All human beings who are the progeny of Adam are made up of two elements; the physical body, which represents clay, is mortal, and the Rūḥ, or the spirit, which is immortal that leaves the body upon death of an individual.
To the Western mainstream psychology, the investigation on the spiritual dimension of man is never considered as a matter of great
concern for the simple reason that the human spirit or soul is a thing unseen and since it is intangible, it cannot be subjected to any empirical investigation. On the other hand, for the Muslim scholars this unseen dimension of human nature forms a part and parcel of their fundamental beliefs and principles.
The Body
Physical Comfort: The body seeks comfort and avoids discomfort. This can lead to a perception of reality that emphasizes immediate physical needs over long-term goals or abstract thoughts.
Survival Instincts: Our bodies are wired for survival. This can cause an exaggerated perception of threats, leading to anxiety or over-caution.
Chemical Balance: The body’s internal chemical balance, influenced by hormones, nutrition, and other factors, can significantly influence mood and perception. For instance, hunger can make one irritable or pessimistic.
The Senses
Sensory Stimulation: Our senses are continuously seeking stimulation. Bright colors, loud sounds, or strong flavors can draw our attention and dominate our perception of a situation.
Sensory Adaptation: Over time, our senses adapt to persistent stimuli and become less sensitive to them. For example, one might become “nose blind” to a scent in their home or not hear a persistent background noise. This adaptation can lead us to miss or undervalue certain aspects of our environment.
Pleasure and Avoidance: We naturally gravitate towards pleasurable sensory experiences and avoid unpleasant ones. This can make us selectively focus on certain elements of our environment.
Al-Ruh (The spirit is the throne)
The spirit is the vessel of the heart, so it can travel from this world to the next.
The vessel that carries the the qalb and nafs.
The Holy Qur’an has given several different meanings to the word al-rūh
The word rūh means spirit, and what it generally implies is the breath of life, or the origin of life.
The creation of non-material beings come into existence no sooner than God commands them to be.
From the two verses (28 and 29) of Sūrah al-Ḥijr it is clear that Allah breathed into Adam His spirit (ruh) after his physical and biological creation were completed. Therefore, al-ruh has a divine nature.
Adam’s origin was from clay which was lowly in the eyes of the angels, he was elevated from his humble origin when he became the recipient of Allah’s Spirit and al-asma (names/attributes) in him.
Life happens only when al-ruḥ is united with the body, and man is proclaimed dead when al-ruh separates from the body.
During resurrection al-ruh will once again be reunited with the body.
The Ruh is a life giving entity is immortal, invisible and has a transcendental origin.
The Ruh is generates and stores knowledge
The Ruh also has the potential for being a God-conscious entity in the human psyche.
The Ruh belongs to the world of Command and therefore it is free from time and space.
Does not perish during death experienced by the human body.
Al-Qalb (The Heart is the sultan)
Perception comes from beliefs.
Understanding (Marifah) takes place in the heart.
The shift of choice takes place in the heart.
“Many are the Jinns and men We have made for Hell: They have hearts wherewith they understand not, eyes, wherewith they see not, and ears wherewith they hear not. They are like cattle-nay more misguided: for they are heedless (of warning)” (8:179)
Its unfixed, unstable and moving condition puts it in a situation whereby it will have an inclination or tendency either to follow the ruh or the nafs. During the time when the nafs ammārah becomes the dominant entity in the human psyche, the qalb becomes weak and feeble and makes its descent to the lowest of low level of the nafs to join the nafs ammārah. At this stage the qalb’s divine light fades away causing it to lose its power of cognition. On the contrary, when the nafs muṭma’innah becomes the dominant entity in the human psyche, then the qalb will move towards the ruh. At this stage, the qalb becomes luminous and enjoys peace and tranquility.
The seat of personality, knowledge and intellectual faculty, affections and emotions.
The word al-qalb in the Holy Qur’an appears in hundred and forty-four places.
The heart (al-qalb) mentioned in the Holy Qur’an should not be mistakenly understood with the gross physical organ that lies in the bosom of man. The qalb is referred to the subtle spiritual light that is contained within the human heart.
The senses can be well explained that these organs act as gateways through which the transcendental qalb gets information of the physical world.
Data received by the qalb will be processed by its inner illumination and later it will reveal their meaning, judgment and decision to the self.
The brain and the nervous system function as instruments to implement it.
The downfall of man is caused by the spiritual blindness of the qalb that affects man’s sensory organs, emotion, affections, cognition and personality. As a consequence man loses his honoured position of being the best creation to a level equal to that of animal.
The Prophet SAW said, “Beware! There is a piece of flesh in the body; if it becomes good (reformed), the whole body becomes good, but if it gets spoilt, the whole body gets spoilt and that is the heart.”
Al-‘Aql (The mind is the minister)
Gift of Knowledge: Allah has endowed humans with knowledge and intellect, setting them apart from other creations. The pursuit of knowledge is highly encouraged and is seen as a way to understand the world and Allah’s will.
Rationality and Revelation: Human intellect is to be used in harmony with divine revelation; reason and faith are not seen as mutually exclusive but as complementary means of understanding truth.
But as a verb ‘aqala with its other derivatives have been mentioned in over 49 places throughout the Holy Qur’an. Generally these verses refer to the thinking capacity of man (i.e. 2:24 and 75; 8:22; 67:10)
‘Aql juze or reason is the faculty of discursive and analytical thought, while ‘aql kulle is the faculty of intuition.
The ‘aql is only capable of conceiving knowledge that comes through man’s sense perceptions, namely touch, taste, sight, smell, and hearing.
The qalb has the capacity to receive the divine knowledge inspired by Allah.
The qalb as the seat of knowledge, uses the ‘aql as an instrument to carry out certain duties; mainly in comprehending knowledge that comes through the sense perceptions.
The brain interprets sensory information based on:
Expectations
Recognize and stop negative attitudes
Faith engenders positive expectations
Appetites or Desires
Recognize and stop overwhelming desires
Desires are chains
If you follow your desires, you are a slave.
Your will become free, only when you free yourself from your desires and vices.
Take only what’s needed from this world, for the purpose of the next world.
Use this world to achieve the next world.
Emotions
Recognize and stop triggered emotions
Break out from emotional reactionism.
Rationality and Reason
“And [be sure to recognize], whatever [leisure and pleasure] you are given, [know that] it is worldly and life amusement [and diversion] and an [appealing] ornament; but whatever Allah has is better and more enduring. Will you not then use your reason [when you think through these things]?” (28:60).
Creative intelligence (The Qur’an, 2:31-34)
Besides man, the other creation of Allah which is a ‘rational’ being and enjoys the freedom of choice is the jinn (genie). However, the freedom enjoyed by the jinn is limited compared to man.
The freedom of choice (The Qur’an, 55:4; 76: 3)
As explained in Sūrah al-Tīn: 5, man will fall from the honoured position given by Allah when he transgresses the limits set by Allah. As such, achieving the honour or disgrace in the sight of Allah, is a choice left to man to decide.
Man compared to the angels, has the freedom of choice to react and respond to the many of the biological, psychological and sociological (environmental) demands of his mundane life. In his choice, man can be either good or evil; a righteous or a perverted transgressor towards what has been instructed in the Holy Qur’an. This has been stated in the Holy Qur’an: “We showed him the way; whether he be grateful or ungrateful (rests on his will)” (76:3)
Humans are forgetful
In the Holy Qur’an, one can read the forgetful nature of man in the story of Adam.
How the mind helps the heart
The mind gathers information from the senses.
The mind organizes it and categorizes it and presents it to the heart.
If the mind did not succeed in arriving at the truth and interpreting things the right way, the heart is left with trial and tribulation.
Intellect
Human beings were never primitive
The first humans may have been simple, but they were very intelligent people.
Intelligence is a characteristic that the first human has been created with.
Speech
Speech is a reflection of what’s in the heart
Speak in understandable, eloquent and precise language.
The mark of an intellectual is to deliver more meaning, using few words.
If your vocabulary is deficient, you will not able to articulate your thoughts.
You will end up using filler words.
Human Communication
Every alphabet is a simple symbol. As you put the symbols together, they become more complex.
The more words you learn, the more pathways are opened in your brain.
First learn the Islamic sciences, then look at the other sciences.
Words can be steps that take you to a higher plane.
Mental Filters
1. Perceptual Filters:
Selective Attention: Focusing on one aspect while ignoring others.
Confirmation Bias: Giving preference to information that confirms our existing beliefs.
Inattentional Blindness: Failing to see visible but unexpected objects because attention is engaged on another task.
2. Cognitive Filters:
Stereotyping: Assigning generalized traits to individuals based on their group.
Overgeneralization: Making broad interpretations from a single or few events.
Catastrophizing: Imagining and expecting the worst possible scenarios.
3. Emotional Filters:
Emotional Reasoning: Believing that because we feel a certain way, it must be true.
Magnification and Minimization: Exaggerating or diminishing the importance of events.
Mood-Dependent Memory: Recalling memories that match our current mood, making it hard to think positively when feeling down.
4. Memory Filters:
Recency Effect: Giving preference to the most recent information or experiences.
Availability Heuristic: Overestimating the importance of information that is available to us, typically due to recent exposure.
Suggestibility: The tendency to incorporate misleading information from external sources into the recall of an event.
5. Motivational Filters:
Self-Serving Bias: Attributing positive events to one’s own character, but attributing negative events to external factors.
Status Quo Bias: A preference for the current state of affairs, resisting change.
Optimism/Pessimism Bias: Overestimating the likelihood of positive/negative outcomes.
6. Social Filters:
Groupthink: Conforming to the opinions or decisions of a group to maintain harmony.
Bandwagon Effect: Adopting certain behaviors or beliefs because many other people do the same.
Social Comparison Bias: Comparing oneself to others to determine one’s worth or status.
7. Economic Filters:
Loss Aversion: The tendency to prefer avoiding losses rather than acquiring equivalent gains.
Anchoring: Relying too heavily on the first piece of information encountered (the “anchor”) when making decisions.
Sunk Cost Fallacy: Continuing a behavior or endeavor as a result of previously invested resources (time, money, or effort).
How to Address Mental Filters
Awareness: Understanding that we all have biases and recognizing them is the first step in addressing them.
Critical Thinking: Evaluate information more objectively, considering other perspectives, and questioning assumptions.
Feedback and Reflection: Seek feedback from others and reflect on your beliefs and decisions regularly.
Mindfulness and Meditation: Regular practice can help in increasing self-awareness and reducing the influence of detrimental mental filters.
