Human Psyche in Islam

 

Studying human nature has been a prominent topic throughout history across cultures. Every religion sought to understand the psychological and spiritual nature of human beings. Plenty of views have been presented that together provide some knowledge but primarily all views have contradicted one another. The most popular views of the schools of psychology are:

Psychoanalysis	Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)	Existence of Eros(the instinct to live) and Thanatos(the instinct to die) in the human psyche
Behaviorism	John Locke (1632-1704)	'Tabula rasa'- Every child is born with a blank slate and through experiences, in life, this slate is filled.
Humanism	Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)  Carl Rogers (1902-1987)	Man is innately good. Man has an inner nature that influences his experience. He has free will.

 

These views have reduced the human psyche to a narrow concept with little significance. According to the west, anything which cannot be seen or observed is considered not important for empirical research. Due to human incapability, the west rejects the concepts that are vast and highly important. Believing in the unseen is the fundamental duty of every believer. Muslims are obliged to believe in the soul as they are obliged to believe in the angels, the Day of Judgment, heaven or hell, and others. The faith is incomplete without it.  

"Who believe in the Unseen, are steadfast in prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them"(Qur’an, 2: 3). 

Quran has given great emphasis on the unseen nature of the human psyche.  In Islam, the human psyche is not limited to one element but many. These include the fitrah, 'aql, 'qalb, ruh, and nafs.

Creation of the Humans

Allah SWT has called humans the best of his creation, better than the pure angels or fire-born jinns. The reason can be the Ruh, the spirit of Allah, The Al-Mighty that was breathed into men that completed their creation. 

"Behold! Thy Lord said to the angels: 'I am about to create man, from sounding clay from mud molded into shape; When I have fashioned him (in due proportion) and breathed into him of My spirit, fall ye down in obeisance unto him.” (Qur’an,15:28-29)

Ruh is used to referring to many things in the Quran but the main focus here is on the human aspect. "The word rūh means spirit, and what it generally implies is the breath of life or the origin of life. It is derived from the root 'raha', which means to animate or revive, to inhale or breathe, also to leave or to go away. "( Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri,1989)

Ansari commented that humans "being the recipient of divine ruh is what elevated man from his humble origins, enabled him to overcome the baser part of his nature and made him a creature worthy of being the vicegerent of Allah." ( Ansari, 2006)  This is the reason why Allah SWT asked the other creations to bow to Adam AS. He also made everything on the earth for man's needs (Qur’an,45:13). Having a part of the divine spirit, humans also share some quality of the creator; that is to think on its own, to generate knowledge. Allah SWT also taught Adam AS the name of all things (Qur’an, 2:31).

The Covenant of Allah

Every person is born believing in the existence of God. They look at the sky when in distress and seek help and peace. This is because of the presence of an inborn predisposition called fitrah. After creating man, Allah SWT took a covenant from them to believe only in Allah and that only He is their lord (Qur’an, 8:172). Fitrah is Tawheed. It also opposes the Christian belief of 'original sin'. As opposed to Christianity where a child is born sinful, Islam says a child is born good because of the presence of fitrah.  

The Heart

Al-'qalb is in the bosoms and is an important entity that helps man to recognize wrong from right, it also understands feelings. ‘Qalb provides a means for the ruh to operate its consciousness. It is at a higher level than the sensory organs. If the heart is polluted the senses stop working. "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).” (Qur’an, 8:179) The heart is vulnerable to constant changes, by the influence of the nafs-al-ammarah (the soul that takes towards evil) it can die. But if the heart is taken care of, if it submits to the fitrah and follows the ruh, man can achieve tranquility.

 Entities of the psyche

Nafs is an immortal entity and is of three types- the one that takes towards evil (Qur’an, 12:53), the nafs that is reproachful (Qur’an, 75:2), and the tranquil one (Qur’an, 89:27-30). It is weak and can be easily influenced. Many scholars believe, "that when al-rūḥ (Spirit) comes in contact with the human body, it forms a borderline area that connects the physical part of man with his spiritual nature, and that area is known as nafs.” (Amjad, 1992)

'Aql is defined as reason, intellect, understanding, insight, mind, or rationality. (Wehr,1974) 'Aql helps in understanding the divine revelation, to gives insight to the nafs to fight against the evil. It stops the man from transgressing the limits set by Allah SWT. 

"The qalb as the seat of knowledge, uses the 'aql as an instrument to carry out certain duties."( Razak, 2011)

Conclusion

The human psyche in Islam is so broad that humans have qualities of other metaphysical entities too. Greed, want for food, sex, offspring resemble that of animals. The devotion to God, the praying, and supplications resemble the angels. The man even shares some of the creator's attributes though far less and different, these may include the feelings of love, authority, kindness, etc.

The information regarding the psyche is limited in the Quran but enough to understand the basics needed to follow deen-ul-fitrah.

 “They ask thee concerning the Spirit (of inspiration). Say: The Spirit (cometh) by command of my Lord: Of knowledge it is only a little is communicated to you, (O men!).”(Qur’an, 17:85).