The Quran deals with solutions to problems that exist today. It provides an answer to confusions that afflict people today. Therefore, if you do not understand the confusions that afflict people today, you might be unable to derive benefit from the Quran.

Knowing what has been said is important but knowing how to apply it is also Important.

Think of a secular or non-religious person today, who is very thoughtful, a deep thinker. An observant, philosophical person who would rather read a book than watch a movie.

A well read person.

This person would probably end up making two conclusions about humanity. These are common conclusions.

1. The first observation is about what goes on inside a human being.

2. The second is about what goes on outside.

The first observation is that this human being is no good, he is just a wretched creature. There is no such thing as goodness inside of him. There is only greed, hunger and lust.Everything he does is for these animal instincts. He only maintains morality, goodness and law because he has to function in society. If you give him a little opportunity and he will display his true nature. He is actually a wild animal inside and the only thing keeping him tame is law and order. There is no goodness inside him,he is a very corrupt entity on the inside.
Modern intellectuals would tell you, that the human being does things for one of a few things:

1. Neccesity
2. Self preservation.

The father of modern psychology, Sigmund freud concluded that the core motive of the human being is bodily pleasure. He defines all human thinking from bodily pleasure. He says that even when a mother looks at her child, there is lust
involved subconsciously and vice versa.

The only reason we do not act on this, is because of society. He says the highest moral person has an active 'superego' . That human goes by the standards of society. The goodness came from the society. There is no inherent good inside him.


The second observation is that whenever a human being acts, the only thing stopping him from harming others is an external force. If you give him complete control, he would oppress, kill and destroy.

He would do no good if given complete control.
There is also a denial of free choice amongst modern psychologists, to them, humans are just a product of their gene and society. Basically, you have no choice in the matter.

As disgusting as some of these conclusions sound, a person just watching the news everyday or one with knowledge of history would see some of these observations come true.

The perverted acts and the kinds of atrocities,humans have committed.

A note about the times we live
Before modern times, there were three important things to think about in most societies.

1. God: This was not peculiar to Islam, even african traditionalists had a concept of spirituality

2. After life- What happens after you die? Every
Society had a concept of an afterlife whatever it was and it was very important for them to believe that.

3. The human soul: The soul of the human being was very important. This is true of japanese culture, chinese culture , in pagan religions .....Spirituality was very important.

In modern times, there is a war againgst religion, so even when people believe in God. God is not given importance.

Something else became more important, the universe. There was a shift from the divine to the material world.

There was also a shift from worrying about the next life to worrying about this life. We are more concerned about making this life better. The next life is given little or no priority.

The emphasis used to be on the soul but we place far emphasis on the body in modern times.

The human being is made up of a body and a soul. All sciences today are focused on the human body. In Islam, we believe that the honour of the human being is because of his 'ruh' (often translated as soul).

So the thing that gave the human honour is no longer studied or a concern but the thing that makes him no different from an animal is studied.

Now all the human being is, is just a sophisticated animal. Nothing more.

The thing that gave us morality is removed.

Today, We know more about the human brain, human behaviour and the human body than anytime in the history of humanity.

But interestingly, we are more ignorant about what we really are than ever before.

Do not be like those who forget God, so God causes them to forget their own souls: they are the rebellious ones–– (Surah 59:19)

Next: The Quranic response.

Surah Tin 95

وَٱلتِّينِ وَٱلزَّيۡتُونِ (١) وَطُورِ سِينِينَ (٢) وَهَـٰذَا ٱلۡبَلَدِ ٱلۡأَمِينِ (٣) لَقَدۡ خَلَقۡنَا ٱلۡإِنسَـٰنَ فِىٓ أَحۡسَنِ تَقۡوِيمٍ۬ (٤) ثُمَّ رَدَدۡنَـٰهُ أَسۡفَلَ سَـٰفِلِينَ (٥) إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ فَلَهُمۡ أَجۡرٌ غَيۡرُ مَمۡنُونٍ۬ (٦) فَمَا يُكَذِّبُكَ بَعۡدُ بِٱلدِّينِ (٧) أَلَيۡسَ ٱللَّهُ بِأَحۡكَمِ ٱلۡحَـٰكِمِينَ (٨)

By the fig, by the olive,
by Mount Sinai,
by this secure city[
We create man in the finest state
then reduce him to the lowest of the low,
except those who believe and do good deeds––
they will have an unfailing reward. After this, what makes you [man] deny the Judgement?
Is God not the most decisive of judges? (Surah 95 1- 8 )

This is such a powerful surah, i hope i can convey it in the simplest way...

Oaths are probably one of the most powerful tools in the Quran; After the oath, comes response. If you do not understand the oath, you cannot understand the response. The response is the central message of the surah so if you do not understand the oath, you can't understand the surah.

The surah begins with Three Oaths

Ayah 1

وَٱلتِّينِ وَٱلزَّيۡتُونِ (١

Watteeni wazzaytoon

By the Fig and the Olive,

How do we understand this oath?

In ancient arabic, we call a place by what it is famous for, so scholars interpreted it as two different places.... So what does Allah mean by the fig and the olive?

i. The fig...

There is the opinion that the fig refers to the point where the nuh (peace and blessings be upon him) ark rested; Mount judi... The range of mountains there are populated by figs; ( Ruh al-Ma'ani, the tafseer by Mahmud al-Alusi.)

The Olive

The olives refer to palestine, the birth place of Eesa (peace and blessings be upon him) where olives grow.

Rooh al Ma’ani by al Aloosi says that the intent of saying 2 fruits refers to the 2 mountains from the Holy land of Palestine relating to Nuh and Eesa (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon them)

Altogether there are 3 locations, even though 4 things are mentioned.
i.Palestine (ayah 1),
ii. Mount Sinai (ayah 2)
iii.the Peaceful city – Makkah (ayah 3).

So we have:
At-Teen possibly referring to Prophet Noah, the location where his Ark ship landed.
az-Zayton referring to Jesus who was born in Palestine where olives grow.

We are allowed to quote the Books of the People of the Book (Jews and Christians) when something agrees with our Qur’an/Sunnah. However, we cannot quote their books to find ‘a truth’ which is not in ours.

The Qur’an confirms and distinguishes the truth.

In the Bible, [Luke 22:39-41];
Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed,

Why the sequence?

The prophet (S.A.W) said of the fig: Eat it because if i was to say there was a food of jannah/paradise, it’s this one because the foods of jannah have no pits/seeds in them.

i.It is a blessed fruit that has been praised by the messenger in the hadith.

ii. The Olive is called blessed by Allah in the Quran... in surah nur

iii. Mount Sinai is where Allah spoke to Musa

iv. The peaceful city (Makkah)- Where Ibrahim built the kaaba and the Prophet Muhammad was born.

So the sequence moved from blessed to more blessed.... (this is mentioned in ibn kathir tafsir)

Ayah 2

وَطُورِ سِينِينَ (٢

wat-Toori Seeneen

By Mount sinai

This is where Allah spoke to Musa;

Allah uses two words for mount sinai in the Quran, in surah muminun. Allah says:

وَشَجَرَةً تَخْرُجُ مِن طُورِ سَيْنَاءَ تَنبُتُ بِالدُّهْنِ وَصِبْغٍ لِّلْآكِلِينَ

wa shajaratan takhruju min toori sayna (Surah muminun 23: 20)

So we have Seeneen and sayna..

Both variations exist in the hebrew language and was known by the hebrew Scholars .. Mount sinai was not known by the Arabs.. But here we have an illiterate prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) telling the hebrew scholars of the two dialectical variation of the mount sinai.

This is amazing because the prophet was arab and illiterate, this surah is a Meccan surah... The prophet did not know hebrew to know the variations of the descriptions of mount sinai known by the hebrew linguist scholars and he had no jewish companions in Mecca.

Allah is giving the prophet classified information that was only known by the hebrew linguist scholars. SubhanAllah..

Ayah 3

وَهَـٰذَا ٱلۡبَلَدِ ٱلۡأَمِينِ (٣

wa haadhal baladil ameen

By the secure city

In surah Ibrahim: Ibrahim makes the dua for the city:

And [mention, O Muhammad], when Abraham said, “My Lord, make this city [Makkah] secure (aaminan) and keep me and my sons away from worshipping idols. (Ibraheem 14:35)

Allah uses the secure city in this ayah in honour of prophet Ibrahim (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) who made this dua.

The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was also born here...

There is so much more to say but id stop ayah 3 here so i can talk about 4 and 5

Ayat 4

لَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ فِي أَحْسَنِ تَقْوِيمٍ

Laqadkhalaqna al-insanafee ahsani[b] t
aqweem[/b]

We have certainly created man in the best possible form;

This is the response to the oath.

This is Allah's response to the argument

Now humans are made up of two parts, body and soul. Allah says he has created the human being in the best possible fashion. So just as we walk upright physically, we are the only ones that walk upright morally.

This is the response to the denial of the human being's honour. The human being forgot Allah and a natural consequence is that they forgot themselves.

Allah says the human being has inherent good. The proof that the human being is created in the best possible fashion is exemplified by the lives of Nuh, Eesa, Musa, Ibrahim and Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon them). Examine their lives.

So we have

at-Teen – mount judy. Noah/Nuh.
Az-Zaytoon – mount olive and masjid al Aqsa. Jesus/’Eesa.
Toori seeneen – Mount Sinai. Moses/Musa.
Balad al ameen – Makkah. Prophet Ibraheem/Abraham and Prophet Muhammad. (Hameed-uddin Firaahi)

So what motivations did they have? Was it the stomach? Was it wealth? Was it self-interest?

Are they not the proof that the human being was created in the best fashion?

Are they not proof that the human being was created above an animal?

Allah is telling us that messengers:

Nuh, Eesa, Musa, Ibrahim and Muhammad are the best examples for mankind.

These prophet also known as ‘Uluw al ‘azam (the most persevering of the Prophets) are the best examples for humanity in the perfect (taqweem) form.

After refering to these five great messengers with the oaths, Allah says he has created man in the best form. The response to the allegation against the nature of the human being is responded to by the legacies of these people.

You want to know what a balanced human being is? study the examples of these five.

I will stop at ayah 5

Ayah 5

ثُمَّ رَدَدۡنَـٰهُ أَسۡفَلَ سَـٰفِلِينَ (٥

Thumma radadnahu asfalasafileen

then We reduce him to the lowest of the low

Morally and ethical failures are a result of Man's failure to harness his inherent goodness. The language of the ayah suggests that Allah rejected the human being because he did something unacceptable.

Allah created him in the best fashion but he did something that made him lose that licence, Allah rejected him.

As such, he ended up in the lowest of the low.

The human being has been given a
status above other creatures, we have been given the ability to utilise the land and the sea for our benefit.

So we are high and everything else is low.

However, when the human being fails to worship Allah, he turns his worship to trees, rocks and stones.

They lower themselves below what is already low. This is how they reduce themselves.

Most animals attack when they are scared or hungry. If you feed a shark till it's full and swim next to it, it won't bite you. So even animals don't strike when their stomach is full.

But this human being would continue to rob, kill and steal. The animal would stop attacking when the danger is over, but this human will continue to kill.

He will commit genocides and unthinkable crimes. Things the animal wouldn't do.

So if the animals are low, the humans become the lowest of the low..

SubhanAllah.

^Great effort. May Allah reward you for it.

maclatunji: ^Great effort. May Allah reward you for it.

Ameen. Make dua for my teachers as well. May Allah give you the best.

Interesting,May Allah reward you for this.

ok, i was following the first post but got confused by/didnt understand the second.

anyway, @ first post

the view seems rather negative and nihilistic.

i think the core motive of the human being might vary somewhat from person to person.

generally speaking however, the core motive is supposed to be God, or a human's impression of God.

it can, however, be replaced by various other motivations such as money, power, etc.

nice. just one thing though: sigmund freud was a quack.

Maybe, but he is considered the father of modern psychology.

He wrote far more disgusting stuff.

Salaam,

Tbaba,

I sincerely do not understand the point of your post. Are you really trying to say that no true Muslim can be a modern psychologist or can accept modern psychological theories on the self/human behaviour?

I also think that it is a sin to lie or peddle falsehoods. You have repeated a common falsehood: the claim that Sigmund Freud claimed that the core of human motive is s.exuality. Please, read the Internet encyclopedia of philosophy's entry on Sigmund Freud to see this falsehood addressed.

I await your reply.

Thanks

psychology is not a non-muslim endeavour.

muslims are actually some of the most advanced psychologists there are, regardless of educational level. Only whites have a greater psychological background than muslims, imo.

Muslims in Psychology


http://islamandpsychology..com/2009/02/muslims-in-psychology.html

tpia@:
psychology is not a non-muslim endeavour.

muslims are actually some of the most advanced psychologists there are, regardless of educational level. Only whites have a greater psychological background than muslims, imo.

Thank you for the information. I agree with your point.

My problem is that I feel that Tbaba is trying to say that Islam doesn't agree with modern psychology. I await his response.

Thank you

Nairatalks: Salaam,

Tbaba,

I sincerely do not understand the point of your post. Are you really trying to say that no true Muslim can be a modern psychologist or can accept modern psychological theories on the self/human behaviour?
I also think that it is a sin to lie or peddle falsehoods. You have repeated a common falsehood: the claim that Sigmund Freud claimed that the core of human motive is s.exuality. Please, read the Internet encyclopedia of philosophy's entry on Sigmund Freud to see this falsehood addressed.

I await your reply.

Thanks

Salaam,

On the contrary, I think muslims should study modern psychology. It is a very interesting field and there is plenty of research that needs to be done. This piece addressed theories that exist out there, it is by no means exhaustive.

I feel the Quran has a lot to offer in this field and muslim psychologists should know enough about the Quran so that they can make good research on the Quranic assertions on the human being. As much as humans make effort to understand humans, it is always going to be limited.

As regards freudian psychology, I would encourage you to read freud's stages of psychosexual development. It is one of his most controversial works, he defines human development through s.exuality. He hinges the development of a healthy human being on his psychosexual development.

In the Phallic Stage (ages three to six). Freud believed that during this stage boy develop unconscious s.exual desires for their mother. Because of this, he becomes rivals with his father and sees him as competition for the mother’s affection.

Most people would not define a child's affection for his mother by s.exuality but freud did.

I am sure, you can google the book.

Peace.

@tbaba
freud did. and its balderdash. and you shouldn't be promoting it just because its out there.

JazakumuLLAHU khayran bro, this is very insightful, especially relating the oaths to the five prophets(may the Peace and Blessings of Allah be on them all).

You know i never gave a second thought about Freaud's theory, not until now, talking about lowest of low...

tbaba1234:

Salaam,

On the contrary, I think muslims should study modern psychology. It is a very interesting field and there is plenty of research that needs to be done. This piece addressed theories that exist out there, it is by no means exhaustive.

I feel the Quran has a lot to offer in this field and muslim psychologists should know enough about the Quran so that they can make good research on the Quranic assertions on the human being. As much as humans make effort to understand humans, it is always going to be limited.

As regards freudian psychology, I would encourage you to read freud's stages of psychosexual development. It is one of his most controversial works, he defines human development through s.exuality. He hinges the development of a healthy human being on his psychosexual development.

In the Phallic Stage (ages three to six). Freud believed that during this stage boy develop unconscious s.exual desires for their mother. Because of this, he becomes rivals with his father and sees him as competition for the mother’s affection.

Most people would not define a child's affection for his mother by s.exuality but freud did.

I am sure, you can google the book.

Peace.

Salaam,

You didnt answer my question clearly. Should muslims only read these modern psychological theories? Is it wrong to accept them?

Regarding Freud and sexuality, here was your comment-

The father of modern psychology, Sigmund freud concluded that the core motive of the human being is s.exuality. He defines all human thinking from s.exuality. He says that even when a mother looks at her child, there is lust
involved subconsciously and vice versa.



Are you willing to stand by this statement? I studied psychology and my lecturer loved Freud. He was very clear on this particular misunderstanding of his work when it came to s.exuality.

sino: JazakumuLLAHU khayran bro, this is very insightful, especially relating the oaths to the five prophets(may the Peace and Blessings of Allah be on them all).

You know i never gave a second thought about Freaud's theory, not until now, talking about lowest of low...

I doubt Tbaba has any capacity to really discuss Freud's work.


I shiver at people taking this thread as something insighful

Nairatalks:


I doubt Tbaba has any capacity to really discuss Freud's work.


I shiver at people taking this thread as something insighful

Hold it there bro, what is your aim here? If you see a misconception about freaud's work then point it out and stop being confrontational ain't you a Muslim?

The post is quite insightful, i never read or heard about the oaths being related to the 5 prophets as being presented by the OP, talking about being the best of creation and mentioning the best of mankind especially the Prophet Muhammad(SAW).

I'm not a psychologist, but its an area that interest me, i read about freaud's theory back in the day and didn't have any objection to it, i did see how male children where fond of their mums and females their dad, it looked plausible. The main issue is, is this based on s.exuality at this tender age?

Nairatalks:
Salaam,

You didnt answer my question clearly. Should muslims only read these modern psychological theories? Is it wrong to accept them?

Regarding Freud and sexuality, here was your comment-

The father of modern psychology, Sigmund freud concluded that the core motive of the human being is s.exuality. He defines all human thinking from s.exuality. He says that even when a mother looks at her child, there is lust
involved subconsciously and vice versa.



Are you willing to stand by this statement? I studied psychology and my lecturer loved Freud. He was very clear on this particular misunderstanding of his work when it came to s.exuality.

I don't care about your lecturer and freud defined human behaviour from that.

Did he not relate the human behaviour to it?

If I say a muslim should study modern psychology, doesn't it mean he should read the ideas out there or did I speak french?

A muslim believes that the Quran is the absolute word of God so belief in any idea will depend on whether it matches up, if it contradicts the Quran then a muslim will not believe in it .

Nairatalks:


I doubt Tbaba has any capacity to really discuss Freud's work.


I shiver at people taking this thread as something insighful

The thread is beyond freud's ideas. I am sure you could have calmly corrected what you think is a Misconception without the name calling.!
.
You should read what it is saying first.

tbaba

freud's work doesnt consist entirely of s.exual innuendo and neither does the body of modern psychology as a whole.

just like with mathematics, the general history of these disciplines, are much more than just one reference.

not sure why its the sex stuff that you're focusing on.

^ smh!

This post is by no means exhaustive, it has a focus on certain ideas/theories that exist out there.

You are totally missing the point.

sino:

Hold it there bro, what is your aim here? If you see a misconception about freaud's work then point it out and stop being confrontational ain't you a Muslim?

The post is quite insightful, i never read or heard about the oaths being related to the 5 prophets as being presented by the OP, talking about being the best of creation and mentioning the best of mankind especially the Prophet Muhammad(SAW).

I'm not a psychologist, but its an area that interest me, i read about freaud's theory back in the day and didn't have any objection to it, i did see how male children where fond of their mums and females their dad, it looked plausible. The main issue is, is this based on s.exuality at this tender age?

Salaam,

I am sorry, if I came on too confrontational. I had already pointed out where I felt that Tbaba was wrong onFreud before making my comment to you.

Tbaba made the claim that Freud state that the core human motive is s.exuality, which is quite false.

There are other claims in his article but I focused on this one

tbaba1234:

I don't care about your lecturer and freud defined human behaviour from that.

Did he not relate the human behaviour to it?

If I say a muslim should study modern psychology, doesn't it mean he should read the ideas out there or did I speak french?

A muslim believes that the Quran is the absolute word of God so belief in any idea will depend on whether it matches up, if it contradicts the Quran then a muslim will not believe in it .

Salaam,

Sorry if I angered you. You dont have to care for my lecturer.

I think you misunderstood me. Reading a theory is quite different from accepting it. Should a muslim accept Freud's theory and other modern psychological theories?


As for your comment regarding Freud and s.exuality;

The father of modern psychology, Sigmund freud concluded that the core motive of the human being is s.exuality. He defines all human thinking from s.exuality. He says that even when a mother looks at her child, there is lust
involved subconsciously and vice versa.


Here is a decent rebuttal;

There are, he held, an indefinitely large number of such instincts, but these can be reduced to a small number of basic ones, which he grouped into two broad generic categories, Eros (the life instinct), which covers all the self-preserving and erotic instincts, and Thanatos (the death instinct), which covers all the instincts towards aggression, self-destruction, and cruelty. Thus it is a mistake to interpret Freud as asserting that all human actions spring from motivations which are sexual in their origin, since those which derive from Thanatos are not sexually motivated–indeed, Thanatos is the irrational urge to destroy the source of all sexual energy in the annihilation of the self. Having said that, it is undeniably true that Freud gave sexual drives an importance and centrality in human life, human actions, and human behavior which was new (and to many, shocking), arguing as he does that sexual drives exist and can be discerned in children from birth (the theory of infantile sexuality), and that sexual energy (libido) is the single most important motivating force in adult life. However, a crucial qualification has to be added here—Freud effectively redefined the term “sexuality” to make it cover any form of pleasure which is or can be derived from the body. Thus his theory of the instincts or drives is essentially that the human being is energized or driven from birth by the desire to acquire and enhance bodily pleasure.

http://www.iep.utm.edu/freud/


Furthermore, Psychology has evolved. Freud's works have been studied and refined. Take for instance, Oedipus complex which evolutionary psychologists find to be of very little predictive and statistical use in humans. w

tbaba1234:

The thread is beyond freud's ideas. I am sure you could have calmly corrected what you think is a Misconception without the name calling.!
.
You should read what it is saying first.

Salam,

Please, I didnt call you any name. You can look at my comments here. I only disagreed with what you wrote. If I am vexing you, then I will leave your thread.

I know that your thread is beyond Freud's theories but you were still wrong in the part you mentioned Freud.

^ Missing the whole point of the write-up. The post is not about him, at all.

And instead of saying tbaba is a liar, you could provided the correct view and i could easily adjust the post. You provided nothing concrete throughout.

I only presented what he wrote about.

I would change s.exuality to bodily pleasure based on what you wrote:


Thus his theory of the instincts or drives is essentially that the human being is energized or driven from birth by the desire tyo acquire and enhance bodily pleasure.

But you just proved my point, he thinks the human being just wants to enhance bodily pleasure.

Seriously, you could have just told me to change it bodily pleasure.

Happy now?

A muslim should have a higher degree of certainty in the Quran, any view that goes against the Quran view is not accepted.

Salaam,

Tbaba, I am leaving your thread.

I only hope that you have either studied psychology or you are a psychologist since you are talking about modern psychology.


Thank you

I value your contribution as a psychologist. I hope to write another thread on Quranic psychology for muslim psychologists and your views would be appreciated.

This thread is not a study on psychology, it only expresses a few popular views and the Quranic response to them.

Chikena

tbaba1234: ^ smh!

This post is by no means exhaustive, it has a focus on certain ideas/theories that exist out there.

You are totally missing the point.

well, its hard to discuss the points you raised, since they are more or less very s.exual in nature.

for example, freud mentioned the oral stage in childhood, would you link that to certain adult behaviors, like i do?

tpia@:


for example, freud mentioned the oral stage in childhood, would you link that to certain adult behaviors, like i do?

He linked it to smoking habits etc but this is not the focus of the thread. I will not respond to any other freud comment.