The statement that a human is a rational animal
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
We often hear that a human is a rational animal. Is this correct or not?
The Shaykh:
Many people, including those who study logic and rhetoric, use this expression. They say a human is a rational animal to distinguish him from beasts. However, just as Allah named him a human, he is a person of legal responsibility, commanded and prohibited. If he is called a rational animal to distinguish him from the animal kingdom, there is nothing wrong with it; it is for the sake of clarification.
The questioner:
I work in the military sector.
The Shaykh:
"Rational animal" is not sufficient; it should be "a rational being," an animal with intellect that distinguishes between harm and benefit, and between good and evil, unlike a beast. He has his intellect and his speech. There may be an animal that speaks and imitates, like a parrot, but it has no value and no intellect. The distinguishing feature of the human is that he is a rational being; "a rational being" is better than "a rational animal." And if one says "a rational and speaking being," there is nothing wrong with it.
We often hear that a human is a rational animal. Is this correct or not?
The Shaykh:
Many people, including those who study logic and rhetoric, use this expression. They say a human is a rational animal to distinguish him from beasts. However, just as Allah named him a human, he is a person of legal responsibility, commanded and prohibited. If he is called a rational animal to distinguish him from the animal kingdom, there is nothing wrong with it; it is for the sake of clarification.
The questioner:
I work in the military sector.
The Shaykh:
"Rational animal" is not sufficient; it should be "a rational being," an animal with intellect that distinguishes between harm and benefit, and between good and evil, unlike a beast. He has his intellect and his speech. There may be an animal that speaks and imitates, like a parrot, but it has no value and no intellect. The distinguishing feature of the human is that he is a rational being; "a rational being" is better than "a rational animal." And if one says "a rational and speaking being," there is nothing wrong with it.
Source
ندوات الجامع الكبير مع الأسئلة - 53 — archive.org (1:19:56)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.