240928P - PSYCHOLOGY

Presentation held on 28 September 2024. By Professor Omar Hasan K Kasule Sr MB ChB (MUK), MPH (Harvard), DrPH (Harvard)

THE DISCIPLINE OF PSYCHOLOGY AS A CHALLENGE TO MUSLIM THINKERS

• The human duality: nafs + jasad. Nafs is the essence of the human and is permanent, while the jasad is temporary. Jasad cannot exist independently of the nafs, while the nafs can exist outside the jasad.
• The nafs manifests in many ways humans do not fully understand: ruh, qalb, fuaad, etc. Scholars have discussed the nature of the nafs and have differences, which we will not discuss here. All we need to know is that nafs exists and is the essence of the human.

SUBJECT MATTER OF PSYCHOLOGY

• Psychology is the study of the human mind and human behavior. It is not only a study of the nafs (‘ilm Al nafs).
• Psychology studies both the nafs and the jasad, especially the interaction of the two. We know that the nafs influences the jasad. There is controversy about whether jasad influences the nafs.
• Qur’an uses the word nafs interchangeably between jasad and nafs.

NAFS IS THE ESSENCE OF PERSONHOOD

• ⁠وَاتَّقُوا يَوْمًا لَّا تَجْزِي نَفْسٌ عَن نَّفْسٍ شَيْئًا وَلَا يُقْبَلُ مِنْهَا شَفَاعَةٌ وَلَا يُؤْخَذُ مِنْهَا عَدْلٌ وَلَا هُمْ يُنصَرُونَ. البقرة ٤٨ 
• ⁠كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَائِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ ۗ وَإِنَّمَا تُوَفَّوْنَ أُجُورَكُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ ۖ فَمَن زُحْزِحَ عَنِ النَّارِ وَأُدْخِلَ الْجَنَّةَ فَقَدْ فَازَ ۗ وَمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلَّا مَتَاعُ الْغُرُورِ. آل عمران ١٨٥
• ⁠مِنْ أَجْلِ ذَٰلِكَ كَتَبْنَا عَلَىٰ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ أَنَّهُ مَن قَتَلَ نَفْسًا بِغَيْرِ نَفْسٍ أَوْ فَسَادٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ فَكَأَنَّمَا قَتَلَ النَّاسَ جَمِيعًا وَمَنْ أَحْيَاهَا فَكَأَنَّمَا أَحْيَا النَّاسَ جَمِيعًا ۚوَلَقَدْ جَاءَتْهُمْ رُسُلُنَا بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ ثُمَّ إِنَّ كَثِيرًا مِّنْهُم بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ فِي الْأَرْضِ لَمُسْرِفُونَ. المائدة ٣

NAFS CAN BE GOOD OR BAD

• ⁠مَا أُبَرِّئُ نَفْسِي ۚ إِنَّ النَّفْسَ لَأَمَّارَةٌ بِالسُّوءِ إِلَّا مَا رَحِمَ رَبِّي ۚ إِنَّ رَبِّي غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ. يوسفغ ٥٣
• ⁠وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يَشْرِي نَفْسَهُ ابْتِغَاءَ مَرْضَاتِ اللَّهِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ رَءُوفٌ بِالْعِبَادِ. الابقرة ٢٠٧
• ⁠يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ * ارْجِعِي إِلَى رَبِّكِ رَاضِيَةً مَرْضِيَّةً. الفجر ٢٨ 

PSYCHOLOGY IS COMPLEX

• Both nafs and jasad influence the human mind and human behavior.
• The human mind and human behavior manifest the human duality of the material and non-material components.
• This makes psychology a complex subject.

PSYCHOLOGY AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR

• Psychologists have developed insights into human behavior that have enabled them to control and direct human behavior.
• ⁠The use of psychology to control human behavior has had its positive and negative consequences in many fields: media, industry, politics, etc.

THE SUFI EXPERIENCE

• Sufi experiences are a spectrum with some extremes. The main idea is spiritual discipline among the adherents.
• Sufi masters are able, through training, to get full submission of the followers.