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| The Holy Qur'an
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The Psyche Tariq I. Hamdi, M.D., & A.M.H. Al-Jadiry, M.D. Summary Current Psychodynamic hypotheses and concepts, especially the Freudian and the post Freudian, have been looked for in a number of verses which were thought to carry in their contents numerous incidents of such aspects. It has become obvious from the analysis of the various verses that the 'Holy Qur'an had tackled Psychoanalytic schools developed. Introduction The Holy Qur’an through its impact upon
the mentality and the spirits of the people, had transformed the
heterogeneous tribes of the Arabian Peninsula into a great nation. It had
extended east and west and stimulated the establishment of the earliest
Islamic civilization which supplied science and various sorts of knowledge
to many regions of the world (Rodwell, 1933) Islam fought illiteracy and enhanced the
development of humanitarian codes for communication. The Holy Qur'an, however, was not a mere
book, but a strong living voice addressed primarily to the Arabs. As a
book it came to existence after the Prophet's death through the efforts of
the third Caliph of the Muslim Orthodox era 'Uthman'. In addition to being a religious book, it
also covers legal, social, educative and humanitarian codes that had
provided the Islamic nation with all the sound principles for the
development of their community. It may be viewed as a comprehensive
encyclopedia to serve humanity in every respect to life. The reference index concerning what has
been written about the 'Holy Qur'an' is a condensed one; digging through
will entail unlimited efforts. Apparently, the literature written on the
Qur'an" is devoid of a specific reference to the contribution made to
the psychodynamic development of personality and the related psychological
processes. Throughout our reading of the 'Holy Qur'an'
we have been attracted to a large number of verses in which the Arabic
word 'Al-Nafs' is mentioned. Its
sense depends upon the structure of the verse.
Among which the meaning intended to convey is the sense of 'Psyche
or mind '. Direct or indirect indications to other psychological matters such as 'Instincts, Id, Ego and Super-ego' had also been mentioned. This has driven us to explore as much of the psychodynamic assumptions and concept as possible and to present it in a brief way with the intention to advocate for the fact that 'Holy Qur'an' is an early reference that had contributed adequately to the central themes of the Freudian and post Freudian schools. This might motivate the students of dynamic psychology to exploit such information in their research to find out other psychological realms in it; expecting that this would help them to come up with answers for the insoluble obscurities of the psyche from its psychological context. Method The word ‘Al-Nafs' referring to the 'mind or psyche' is found in 28 verses. These have received special attention in this study. Few of these verses were quoted for the purpose of this study. A brief definition of the psychodynamic concepts: Psyche, Id, Ego and Super-ego have also been given. Discussion 1. "Nor need I swear by the
self-accusing soul." It is also useful here to mention few
verses in which the word Al-Nafs conveys the sense of the individual or
person: These verses however were not included. 4. "But no soul shall earn aught save
against itself." The 'Instinct' is defined as an inborn
condition that imparts direction to psychological processes. The sex
instinct, for example, directs the psychological processes of perceiving,
remembering and thinking toward the goal of sexual consummation (Hall,
1954). No special mention is made of the word instinct in the 'Holy'
Qur'an' directly while it has been pointed to the instinctual built of the
psyche in a number of verses as: 7. "Yet I do not clear myself for the
soul is very urgent to evil." 8. "Had We pleased We would have given
to every soul its guidance." 9. "For thus my soul induce me." Freud's concept of personality is that it
consists of three provinces: the 'Id', 'Ego' and 'Super-ego'. These
operate and interact with each other and with the environment.
When they form a unified harmonious organization the person is
'mentally healthy'. The person is said to be 'maladjusted' when these
systems are not working coordinately (Hall, 1954). The 'Id' is a Latinized derivation from
Groddeck's (1928) 'das Es' (The It) it is held to be the reservoirs of
psychic energy or libido and is fully developed at birth.
It is also described as amoral, egocentric, ruled by the
pleasure-pain principle and considered, as the seat for the instincts. (Sim,
1974). Here, again, we ought to point out that though there is no
particular mention of these 3 constructs in the 'Holy Qur'an' the evidence
which point to them are ample, especially the verses that deal with 'Id': 10. "And the soul and what fashioned
it, and through it its sin and its piety." 11. "But as for him who feared the
station of his Lord, and prohibited his soul from lust, verily, paradise
is the resort!" Behavioural method of approach, that is to say the incentive for good behavior is the heaven (the technique of 'positive reinforcement'). Moreover, the following verses also point to the 'Id' and its instinctual characteristics. 12. "Yet I do not clear myself, for
the soul is very urgent to evil". External forces can influence the 'Id' and mould it in any shape as in this verse: 16."Had We pleased We would have given
to every soul its guidance." The 'Id' impulses are modified by the ‘Ego’, which tests reality and deals directly with the external and internal environment. The 'Ego' is considered as largely conscious logical and has moral standards (Hall, 1954; Sim 1914). From the following verses direction to the 'Ego' can be verified : 17. "For no soul shall be obliged
beyond its capacity." These point to the defamed capacity and the
threshold of tolerance of the 'Ego'. The following verse bears indication to the
Ego and Super-ego as well: 19. "And every soul shall come - with
it a driver and a witness!" 20. "Nor need I swear by the self
accusing soul." 21. "O Thou comforted soul..." In the following verse we find an
indication of obsessional traits: The 'Ego is influenced by the 'Super-Ego' which is the moral or judicial branch of personality. The 'Super ego' is primarily considered unconscious. It is the moral monitor that is responsible for the sense of guilt and a consequence of a child's assimilation of his parent's standards (Hall 1954, Sim 1974). T'he 'Super-Ego "received no less attention and clearly demonstrated in the coming verses: 23. "And the soul and what fashioned
it, and through it is sin and its piety." It is meant here that the individual is
born with two conflicting powers; the power if 'Id' which is bad and the
power of the 'Super ego' which is good. The 'Super-ego' can influence the
impulsiveness of the 'ld' as in this verse: 24. "But as for him who feared the
station of his Lord, and prohibited his soul from last, verily, paradise
is the resort!" A demonstration of how the 'Super-Ego' acts
as a supervisor is shown in this verse: We already have mentioned the following
verse which engulfs an indication to the "Super-Ego' 26. "And every soul shall come - with it a driver and a witness." The witness here is the 'Super-Ego'. The same thing applies to this verse: Conclusion We are now at the threshold of the immense realm of psychology and the allied sciences in the 'Holy Qur'an'; hoping that those who are interested in this particular field will conduct further research to find out other aspects of the 'self'. References: Authors: Dr. Abdul-Monaf H. Al-Jadiry, M.B., Ch.B., M.R.C. Psych., D.P.M. Senior Lecturer in Psychiatry & Neurology, Dept. of Neuro-Psychiatry, Medical College, Baghdad University.
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