Those who carefully study about the Human Fall cannot but wonder what the world would have been like if the Fall had not occurred. What would human beings be like if our first human ancestors had not fallen?

To answer this question, Unification Thought presents the Theory of the Original Human Nature. As it does with all of its teachings, Unification Thought presents this view not as a dogma, but rather as a "theory," encouraging the reader to study it seriously, to pray about it, and to verify it by practice.

The fall of humankind, as mentioned in the Koran, is the order given by God to Adam and Eve to leave the Garden of Eden: "...Get ye down..." (Sura 2, Verse 36); after they had transgressed God's commandment: "...But approach not this tree..." (Sura 2, Verse 35).

In the present article, we will consider the major themes of the theory of the original human nature, showing that the fundamental aspects of this theory are completely in harmony with the spirit of the Koran.

The Koran, the Bible, and the Divine Principle all agree that, when God created Adam and Eve, He gave them the breadth of His spirit: "Then He [Allah] completed him [Adam] in perfect proportion and breathed into him of His spirit..." (Sura 32, Verse 9).

Why are human beings able to receive God's spirit? According to Unification Thought, the reason is that God has endowed them with a Divine Image, which contains three elements: (1) the unity of Sungsang and Hyungsang, the harmony of Yang and Yin, and Individuality. Let us consider how this teaching harmonizes with the Koran.

According to Unification Thought, every human being has Sungsang (spirit person) and Hyungsang (physical person). The spirit person has a "spirit mind," and the physical person has a "physical mind." Thus, the human being should be a being of united spirit mind and physical mind.

From the spirit mind, humans have the spiritual desires for truth, goodness, beauty, and love; from their physical mind, they have the physical desires for food, clothing, shelter, and sexual fulfillment.

Unification Thought teaches us that, to achieve perfection, the human being must have the Sungsang and Hyungsang in proper harmony, where the mind (or spiritual desires) is in the subject-position, and the body (physical desires) is in the object-position. Thus, the spiritual desires are primary, and the physical desires are secondary. Individual perfection, therefore, consists in maintaining the proper balance between these two kinds of desires.

When we read the Koran, we find the same kind of teaching. The Koran encourages the believer to have a proper balance between his desire for the hereafter (spiritual desires) and the desire for things of this world (physical desires): "But seek--with that which Allah has given to you--the life of the hereafter, and do not forsake that which is rightly yours in this world..." (Sura 28, Verse 77).

This shows that, concerning the fundamental view that the human being is a spiritual as well as a physical being, there is concord between the Koran and Unification Thought.

Unification Thought states that the human being should exist with proper harmony of Yang (positive) and Yin (negative). This "refers to the harmony of man and woman, or more precisely, the harmony between husband and wife" (Essentials of Unification Thought, 59). This teaching can clarify the relationship between husband and wife.

Unification Thought distinguishes two ways of talking about a human being: (1) as an "individual truth body" and (2) as a "connected body." Man and woman stand as Yang and Yin (or subject and object) when they unite as husband and wife (connected bodies).

As a connected body, the husband exists for the wife, and the wife exists for the husband. The husband exists to love the wife, and the wife, to love the husband. The husband and the wife should complement each other and mutually care for their physical and spiritual well-being, experiencing conjugal love.

When husband and wife live in harmony with each other centering on God, they experience vertical love to God and horizontal love between themselves. When children are born, parents and children experience vertical love toward one another. When husband and wife live in harmony under God's love, together with their children, they have achieved an ideal form of life. The Unification family has a strong commitment to develop such harmonized families. In this respect, it is very similar to the Islamic tradition.

Unification Thought tells us that, "in creating the universe, God envisioned the individual images of the various beings to be created.... The individual image of a human being is especially distinctive.... God endowed human beings with such a particularized individual image so that He might obtain, from each one of them, a unique, stimulating joy. Therefore, the human being is a being with supreme value who gives supreme joy to God through a unique individuality. This individual image is another aspect of the original human nature" (Essentials of Unification Thought, 98-99).

The Koran teaches an equally lofty view of the human being. The violation of an individual's dignity is a crime against the entire humankind. Also, an act of kindness toward one human being is an act of kindness toward the entire humankind. The Koran says, "...If anyone saves a person's life, it is as though he has saved the whole humankind" (Sura 5, Verse 32). In this respect, also, we see close harmony between Unification Thought and the Koran.

For Unification Thought, the core attributes of God's Divine Character are Heart, Logos, and Creativity. God created human beings with a similar Divine Character. Let us begin by examining the character of Heart, looking for harmony with the Koran.

According to Unification Thought, Heart (or Shimjong in Korean) is the emotional impulse to attain joy through love. It constitutes the core of the human personality. The true nature of the human being is not Homo Sapiens (Man the Knower), nor Homo Faber (Man the Maker), but rather Homo Amans (Man the Lover). The root of love is Heart. Heart, therefore, should be the driving force of all cultural activities.

The Koran attunes completely with Unification Thought on the centrality of Heart and love in human life. The Koran portrays Allah as a loving and merciful God; it depicts Jesus as a man of charity; and it describes the Prophet, peace be upon him, as kind-hearted.

Two important Verses will show the importance of Heart and love: "...If you [the Prophet] had been stern and harsh-hearted, they [the people] would have run away from you..." (Sura 3, Verse 159). Also, when speaking about himself, Jesus said, "And He [Allah] has made me blessed wherever I am, and has enjoined on me prayer and charity..." (Sura 9, Verse 31).

From this we can see that the goals of Islam and the goals of the Unification Family are in harmony, in the sense that both are seeking to create a world centered on God's Heart and love.

Unification Thought states that God created the human being through Logos, or truth. In the prior article of this series (Unification News, May 1993), I showed how this view is in accord with the Koran. In this section I will discuss this point about the original human nature.

Logos is a multiplied body that results from the inner give-and-receive action between God's Inner Sungsang and Inner Hyungsang. The most important aspect of the Inner Sungsang is Reason; and the most important aspect of the Inner Hyungsang is Law. Accordingly, we can refer to Logos as "Reason-Law."

When we say that God created the human being through Reason-Law, we imply that we must guide the original human nature both by reason (freedom) and by law (ethical norms). These ethical laws are nothing but the guidelines for the actualization of love. Therefore, behind Reason-Law there is Heart and love.

Ethical norms can be either vertical, or horizontal, or individual. Vertical norms guide the relationships between parents and children; horizontal norms guide the relationships between brothers and sisters (and those between husband and wife); and individual norms guide the individual standard of conduct. The purpose of all these norms is to help the individual to actualize a life centered on Heart and love.

The spirit of Islam totally agrees with this view. The Koran constantly warns the believers to be careful in observing the laws to avoid sin: "By a soul he has perfected and endowed with inspiration either for sin or for virtue" (see Sura 91, Verses 7 and 8).

According to Unification Thought, the human being should inherit God's creativity, which originates from Heart and love. This creativity is limitless; the results of it should be true goodness and true beauty--or the world of true culture.

According to the Koran, Allah wishes to impart His wisdom and knowledge to human beings: "And He [Allah] taught Adam all the names [of things]..." (Sura 2, Verse 31). Furthermore, there is not limit to human creativity: "...If you have the power [and ability] to penetrate [all] the regions of the heavens and the earth, then do so..." (Sura 55, Verse 33).

According to Unification Thought, the human being has dual positions, corresponding to the dual purposes of creation (see my article in Unification News, May 1993). The two positions are subject and object; of these, the position of object is the most important one.

Why is that so? The reason is that God created the human being primarily as the object of His love, and secondarily as the subject over all things. The position of object corresponds to the purpose for the whole; the position of subject corresponds to the purpose for the individual.

If we knew this truth well and lived by it, we could solve a great number of problems in our families and societies. Many conflicts come about because people are placing undue emphasis on the position of subject (purpose for the individual) rather than the position of object (purpose for the individual).

To be a proper object, one must have "object-consciousness," which is attendance to God, filial piety to parents, loyalty to leaders, and so forth. The teachings of the Koran are very much in harmony with this view: "Oh ye who believe: obey Allah; obey the messenger and those charged with authority among you..." (Sura 4, Verse 59).

To be a proper subject, one must have "subject-consciousness," which includes concern and love for the object, together with a balanced sense of authority. While playing the role of subject, we should stand as representatives of God.

The Koran has a typical word to indicate the position of representatives of God. That word is Khalifa, or the plural Kholafa. Speaking of all human beings, the Koran says, "...and had [Allah] made you Kholafa on the earth..." (Sura 27, Verse 62), indicating that human beings are representatives of God with broad powers.

The Koran also teaches about the importance of tempering authority with love. Speaking to the Prophet, peace be upon him, Allah said, "...Forgive them, repent for them, and consult with them in [important] matters..." (Sura 3, Verse 15).

We are living today in an era in which the traditional family structure is under severe attack from many quarters. Both Unification Thought and the Koran stress the importance of a stable, God-centered family. Accordingly to Unification Thought, the ideal family unit is life-long monogamy, or "one man, one woman."

There are circumstances in which one cannot attain the ideal and thus must create another form of family unit. In certain cases, a religious authority may allow divorce. Also, the Koran permits the believer to take more than one wife in social conditions in which society must take care of a great number of widows and orphans: "If you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans, marry..." (Sura 4, Verse 3)

The Unification Thought views seem to be contradictory to the teaching of the Koran, which allows the believer to take more than one wife: "...Marry women of your choices--two, three, or four..." (Sura 4, Verse 3).

When pondering whether to take more than one wife, the believer should heed the Koranic advice: "...If you fear that you will not be able to deal justly (with several wives), then (marry) only one..."(Sura 4, Verse 3).

Furthermore, God made a clear statement that never a man can deal justly with several wives even he tries his best: "You are never able to do justice between wives even so is your ardent desire..." (Sura 4, Verse 129).

Therefore, in spirit, we can say that the Koran is in harmony with the Unification Thought view.

In this article I have attempted to show the remarkable harmony that exists between Unification Thought and Islam. Obviously, we wanted to stress differences, we could; but those differences are rather in nonessential matters. In the essential matters, what we see is harmony and accord.

I would like to conclude by mentioning the work that Mother Hak Ja Han Moon has been doing on the world level. Mother Moon is an extraordinary example of a mother and wife truly dedicated to God for all women regardless their race, religion and nationality. In her indefatigable travels around the world to educate people about True Parents and the Completed Testament Age, Mother Moon is calling on all the women of the world to create a great Women's Federation for World Peace to revive family values and save our society. Such a movement is completely in accord with the spirit of Islam, as in Sura 25, Verse 54: "It is He (God) who has created humankind from water and has established them through lineage and marriage..."

I pray that all believers of the world will join forces with Father Moon and Mother Moon in their gigantic efforts to save the world.

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