rejection nor pondered over the flaws in his own nature and acted negatively. His animal instincts compelled him to choose the path of satan and he could not resist them. Ultimately, at the climax of the dispute, he slew his brother in cold blood.
The sense of unfulfillment releases the poison of envy in the human heart. It gradually pollutes the whole heart and makes us pugnacious persons. I learned that we all must try to find an antidote for this poison before it ruins our personality and dooms our social life. This ill can only be treated with wisdom and patience. Moreover, we all should accept ourselves the way we are and avoid making such comparisons which give us discontent.
Second; a peaceful person never attacks first but if he is attacked unjustly, he must defend himself vehemently.
Habil set an excellent example for all of us by forgiving the aggression of his brother and trying to conciliate him. He taught us by his own practical example that a god-fearing person never harms others and respect their existence. Seeing his death in front of him, he stayed calm and left the matter on God. He knew that God is the creator and destroyer of everything and taking the life of any living thing without His consent is akin to disobeying Him. With this example, the Holy Quran also taught me that the aggressor bears the burden of double sin: one of his aggression and second of the harm done in retaliation of the aggressed.
Third; when on kills someone unjustly, it is as if he killed the whole humanity.
“….if anyone killed a person, not in retaliation of murder, or (and) to spread mischief in the land — it would be as if he killed all mankind, and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all mankind.”
(Holy Quran 05: 32)
These words of Allah Almighty are above all the statements and ideas that advocate Human Rights. This verse depicts how sacred the life of every person is and how gruesome it is to kill someone without a justified reason. And we should not confine the verse to its literal meaning only, rather we should understand that every social behavior that paves the way of murder in the society must be condemned. It is the responsibility of every one of us to stay vigilant for the protection of vulnerable factions of our society.
Society must collectively discourage every form of aggression. It is a matter of respect for human life. If a person has become so disrespectful that he kills the other person, then he is a threat to the whole society. Every member of society must stop him before he starts thinking of killing someone else. Similarly, when a person endangers his life to protect others from being killed, he becomes the savior of the whole humanity in the eyes of God.
Fourth; one who repeatedly rejects guidance is forsaken by God to fight with the evil forces alone.
(This one has the deepest meaning. I hope that I explain it properly.)
Now I realize why some people are so nefarious that they cannot even think about doing something good. Why some people are mere animals under the guise of humans. Why there is no sign of humanity in those who commit heinous crimes against humanity. This story gives me the answer.
When a person becomes so arrogant that he starts ignoring his inner voice, his potential to do good virtues perishes; his conscience dies and his actions become totally impulsive. God has given free will and potential to every individual to discern good and bad. He not only guides him in making decisions but also protects him from evil forces. But when the man repeatedly ignores His guidance, God also leaves him alone to fight the evil forces that come from Satan. At this stage, if he does not repent, God shuts all doors of mercy for him.
In this story, God says that He sent a crow to teach Qabil how to dispose of the carcass of his brother. This indicates that God was so angry at Qabil that he pulled back all His guidance and left him alone to deal with Satan. Satan quickly took advantage of the opportunity and reached there in the form of a crow and taught him how to conceal his crime and become a complete criminal.
