Global Psychologies by Suman Fernando & Roy Moodley

Author:Suman Fernando & Roy Moodley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan UK, London

The Dynamics of Nafs , Aql , Ruh , and Qalb

On the conceptualization of the human soul, Al-Ghazali (1986) explained that there are four aspects of a person that signify his/her spiritual identity. These are the nafs , aql , ruh and qalb . All of these are intertwined and influence man in their behavior, present and future (see Table 8.1; Fig. 8.1). The nafs is like the ego that gives rise to reactions to the environment that have been acquired through the lifespan. They may be reflective of an animalistic side of the individual at their lowest untrained level. Many spiritual healers liken the nafs to an animal that, if it is untrained, may not be very pleasant. However, if one were to train an animal it can be of service to its master. The nafs is somewhat similar to Freud’s conception of the id. However, from the Islamic perspective, the nafs is not intrinsically bad. Rather, it acquires an automaticity stemming from the development of the self. That is, if it learns good habits, it will be of service to the individual, and if it learns bad ones, it can be a barrier to his growth.Table 8.1Elements of the human being and its corresponding effects

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