Posthumanism and Transhumanism: An Islamic and Critical Philosophical Critique of the "Concept of Man" and the "Dignity of Bani Adam"

Abstract

The present study is a critical and comprehensive assessment of the philosophical paradigms of transhumanism and posthumanism in the classical and contemporary Islamic epistemological perspective. Transhumanism is based on the present trajectory of techno-science and calls for the radical enhancement of human physical, cognitive and psychological capacities thru emerging technologies (AI, genetic editing, nanotechnology, and cybernetics), leading to a posthuman condition. This paper explores the ontological antecedents of these movements, tracing them to Enlightenment rationalism, Cartesian dualism and neoliberal reductive materialism. This critique, invoking the Islamic metaphysical notion of Insān (the human being) and the basic doctrine of Karāmat Banī Ādam (the inherent dignity of the children of Adam), exposes the vulnerabilities of the diminution of human identity to information processing units or just biological substrate. The paper argues thru comparative structural analysis that transhumanism is based on an eschatology of self-directed technological evolution to overcome mortality and suffering. Islam, in contrast, views the human condition as an equilibrium of physical limitation and spiritual primacy designated for divine stewardship (Khilāfah). It tackles major bioethical divides, digital eschatology, and the commercialization of human nature. The article presents a holistic metaphysical alternative that protects human dignity without rejecting ethical scientific achievements.