Transhumanism and Prophetic Teaching: The Preservation of Fiṭrah and the Limits of Technological Interventions

Abstract

This study examines the ontological and ethical conflict between transhumanism’s conception of humanity and the Prophetic conception of humanity in an era where technological possibilities push biological boundaries and the post-human universe undergoes intense debate. The central thesis asserts that transhumanism’s materialistic approach of reducing the human being to a developable data set threatens the status of the human as ashraf al-makhlūqāt and its ontological core established upon a divine balance. A further issue involves the distorting effects of genetic engineering and cybernetic interventions on fiṭrah, thereby blurring the boundary between restoration and taghyīr. Addressing a gap in literature often limited to secular bioethics or Christian eschatology, this research analyzes the concepts of taghyīr and amānah within ḥadīth literature to provide a spiritual and ethical guide against radical technological advancements. The methodology employs a comprehensive document analysis of foundational and contemporary texts by global theorists such as Nick Bostrom, Francis Fukuyama, Ray Kurzweil, and William Sims Bainbridge, alongside critical evaluations by local scholars like Ahmet Dağ and Hüseyin Tanrıverdi, paired with a systematic comparative content analysis of ḥadīth sources, primarily al-Kutub al-sittah. Findings confirm that Prophetic teaching regards the body as the sacred mount of the soul and a trust to be protected. The prohibition of altering creation serves as the most potent ethical barrier against transhumanist perspectives that reduce the human to a machine or organism. The study reveals that while medical interventions are encouraged to restore health, enhancement attempts aimed at transcending fiṭrah constitute a destruction of divine balance. Ultimately, true perfection is achieved not through technological improvement, but through preserving fiṭrah, refining character, purifying the heart, and transforming the will into virtue.