[Islam-Online- Psychology]

In the previous discussion, many mentions were made of God being the Creator of all things and having dominion over all things. What this implies is that He has full control over all things because of His omniscience and omnipotence. In many verses of the Qur'an, He mentions this fundamental fact. Therefore, it means that everything happens in accordance with His absolute will. In other words, He is the ultimate and absolute cause of everything that happens. He says:
But you shall not will except as God wills, the Cherisher of the Worlds. (81:29)
So, the alternation of day and night, hot and cold seasons, rainy and dry seasons, life and death, the germination of seeds, the blowing of winds, in fact everything is caused by Him and happens by His permission and will.
But in spite of this, God has created temporal causes and effects. He governs and directs the universe in accordance with these causes and effects. For example, rain has been made to be one of the causes of seed germination, copulation between male and female has been made to be the cause of pregnancy, hunger has been made to be the cause of eating (eating itself causes satisfaction while eating bad food causes ill health). So, in this phenomenal existence things happen by means of other things. But as far as the Qur'an is concerned, these myriads of causes and effects are part of God's will. In this regard, the degree, rate, magnitude, and level at which a particular cause brings about an effect is something which absolutely depends on God's will. Thus, the effectiveness of a cause in precipitating a certain result or effect is determined by God's will. On a similar note, therefore, the magnitude of the result of a particular cause itself is determined by God's will. This point is precisely enunciated by Rahman: 29

God is the Creator of the universe, the ultimate reality and the cause of all causes. . . . Everything in the universe follows the law of its Creator (His Law) as He says in the Qur'an:
Glorify the name of thy Guardian-Lord Most High; Who hath created, and further, given order and proportion; Who hath ordained laws and granted guidance. (87:1-3)
The foregoing analysis has been made as background to the discussion on factors that influence development. And in the light of it (the analysis), it can be seen that Islam recognizes to certain extents the two important factors which fundamentally influence the growth and development of man, namely, heredity and environment. Numerous textual evidences from the Qur'an and Hadith establish the influence of hereditary and environmental forces on an individual's overall development. But it needs to be emphasized here that the hereditary and environmental influences on the development of a person are themselves subject to the will of God. This means that Islamic psychology does not look at man as a being who is simply subjected to hereditary and environmental forces (i.e., left at their mercy). Islam looks at man as one being among others, who is primarily governed, sustained, guided, and controlled by God's infinite power and will. The forces of heredity and environment which influence man's development are secondary and are, therefore, only mere mediums through which God disposes His Will on man's overall growth and development.
For the purpose of clarity, some textual proof from the Qur'an and Prophetic traditions that confirm the influence of heredity and environment on man's development are given below. After that, some other textual proofs that also establish beyond reasonable doubts the Divine control of man's life and development are also given.
Textual Proofs of the Influence of Heredity on Development

Bukhari and Muslim report on the authority of Anas bin Malik the following:
His mother (Anas's mother) Umm Sulaym (one of the female companions of the Prophet) asked the Prophet about a woman seeing a wet dream in her sleep like a man. He answered, "If the woman sees that she should take the obligatory (janabah) bath." Then Umm Salmah (the Prophet's wife who was present) asked shyly, "Does that happen?" The Prophet replied, "Of course it does! Then how does (hereditary) resemblance come about (if it does not happen)? Man's sperm is a white and thick liquid while the woman's egg cell is a thin yellowish liquid. Whichever of the two overcomes the other, the offspring shall resemble him/her." (This version as reported by Muslim.)

Muslim reports on the authority of Thauban, that a Jew came and asked the Prophet numerous questions (in an attempt to challenge the truth of his Prophethood). Among other things, he asked him a question which he (the Jew) claimed nobody could know its answers at that point in time except a true Prophet. The question was about sex determination, i.e., how does it take place? The Prophet gave him the following answer:
The male sperm is white and the female ovum is yellowish. If they meet (get fertilized) and the male sperm cells overcome the female's egg cell, the offspring shall bear a male sex by God's permission. And if the female egg cell overcomes the male spermatozoon the offspring shall bear a female sex by God's permission.
After the Prophet answered the Jew told him that he spoke the truth and that he is truly a Prophet. Ibn al-Qayyim expounded this hadith further:
At the moment of conception (fertilization) two things are involved. These are foremostness and overcoming. The two can happen consecutively, and they can also occur differently. In this regard, if the male sperm cell becomes foremost and still overcomes the female ovum, the offspring shall be male and shall resemble the father. But if the reverse is the case, the offspring shall become female and shall resemble the mother. If, however, one becomes foremost but the other overcomes it, the offspring shall resemble the foremost one and its sex shall be the same with the overcomer, either male or female.
Ibn al-Qayyim, however, cautioned that this sexual determination (and any other thing that goes with it) should not be thought of as merely caused by nature. It is an affair which purely depends on God's will. That is why the Prophet said in another authentic hadith that the Angel sent to blow spirit into the foetus asks Allah:
O my Lord! Should the sex be male or female? . . . Then God determines it according to His Will and the Angel records it.

It is reported that Lian (one of the Prophet's companions Hilal ibn Umayyah) accused his wife of committing adultery with Shuraikh ibn As-Sahma. The Prophet instructed in the following way:
Allow her to deliver, if the child bears so and so traits then he belongs to the accused man. But if the child bears so and so traits the child is then the son of her legitimate husband.30

The textual evidence leaves no doubt that hereditary endowment takes place. But the ultimate decision of everything depends on God. Heredity, therefore, can influence a person's intellectual development to a certain extent.
Textual Proof of the Influence of Environment on Development

A famous evidence in this regard is a hadith in which the Prophet tells us how parents influence the religious, moral, and general psychological socialization and development of their children. This is one of the most glaring textual proofs of environmental influence upon a person. The hadith reads:
There is not a newborn child who is not born in state of fitrah (divinely endowed natural disposition of Islam). His parents then make him a Jew (if they are Jews), a Christian (if they are Christians), or a Magian (if they are Magians), just as an animal is born intact. Do you observe any among them that are maimed (at birth)?

In another hadith, the Prophet showed how companionship influences a person's behavior, character, and overall conduct. In a parable, the Prophet said:
The similitude of a good companion and a bad companion is like the possessor of musk perfume and a blacksmith. As for the owner of the perfume, he may either give it to you, or you purchase it from him, or at least you may get a pleasing odor from him. But as for the blacksmith, he may either burn your clothes or you get from him a bad displeasing odor.

In a metaphorical sense, the Prophet tells us how good companionship influences a person's character to goodness and how bad companionship induces a person to bad conduct. Environment, therefore, really influences a person's overall psychological development, including, of course, cognitive development.
Textual Proof of God's Will
There is substantial evidence that shows that heredity or environment per se do not in themselves determine an individual's pattern of development; ultimately, everything depends on God's will. The most striking example of this is the story of Jesus, son of Mary. God made him talk in his cradle. As we all know, language development is an integral part of cognitive development. Under normal circumstances children begin to talk around the age of two by rattling and in that way they continue to develop vocabulary. That Jesus talked in his cradle reveals God's power. It was not actually a hereditary endowment, neither was it a product of an "intellectually stimulating" environment. It was simply a manifestation of God's Wisdom, His infinite power, will, and ability to do all things. The Qur'an narrates this incident in several verses. First of all the Qur'an narrates to us how Mary was foretold that her son would talk in his cradle. The verse reads:
He shall speak unto mankind in his cradle and in his manhood and he shall be one of those brought near (unto Allah). (2:46)
And while narrating the full story, the Qur'an says:
At length she brought the (babe) to her people, carrying him (in her arms). They said: O Mary! Truly an amazing thing hast thou brought. O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste! But she pointed to the babe. They said: How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle? He (the child) said: I am indeed a servant of God; He hath given me revelation and made me a Prophet; And (He) hath made me blessed wheresoever I be, and hath enjoined on me prayer and charity wherever I be; (He) hath made me kind to my mother, and not over bearing or miserable; So peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life (again)! Such was Jesus the son of Mary: (It is) a statement of truth, about which they (vainly) dispute; It is not befitting to (the Majesty of) God that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! When He determines a matter, He only says to it, "Be," and it is. (19:27-35)

In a hadith reported by various hadith reporters including Bukhari, the Prophet has told us that this kind of miraculous incident did not only happen in the case of Jesus alone. He said it happened to two other persons, who also spoke in cradle. He said, "three people talked in their cradle." He first of all mentioned Jesus. And then he mentioned the rest of the two. One of them was also a newly born baby who spoke to exonerate a saint (Juraiju) who was mischievously and falsely accused of impregnating a whore, the result of which was the birth of that very child. The child spoke and said his father was the cattle rearer who used to rear his cattle around a mountain close to Juraiju's sanctuary.
Another child who spoke in his cradle was the child who spoke in response to the prayer of his mother when she prayed that God would make her son to be like one gorgeously dressed, arrogant rich man and that the child not be like one wretched, destitute lady who was falsely accused of theft and was also mischievously molested as a result of the false accusation. Both of them passed by her while she was breast feeding the child. In the first case the child turned his head and looked at the man then he said, "O God! Make me not like him." Also in the second case, he turned his head and looked at the woman and he said, "O God! Make me like her.33
What these verses teach us is that, while heredity and environment are indisputable factors that influence man's development, a third, more significant and dominant factor exists. This is the factor of God's infinite will and power. It is the factor which monitors and polices the extent to which the nature-nurture forces influence man's life and development. This is applicable to all aspects of development. The examples given above are specifically relevant to cognitive development. Thus, cognitive development is neither merely a product of genetic inheritance per se, nor a product of environment per se. It is primarily a product of God's will and power. In this regard, hereditary and environmental forces are simply the medium through which God disposes the pattern of an individual's development. Therefore, these two factors have certain limitations in their influence on a person's overall psychological disposition. Such limitations themselves are predetermined by God.
It is necessary to recognize this factor in psychological studies. A lot of things do happen in man's life which cannot be attributable or ascribable to either heredity or environment (like the above examples). Therefore, such things cannot be explained within the confines of material or empirical investigations and explanations. Unless psychologists widen the horizons of their approach to the study of man by recognizing the factor of God's Divine will and omnipotence upon everything, including human psychological development, psychological research will remain incomplete and our knowledge about ourselves will remain equally incomplete.
The role of God's Will in determining an individual's development as recognized by the Islamic approach will help in understanding or explaining the process of development better than the Western approach in a number of ways. Some of them are:

that not all psychological constructs and tendencies can strictly be attributed to the mere influences of heredity and environment.

that as a result of the above reason, individuals sometimes exhibit certain tendencies that clearly defy explanations in terms of hereditary or environmental influences. The case of the speech of Jesus and others in their cradles is a clear testimony to this. In this regard, if this is not attributed to the Will of God, only conjectures would be used to explain this fact.

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