The Quran and the Psychology of Human Behaviour - Nafs
By
Naseer Ahmed, New Age Islam
20 May 2022
The Quran
uses the word Nafs and the closest in concept and meaning to it is
‘cognitive self’. What is Nafs? It is our self-aware, feeling and
thinking self which makes us uniquely what we are.
What is it
that we have apart from our physical body?
• We have instincts such as
the instinct to avoid pain and seek pleasure,
• Needs such as the need for
security, association, appreciation, and respect
• We have our life’s
experiences in the form of memories, acquired knowledge, patterns of thinking,
beliefs, prejudices, intellectual suppositions, common sense
• We have emotions,
feelings, likes and dislikes, habits formed by conditioning or by what we
habitually do.
• We also choose our goals
or the purpose of our life.
• We also have an acquired
moral code or the criteria of right and wrong and the power of reasoning to
negotiate with all the above, override instinct, conditioning, habit, likes and
dislikes to choose what we know is right and eschew what is wrong and to pursue
our life’s cherished goals.
All this
forms our Nafs. It represents our true self but has no existence outside
of the body. Nafs is often translated as soul. However, the Quran does
not support the concept of an immortal soul that has an existence outside of
our living, wakeful, and conscious body. The English word soul is also used to
mean a person, self, inner-self, innermost being, conscience and consciousness.
When used in this sense, it means Nafs but not when it means an immortal
immaterial spirit.
Nafs is not static and is ever-changing
with our experiences and from the choices that we make. Good deeds purify it
and make it strong and evil deeds weaken it.
Nafs as Feelings
وَتَحْمِلُ أَثْقَالَكُمْ
إِلَى بَلَدٍ لَّمْ تَكُونُواْ بَالِغِيهِ إِلاَّ بِشِقِّ الأَنفُسِ إِنَّ
رَبَّكُمْ لَرَؤُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ
16:7 And
they (animals) carry your loads to a land which you could not have reached
except with great trouble (feeling of distress) to yourselves (Alanfusi).
Indeed, your Lord is surely Most kind, Most Merciful.
The Nafs
makes demands on us from our sense of duty
وَلَمَّا دَخَلُوا
مِنْ حَيْثُ أَمَرَهُمْ أَبُوهُم مَّا كَانَ يُغْنِي عَنْهُم مِّنَ اللَّهِ مِن
شَيْءٍ إِلَّا حَاجَةً فِي نَفْسِ يَعْقُوبَ قَضَاهَا ۚ وَإِنَّهُ لَذُو عِلْمٍ
لِّمَا عَلَّمْنَاهُ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
(12:68)
And when they entered in the manner their father had enjoined, it did not
profit them in the least against (the plan of) Allah: It was but a necessity of
Jacob´s nafs, which he discharged. For he was, by our instruction, full of
knowledge (and experience): but most men know not.
Nafs Is Al-Ammara Bissu or Nafs
Is the Enjoiner of Evil
The senses
are prone to temptations. For example, Yusuf (pbuh) was sought to be seduced
when he had grown into an adult by the Aziz’s wife who had adopted him when he
was a child. Yusuf (pbuh) says that he does not absolve himself of the blame
for being human; his senses are also prone to the temptations of desire even when
such desire is illegitimate. It is only through the mercy of God that he could
save himself from temptations that may have led him to do an evil act.
(12:53)
"Nor do I absolve my own self (Nafsi): the senses are certainly prone to
the evil temptations (Nafs al-Ammara Bissu), unless my Lord do bestow His
Mercy: but surely my Lord is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful."
20: 96 قَالَ
بَصُرْتُ بِمَا لَمْ يَبْصُرُوا بِهِ فَقَبَضْتُ قَبْضَةً مِّنْ أَثَرِ الرَّسُولِ
فَنَبَذْتُهَا وَكَذَلِكَ سَوَّلَتْ لِي نَفْسِي
He replied:
"I saw what they saw not: so I took a handful (of dust) from the footprint
of the Messenger, and threw it (into the calf): thus did my Nafsi
suggest to me."
وَأُحْضِرَتِ
الأَنفُسُ الشُّحَّ
4:128
And the Alanfusu are swayed by greed
فَطَوَّعَتْ لَهُ
نَفْسُهُ قَتْلَ أَخِيهِ فَقَتَلَهُ فَأَصْبَحَ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ
5:30
Then prompted to him his Nafsuhu to kill his brother so he killed him and
became of the losers
Here Nafsuhu
is “his feeling self” with its inclinations, temptations, envy, fear, greed,
etc.
Nafs
al-Lawwama or the
self-reproaching conscience
(75:1) I do
call to witness the Resurrection Day;
(2) And I
do call to witness the self-reproaching conscience: (Eschew Evil).
(3) Does
man think that We cannot assemble his bones?
(4) Nay, We
are able to put together in perfect order the very tips of his fingers.
(5) But man
wishes to do wrong (even) in the time in front of him.
Nafs al-Lawwama may be described
as that part of the Nafs that causes cognitive dissonance when what we
do is contrary to what we believe is the right thing to do. Our sense of right
and wrong, or the values of our society, are learnt in the same manner as we
learn our mother tongue. We imbibe our values and sense of right and wrong
while learning to communicate since what we learn through our interactions is
not just the language but also the values of the society with which we
interact. This further gets refined based on our efforts directed towards
acquiring the necessary knowledge for leading a moral life. The cognitive
dissonance may be dealt with honestly by changing our actions to conform with
what we believe is right or we may succumb to our temptations and do evil acts.
We may even rationalize such behaviour.
Cognitive
dissonance is also described as the voice of conscience and is experienced by
all persons who have moral values. Those who are amoral and the psychopaths, do
not experience cognitive dissonance. For such people, the ends justify the
means, and their end is self-gratification. Such people are adept liars and
deceivers as they do not have to contend with cognitive dissonance or suffer
remorse or guilt, and therefore, they have no scruples. They can take on any
colour like a chameleon to deceive. Their victims walk into their trap taken in
by their superficial charm which they can put on for the occasion. Since they
are not bothered by pangs of conscience, the amoral can slip into any role with
ease to get what they want. The traits of those who are amoral include a
grandiose sense of self-worth, pathological lying, manipulation, lack of
empathy, and impulsiveness.
Nafs al-Lawwama is a Check on Nafs
al-Ammara Bissu
وَأَمَّا مَنْ
خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ وَنَهَى النَّفْسَ عَنِ الْهَوَىٰ
(79:40)
And for such as had entertained the fear of standing before their Lord´s
(tribunal) and had restrained (their) nafs from lower/vain desires,
Good Deeds
Strengthen the Nafs and Evil Deeds Weaken It
Charity in
any form, forgiveness and every good deed purifies and strengthens it and every
evil deed harms it
Seeking Forgiveness
to Repair the Damage to Nafs
(3:135) And
those who, having done something to be ashamed of, or wronged their Anfusahum,
earnestly bring Allah to mind, and ask for forgiveness for their sins,- and who
can forgive sins except Allah?- and are never obstinate in persisting knowingly
in (the wrong) they have done.(136) For such the reward is forgiveness from
their Lord, and Gardens with rivers flowing underneath,- an eternal dwelling:
How excellent a recompense for those who work (and strive)!
Nafs Al-Mutma`Inna or the Nafs
That Is Content and At Peace
Those who
will be successful in the Hereafter are described as the Nafs
al-Mutma`inna or those whose conscience is at peace with self
(89:27)
To the persons whose Nafs or consciousness is at peace and satisfied (Nafs
al-Mutma`inna) will be said
(28)
"Come back thou to thy Lord, - well-pleased (thyself), and well-pleasing
unto Him!
(29)
"Enter thou, then, among My devotees!
(30)
"Yea, enter thou My Heaven!
Whose Nafs
will be completely content and at peace? Those who dealt with their cognitive
dissonance honestly and acted in accordance with what they truly believed to be
right, and when they felt there was a discrepancy between their actual and ideal
selves, made sincere efforts to bridge the gap. The Nafs that will be in
peace will be those who know that they did their best with the best of
intentions and remaining true to their own selves and beliefs and to the best
of their knowledge, using every opportunity to do what was best under the given
circumstances. They are those who are satisfied with their lives in every way
and did not yield to greed, envy, hate, anger, and carnal desires and who
remained grateful to Allah for all that they received.
A
disbeliever in God/religion could be a spiritual person and be inclined toward
goodness and be at peace with himself and his world. Such a person has no
interest in attacking others for their beliefs or to crusade against religion.
Such
persons who are at peace with themselves and with Allah will enter Heaven as
per Surah 89. Such a state is not possible as Yusuf (pbuh) says without the
Grace and Mercy of Allah.
Nafs Which Is Not At Peace with Itself
Without
belief in God, people will tend to suppress their cognitive dissonance with
rationalization, succumb to their lower desires, will be greedy for more of
everything, be envious of those who are better off, hate others for what they
are, and feel insecure and defend their faults/mistakes. The Nafs that is
unsatisfied are those who die wanting to live longer, dissatisfied with what
they could achieve or feel unfulfilled in some respect.
The Nafs
that has not found its equilibrium and is in a constant state of agitation are
the maladjusted persons. Nafs that is unable to believe or disbelieve
and uncomfortable with its uncertain state, is in a constant need of
affirmation of its reasons for disbelief. Such persons will argue ad-nauseum
and defend their views as if their very life depended on it. They try to defend
their position with their own self-serving “necessarian theology” holding their
own designer god to be true and the God of the scriptures as false because of
their personal discomfort with its verses. They are unable to reject the
religion and move away nor accept it. They cannot even take comfort from the
verse “Let there be no compulsion in religion” and move away because
there are consequences in the Hereafter for deviating from the religion of
Allah. They are unable to accept that religion is from God nor are they sure
that it is man-made. So, neither will they believe nor start their own man-made
religion with their designer god and their necessarian theology. Surely, there
is a way to move towards resolution and find peace by seeking refuge in Allah
and discarding their designer god and necessarian theology. Else, their
struggle and state of unrest and agitation will continue.
While to
doubt everything and question everything is a sound principle to make progress
in the sciences, it is a dumb rule to follow with the scriptures. Do question,
find your answers, and move on one way or the other.
The Nafs
that harbours hatred for the believers and their religion, and is an enemy of
religion, is satanic. Shun such people.
(3:118)
O ye who believe! Take not into your intimacy those outside your ranks: They
will not fail to corrupt you. They only desire your ruin: Rank hatred has
already appeared from their mouths: What their hearts conceal is far worse. We
have made plain to you the Signs, if ye have wisdom.
Each one of
us knows to what extent we have attained the status of Nafs al-Mutma`inna.
Such a Nafs is fearless, optimistic, free of hatred and certainly not
paranoid. Paranoia is a sign of a Nafs that is ill at ease with self and
its environment.
Over a
period, from the moral choices that a person makes, it becomes instinctive for
one who has attained Nafs al-Mutma`inna, to desire what pleases
Allah and to abhor what Allah dislikes.
The Nafs
Dies
كُلُّ نَفْسٍ
ذَآئِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ
Every
Nafsin shall have a taste of death (29:57, 21:35, 3:185)
In this
part, we have seen that Nafs means our feeling, thinking, discerning,
prone to temptations, rationalizing self and our reproaching, correcting,
controlling conscience which prevents us from indulgences that we have learnt
to consider immoral or unethical, in a state of wakeful consciousness. It is
what makes us the unique individual or self or being that we are, which lives
and ultimately dies. Death is for both the body and the Nafs. The aim
should be to attain the status of Nafs al-Mutma`inna
Also
Read: The Quran and the Psychology of Human Behaviour
-----
A
frequent contributor to NewAgeIslam.com, Naseer Ahmed is an Engineering
graduate from IIT Kanpur and is an independent IT consultant after having
served in both the Public and Private sector in responsible positions for over
three decades. He has spent years studying Quran in-depth and made seminal
contributions to its interpretation.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-science/quran-psychology-human-behaviour-nafs/d/127047
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