Article of Islamic Solution for 21st Century Societal Problems

8/3/2019 Article of Islamic Solution for 21st Century Societal Problems

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Islamic solution for 21st century societal problems: Transcendent integrative psychology based on the Khalifah Method1

By:Dr. Abdul Aziz Azimullah And The late Prof. Dr. Muhammad Al-Mahdi Jenkins

Abstract

We live in the global world which is currently plagued by severe societal problems. This paper attempts to present the transcendent integrative psychology based on the Khalifah Method

developed by the late Prof. Mohd. Al-Mahdi Jenkins and Dr. Abdul Aziz Azimullah whichaddressing the challenges of human motivation and psychology of learning in the twenty first

century. The Khalifah method focuses on two areas. First, it gives a positive and an accurateworldview, that is, if one is given a way to see the world in positive and accurate manners whichis understood in Islam scientifically and objectively, in combination with traditionalinterpretation. Second, it emphasizes a good and broad understanding of human motivation andthe laws of learning by which all human development takes place, that individual or society willnaturally and inevitably move toward everything that is good and right, that is naturally Islamicin essence.

1. INTRODUCTION

This 21st century is a century of paradox. We have the superrich in contrast to the billions of

human beings living in extreme poverty and deprivation. What humanity collectively does today

will shape the future of human civilization for the next millennium? The world today is a very

unjust world where the rich live in luxury and the poor die of disease and hunger just like our

ancestors before the industrial revolution. The promise and hope that the industrial, scientific and

information revolution will save all of humanity remained a distant dream. 21st century scientific

1This paper is dedicated to: The late Prof. Dr. Muhammad Al-Mahdi Jenkins, My friend and mentor, who

dedicated his life to the Khalifah project that seeks to create a fully and truly Islamic world. This paper written by :

Dr. Abdul Aziz bin Azimullah ( Chairman of Khalifah Institute) and The late Prof. Dr. Muhammad Al-Mahdi Jenkins (

Founder of Khalifah Institute), Part of paper are extract of The late Prof. Dr. Muhammad Al-Mahdi Jenkins’s works

and website www.islamic-world.net. Khalifah Institute strives in continuing research to develop a transcendent

holistic Islamic Psychology model and framework for the future of humanity.

The author also grateful to Noviana Mustapha (PhD student of Education, IIUM) for the assistance she

rendered in the preparation of this paper.



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technological improvement does give us the ability to alleviate poverty, disease and other untold

human miseries. However, the decline in moral and spiritual values resulted in a dysfunctional

21st century human civilization centered on greed and the fulfillment of baser physical desires.

Our experiences in the 20th century point to an insane world that is self-destructive. The

20th century civilization is based on secular materialistic ideas that has brought about

destruction, havoc and confusion in the human mind. Everyday our sacred moral, humanistic,

social, environmental values and norms are being rapidly destroyed. If we are to continue this

insane pattern of the 20th century, it is possible that our human civilization could self-destruct

and could be doomed within the next 100 years. Consider some of these facts and its

consequences that are happening and continue to happen right now today.

1. The world’s trade on illegal drugs is estimated to be worth US$400 billion – about equal

to the value of the world’s pharmaceutical industry. More than 45 million Americans are

regular drug users; one in every eight American is a drug addict. Drug addiction is

growing exponentially worldwide.

2. Every day more than 800 million people in the world go hungry. More than 1.3 billion

people live on less than US$1.00 per day. 1% of the world’s super-rich people control

more than 50% of the total wealth and revenues of the world.

3. The world’s oil and mineral reserves might be exhausted by 2040, only 35 years away.

Our energy hungry civilization will collapse if there are no alternative energy sources.

4. More than 100 million people worldwide are HIV-positive – the numbers are growing

every year.

5. More people die each year from suicide than in all the world’s armed conflicts.



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6. America spends more than US10 billion dollars on pornographic materials every year,

more than its foreign aid programs to the whole world.

7. The prostitution and sex trade is worth more than US$550 billion annually worldwide.

More than 50 million women and children are enslaved in this disgusting trade. Young

children are routinely sold for prostitution in Latin America, South East Asia, South Asia

and Sub-Sahara Africa.

8. In 2003, the US spends US$396 billion on its military alone. Worldwide, the military

expenditure exceeds US$1000 billion annually, more than enough to feed the world’s

poor for the next 10 years. The final cost of the war in Iraq will be more than US$3

trillion.

9. There are more than 27 million slaves and many million more in child labor worldwide.

In India alone, there are more than 44 million child labors that are depriving of their

childhood.

10. 82% of the world’s smokers live in poor, developing countries. Multinational cigarette

companies use devious advertising and promotional campaigns that relate smoking to

prestige and social status. They target the youth in poor countries by selling cigarettes in

small packs as well as single sticks. Once hooked on cigarettes, they will be smokers for

life. The health cost of smoking will bankrupt most countries of the world in the near

future.

11. In many countries, bribery payments make up to 20% of the average GDP of the country.

12. In many developed and developing countries, more than 30% of the children are born to

unmarried single women, many of them still school-going teenagers.

13. The continuous environmental destruction of planet earth is unsustainable. The doomsday

clock at the University of Chicago now stands at 5 minutes to midnight, i.e. we are close



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to an environmental doomsday within 15 years. Climate change, global warming,

environmental pollution, if not rectified within the next 15 years, may cause massive

catastrophe in the 21st century. Most probably more than 3 billion human beings will die

in this runaway environmental disaster that can happen within the next 100 years.

14. And there are many more shocking facts of gross moral, social, and environmental

destruction going on every day. The world is going insane!

The challenges to achieve a just, peaceful and viable 21st century are daunting and

multifaceted. Humanity today is at the crossroad either towards total destruction or the dawn of a

new sacred civilization. Within the next 50 years our decision to act to make this world a better

place for all could then result in a dawn of a human civilization so unique and fulfilling that it

could be a civilization justice, peace and happiness for all human beings and all creatures on this

good earth. If we fail to act, to change the current downward trend of moral, civilizational and

ecological degradation then the 21st century will be the century of intolerable poverty, mass

starvation, global violence and hatred. We will enter a new dark age of that will most probably

wipe out all of humanity before the end of the 21st century. If we are to create a magnificent new

sacred civilization we must be aware of the global issues confronting us in the 21st century

In this challenging 21st century, Islam and other world religions can play a vital role to

transform 21st century humanity. All religions in the world working together can help make the

21st century a better world for all. Muslims empowered in the right direction can play a leading

role in the transformation of the 21st century civilization. Core intrinsic values of Islam as well

as in other religions will enable human beings to have hope for the future. By emphasizing the

core values of justice, love, and peace, human beings can be given a new sacred mission to make

this world a better world for all. Let us review the challenges in the 21st century that all of us

have to journey together.



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2. THE FOUNDATION OF THE TRANSENDENTAL INTEGRATIVE PSYCHOLOGY

Modern secularized men have lost touch with their inner selves. As a result, they are only using

one dimension of their potential intelligence based on I.Q. This brute mono-dimensional

intelligence gives rise to arrogance and atheism. In all major traditional systems God gives us the

ability beyond the five senses to realize emotional and spiritual reality which ultimately lead to

the understanding the reality of God. Secularism and atheism have cut off our inner intuitive

capability. As a result, modern men can only see the physical reality as the only reality in which

he lives and die. Atheism, which is prevalent today, begins in the late 17th century. The basis of

modern atheism was based on Cartesian, Newtonian and Kantian philosophy.

The basis of these ideologies is that all our knowledge is based in the experiences of our

five senses. Anything beyond of our five senses cannot be verified and as such is of no rational

value. For Immanuel Kant and his followers, metaphysical questions, such as the existence of

God, were outside the scope of human reason. In their views, reason could not be applied to

matters outside of one’s experience through the senses. In Kantian epistemology, reason could

never lead one to knowledge of God, and theological inquiry could not be made by means of

rational analysis. Because God is not subject to the senses, Kantian philosophers dismissed any

attempt to discuss God, or any ideas of the realm of the transcendent, metaphysical or spiritual.

Immanuel Kant strongly influenced the development of the idealist philosophies of

ninetieth century. Idealist philosophy is replaced by logical positivism in 20 th century. Logical

positivism was replaced by logical analysis, which required an empirical verification for any

statement to be considered meaningful. Kant attempted to show our inability to know anything

apart from the world of our sensory experience. For Kant, reason is not able to address the

questions of the existence of God, because by definition God is outside of our sense experience.

Traditional humanity understands life as a reality focuses on the understanding of a divine

Creator. Human life in this world is a holistic continuum in which we identify our relationship

with all of creation and with the divine Creator. Religious precepts provide various approaches to

the power of reason to know the divine reality as part of the continuing history of mankind.

We are given the freedom of choice as a human being and provided with moral and

ethical precepts in our religious system. Within the Islamic system, an infinite God cannot be



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placed within a system or box by finite human mind. The doctrine of divine unity in Islam al-

Tawhid is fundamental to all believing Muslims. This first requirement of belief is to believe and

realize the oneness of God and all the essential attributes of Godhood. God is not an object to be

placed in a class or category within the confine of human mind. God transcends all categories of

thought, including Kant’s categories of the mind. John Cottingham describes the limits of

empirical and positivistic reasoning concerning a transcendent reality as he said:

“When we reflect further on the kinds of philosophical project found in Hume or Kant, it becomes clear that they do not and indeed could not with any plausibility propose to eliminate the very possibility of a domain of reality lying beyond the phenomenal world. It would be outrageous arrogance to suppose that the limits of our puny human scientific or even conceptual resources must necessarilydetermine the actual limits of reality.”

Kantian ideas promoted by positivist philosophers still influence modern scientific

atheism in the 21st century. These promoters of Kantian philosophy based the argument on the

old model of science that is proven false today. They based their theory of knowledge on

Euclidean geometry and Newtonian view of the universe. Today’s science has been modified by

Einstein’s theory of relativity, non-Euclidean geometry, quantum physics, string theory and

algorithmic information theory. These new scientific discoveries enable us to discuss the nature

of Godhood within the rational scientific paradigm. Prominent physicist Sir Dr. JohnPolkinghorne said:

“No one has seen a quark, and we believe that no one ever will. They are sotightly bound to each other inside the protons and neutrons that nothing can makethem break out on their own. Why, then, do I believe in these invisible quarks?..... In summary, it is because quarks make sense of a lot of direct physicalevidence … I wish to engage in a similar strategies with regard to the unseenreality of God. His existence makes sense of many aspects of our knowledge andexperience: the order and fruitfulness of the physical world; the multilayeredcharacter of reality; the almost universal human experience of worship and hope

… I think that very similar thought processes are involved in both cases. In do not believe that I shift in some strange intellectual way when I move from science toreligion … In their search for truth, science and faith are intellectual cousinsunder the skin.”



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The study of quantum physics, black holes, particle astrophysics, cosmology, and

information theory allows us to know quite a bit about things that are beyond our senses.

Similarly, there is merit in rational metaphysical inquiry concerning the knowledge of God, even

though that knowledge will always be incomplete and distorted on a purely human rational basis.

Although we cannot know everything about God through human rational inquiry and may not be

able to achieve a genuine understanding of God’s essence, we can know something about God.

Although modern scientific reasoning indicates that we can discuss the concept of God in

rational terms, we need to acknowledge our limitations; a finite being will not comprehend fully

an infinite being. God is infinite; any attempt to grasp such a being will be incomplete. As finite

beings with a finite language, our attempts to discuss the infinite will always be inadequate. One

cannot use words concerning God as one would use words to describe anything else. Our

language is limited to descriptions of components of the universe or to the universe itself. God is

beyond all categories of objects of our thoughts. God is beyond all categories and beyond the

comprehension of human mind. We encounter real limits in our reasoning and in our knowledge.

Our language and finite minds can be used as a stepping-stone towards the reflection of

the nature of the infinite God which can then expand our awareness of the true reality. We can

gain some valid insights by reflecting upon the nature of Godhood. At the very least of this

reflection can show us that all of our concepts about God are too small. Just because we cannot

know all of God does not mean that we cannot experience God. Our sense of awe and our

understanding of reality may be enhanced as we catch even a tiny glimpse of the magnitude of

God.

We can have a better insight on understanding God through our innate transcendent

capability. We must expand our ways of knowing to include the intuitive, metaphysical and

mystical way of knowing. By combining rational scientific mode of thinking with the

transcendent mode, we can then experience the Divine. This holistic experience will enable us tounderstand God rationally as well as metaphysically. Reason and faith are complementary ways

of knowing. Reason without experiencing the Divine leads to atheism. Transcendent experiences

without reason can be a fantasy. Reason and transcendent religious experiences need to remain

coupled. One’s heart and one’s mind must each be fully engaged in the knowing process. There



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are ways of knowing beyond the five senses. We know as complete persons, not only as physical

sensory beings.

Today we see a merging of science and faith to address basic metaphysical questions.

There is an innate yearning in our mind of the nature of our existence. Why is there something

rather than nothing? Why does this particular kind of universe exist? Why does that something

have the particular members and order that it has? Why does the universe have an order that

makes it intelligible? Einstein marveled at the intelligibility of the universe. He knew that

science could not even begin if the world was not intelligible. As he noted, “let us concede that

behind any major scientific work is a conviction akin to religious belief, that the world is

intelligible.” If one stops and thinks about it the intelligibility of the universe is rather

astonishing. After all, it could be simply a chaos and not a rational, inherently mathematical

universe with substantial beauty.

The Second Law of Thermodynamics, which is accepted as one of the basic laws of

physics, holds that under normal conditions all systems left on their own will tend to become

disordered, dispersed, and corrupted in direct relation to the amount of time that passes. This

famous law of physics is also known as “the Law of Entropy”. Entropy is the range of the

disorder involved in a system in physics. A system’s entropy is increased as it moves towards a

more disordered, dispersed, and unplanned state form an ordered, organized, and planed one. The

higher a system’s disorder, the higher is its entropy. The Law of Entropy holds that the entire

universe unavoidably precedes towards a more disordered, unpinned, and disorganized state. If

that is the reality, the universe could not be dissipating from infinity or it would have run down

by now to state of nonexistence. If God created the universe than the universe had a beginning

that had to be highly ordered. Scientifically we know now that our universe has been expanding

since its initial singularity of the Big Bang. Such an expanding universe cannot have an infinite

past.

From the Islamic theological perspective, God created many universes as mentioned in

the Qur’an:

The seven heavens and the earth, and all beings therein, declare His glory: thereis not a thing but celebrates His praise; and yet ye understand not how they

declare His glory! Verily He is Oft-Forbear, Most Forgiving! (Al-Quran, 17:44)



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Recent scientific works by physicists and cosmologists indicates that we live in a “multiverse

cosmos”. Cosmologists Arvind Borde, Alan Guth, and Alexander Vilenkin indicate the scientific

possibility of multiverse cosmos that must have a beginning. These scientific discoveries point to

the rationality, order, fine-tuning, and beauty of the universe. These discoveries give

corroborative evidence for the inherent intelligibility of the physical world and are consistent

with a rational argument for God’s existence.

Transcendent Precepts

Understanding the Human Self from the Islamic Perspective

Let us discuss the nature of the human self from the scientific and Islamic perspective. We need

sound scientific knowledge to understand the reality of our existence as a composite being. Fromthe Islamic perspective, we have four or more aspects that constitute the human self. We also

understand from teachings of prophets from Adam to Abraham to Jesus to Moses to Prophet

Muhammad, including great teachers like Buddha, Lao Tze, Confucius, and others that human

self is not purely physical but have other inner dimensions, i.e., the transcendent/spiritual

dimension of the self.

From the perspective of Islam, human being consists of at least five domains/aspects.

Based on the Quranic revelation the five aspects are our spirit/ruh, aspects or domain, our inner heart, our mind, our physical self, and the combined aspect of our nafs. Only God knows how

many more aspects we have. We call them aspects because, in the end when we look at the root

cause of everything that exists in this world, they are all creations or manifestation from God.

The five aspects as mentioned in the Qur’an are, the Ruh which is the spirit aspect, the Qalb,

which is the Heart aspect, the Aqal which is the intellectual/ mind aspect and the Jasad , which is

the physical aspect. We also have the combined totality of the human self/human psyche or the

Nafs. We have all these five aspects as we live on this earth. But how then do we relate these

aspects? What is the nature of these aspects?



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The Spirit ( Ruh)

In traditional human society, God created the universe through his divine power. He endows us

with free will to realize the beauty of creation and the grandeur of the Creator. Traditional

religious beliefs from the beginning of the humanity put God as a Creator of the universe.

Human beings were created from the Divine Light, endowed with personal responsibility and

possibilities to achieve peace, happiness and perfection in this world and the Hereafter. We have

a proper vision of life, of who we are, why we are alive, what to do with our life, and where will

we go after our physical death i.e. the hereafter.

We can explain the nature of our spiritual self/ruh by analogy and understanding the

phenomena of the nature of the human genetic code i.e. the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). The

DNA constitutes the program or biological information that is the central distinction between

living and nonliving matter. In the physical world we have two basic fundamentals of nature.

Einstein discovered that matter and energy were one fundamental i.e. matter/energy. Claude

Shannaon’s information theory explains the nature of information structured within the DNA

molecule. We can then deduce that in the physical world of this universe we have two

fundamentals of nature i.e. matter/energy and information.

The instructions in DNA that exists in all living matter are written in the genetic code

using the letters A (for adenine), G (for Genuine), C (for cytosine) and T (for thymine). The

rungs of the nitrogen bases of the double helix DNA molecule are pairs of either adenine and

thymine (A-T) or cytosine with guanine (C-G). The instructions in DNA are written in the

genetic code and carried in sequences of codons. The program of the genetic code is extremely

complex. The DNA for even the smallest single-called bacterium contains over 4 million

instructions.

For Muslims we have no problem in understanding the nature of the human self. God not

only created the genetic code to allow the continuous existence of the Human species but also

specify the real nature of the human self. Fundamentally, we are spiritual being living

temporarily in a physical world. We existed ever before the existence of the genetic code that

enables human being to exist in this physical world. We already exist in the spiritual realm with

God. Just like we have the genetic imprint in our physical self, we also have spiritual imprint that



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is the true fundamental nature of the human self. There was a limited explanation on human as

mentioned in the Quran:

“And they ask you about the ruh (spirit). Say to them the ruh proceed from the

command of Allah (amar) and you have very little knowledge of the nature of the

ruh” (Al-Quran, 17:85).

This verse of the Quran signifies that our spirit/ruh proceed from the Divine command. He wills

upon the creation of the human spiritual-self i.e. the ruh. In the saying of Prophet Muhammad,

“the first thing that God created was the spirit.”

There are two aspects of the ruh. The uncreated aspect refers to the Universal Spirit that

relates to God, the Divine Being. The created aspect is the ruh or spirit that is of the

manifestation of the Universal Spirit that is projected and fused with the human being that becomes his spirit, soul or nafs. Sufis call this the infusion of the breadth of God onto man as

mentioned in the Qur’an:

“And I breathed into him my spirit.” (Al-Quran, 15:29)

The human spirit/ruh that was created by God, was living in the primordial plane in close

proximity to God before the existence of the universe. Allah says in the Quran:

“When thy Lord drew forth from the children of Adam from their loins- their descendants, and made them testify concerning themselves”, “Am I not your

Lord?”- They said:” Yea! We do testify!” (Al-Quran, 7:172)

The human ruh at its point of existence also carries the imprint of his mental and emotional

dimensions, i.e. SEM aspects. To simplify our understanding of the ruh, we can deduce that it

has its spiritual, emotional/heart aspect, and the intellectual aspect coming together as one

package in the spirit/ruh. Its differentiation is on its functional aspects, either at the spiritual level

(ruh), heart level (qalb) or mind/intellectual level (aql).

We can now understand that imprinted within our “spiritual DNA” is the inner cognition

of who we are and our relationship with God. Imprinted within our spiritual self/ruh is the

witnessing of God as our Creator. Every human being that existed in the world will already have

the potential to believe and know God imprinted in our psyche. Every human being born into this

world is born a believer in God because of our covenant with God (Al-Quran, 7:172). This



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imprint of our covenant with God in psyche happened in the primordial spiritual state. This inner

human nature or fitrah can be blurred due to self-indulgence of the material physical world. God

allows us to follow our primordial human nature to become a Believer or deny God by following

our baser material desires.

To simplify our understanding or our spirit/ruh, heart/qalb and mind/aqal aspects; let us

represent them in a diagram. This diagram does not represent the real nature of us which is

beyond any physical representation or description. This diagram is just an analogy for us to

understand and realize our true nature.

Diagram 1 Human Self in the primordial state

We can represent our spirit/ruh as the outer circle as shown in the diagram. Within our

spirit/ruh we have the heart/qalb aspect as represented by the second circle. Within our spirit/ruh

we also have the mind/intellectual/aqal aspect. All these three aspects operating and interacting

as one unified entity. We describe the spirit/ruh as the heart/qalb when it functions from the

perspective of free will and emotion. We also describe the spirit/ruh as the mind/aqal when it

functions from the perspective of intellect and decision making. In reality, there is only one

entity and the terms ruh/qalb/aqal can be used to describe the one entity i.e. the human self. In



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our primordial state our human self on nafs consist of the above three aspects. In the physical

existence in this world, ourselves/nafs will include our physical entity/jasad.

Diagram 2: Human self in this world

When we live in this world, we use fused with the physical body (jasad) the existence

within space and time. The physical body is a temporary aspect / domain that would be separate

from our ruh, qalb and aqal aspect.

Human self/ Nafs

Let us summarize the four aspects of our spirit/ ruh, heart/ qalb, mind/ aqal and body/

jasad in a diagram form. It is very difficult to represent a transcendent concept in any

representation of form. Please see this graphical representation as an analogy to help us to

understand the holistic nature of the human self/ nafs.



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Al-Qalb-The Heart Aspect

As mentioned earlier, the Muslim scholars describe interchangeably the human spirit, ar-ruh as

well as heart/al-qalb and intellect/al-aqal as one entity. The human spirit/ruh when it is

manifested by God at the primordial state (azali state) already have the imprint of the heart

aspect/al-qalb and the intellect aspect/al-aqal . When we describe the heart aspect/al-qalb we are

also describing our spirit or ar-ruh. God gives us a composite reality based on the function of the

heart/al-qalb aspect in our primordial nature. It also points to our functional use of our heart and

our intellect to deny or realize God within our physical existence on this earth.

There are two aspects of the heart i.e. the biological heart in our physical body as well as

the inner heart is imprinted in the spirit/ruh. The inner heart has an affinity and close connection

with our physical biological heart. Since time immemorial this connection was known to

humanity. We can find this perspective in Chinese, Hindu, Hebrwe, Christian and Islamic

traditions. In the traditional Chinese philosophy, the physical heart is the connection between the

spirit and the body. In traditional Chinese medicine, the body’s holistic integral function is

assessed via the pulse reading of the heart. In Hindu Yoga tradition, the heart is recognized as the

seed of individual consciousness and the center of life. The physical heart is connected to the

inner heart that will affect the balance of the individual if these two aspects of the heart are not

tuned holistically. In Christian tradition, as mentioned in Luke: 22, both in the old and newtestament explained that there is a strong connection between the physical and spiritual aspect of

the heart

The organ in the body that is associated with intellect is the heart. Just as the intellectual

mind transcends the physical brain, the spiritual heart transcends the physical heart. This is

mentioned in the Qur’an:

“It is not the eyes that are blind but the hearts” (Al-Quran, 22:46). According tothe hadith al-Qudsi, “the heavens and the earth cannot contain me, but the heart

of my believing servants has room for me.”

Our transcendent heart identifies with the divine beyond the physical heart or physical realm.

According to al-Ghazali, the qalb is the essence of man, which is synonymous for ruh or

self/nafs depending on its functional aspect. In this physical plane on earth the transcendent heart



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is the spiritual entity which abides with the physical body and controls all functions of life in the

spiritual as well as physical realm.

The heart/qalb can also be described according to its functions and its relationship with

the rest of the bodily organs as well as our emotion, perception and behavior. In the Qur’anic

verse God declares mankind to be the vicegerent or representative of God on earth. (al-

Quran,2:30) We can relate an analogy from the Hadith which state “God created Adam in His

form”. Since God, as the Creator of this universe, governs it with sovereign authority, the

heart/qalb is considered to be the author and master of the body and its functions. All the organs

of the body have been subordinated to the heart/qalb. Our external perception, emotion and

behavioral are virtually the manifestations of the state of the heart i.e. the conditioning of our

emotion based on the good and bad deeds that we have done.

As the vicegerent of Allah, the human self is inherently endowed with some of His

attributes in some finite measures. These attributes, however, remain dormant and veiled by the

passions and the sensuous preoccupations of the self as he journeys throughout his life on earth.

This test of life is described in the Qur’an:

By the nafs/inner heart/soul, and the proportion and order given to it, and itsenlightenment as to its wrong and its right. Truly, he succeeds that purifies it, and

he fails that corrupts it! (Al-Quran, 91:7-9)

From the above verse, we can understand that to succeed in life we have to purify our

heart to receive enlightenment. Al-Ghazali defines the diseases of the heart like pride/arrogance

(takkabur), hypocrisy (nifaq), uncontrolled desire (hawa), ostentatiousness (ria), greed (hars),

ego and other spiritual diseases link to the heart/qalb that can destroy our state of balance, and

bring us towards inner conflict and self-destruction.

Al-Aql

In our earlier description of our spirit/Ruh and inner heart/qalb we have elaborated on the

primordial covenant in the state of azali at the creation of the human self, the mind/intellect/aqal

aspect is imprinted in our spirit/self. As a result, Muslim scholars tend to use these three aspects

interchangeably depending on its functional and situational roles in our journey of life. From our



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existence in the primordial realm to our existence in the physical realm on this earth and then

back to the realm of the hereafter, our mind/intellect/aqal plays the key role in reason and

decision making. Islamic scholars have defined al-aql as the all-encompassing intellect. It

covers the whole range of the mind/ brain/ intelligence aspects. Al-aql is bound within the

spirit/nafs/soul and functions as an integrative faculty between the spirit, inner heart and

mind/aqal. Muslim scholars divided mind/al-aqal into two basic faculties:

a. Al-aql al-juzi or reason, the faculty of discursive or analytical thought

b. Al-alq al-kulli, the faculty of intuition, higher intellect/ awareness of spiritual realities

The integration between these two aspects of reason and higher intellect and intuition will enable

the human being to discern truth from falsehood, good from bad, etc., which will then imprint positively and negatively his spiritual experiences throughout the journey of life. The faculties of

al-aqal is bestowed upon man enable him to cope his reality of existence in this world.

The Islamic integrative concept of higher intelligence/mind/al-aqal is compatible with the

findings of modern science in neurology, physiology, psychology, quantum physics and other

new sciences on the nature of the brain and mind-body relationship. Just like a physical heart is

connected with the inner heart/qalb, our physical brain is connected with our mind/higher

intelligence/aqal i.e. al-aqal al-kulli.

As we further develop our understanding of the quantum phenomena we will be able to

understand the transcendent nature of our mind. We will be able to understand the phenomena of

consciousness i.e. our awareness, perception, thought, memory etc. transcend space and time.

The Islamic concept of higher intelligence/mind/aqal provides a beautiful answer to the nature of

our true transcendent self.

God is a supreme intellect and demand acknowledgement from his thinking creation, i.e.as a divine directive. One of the saying of the prophet “I was the hidden treasure and I desire to

be known so I created the creation.” The whole scheme of this universe and its existence will not

be known unless God created a being endowed with intelligence to realize the Creator. As God is

the All Knowing (al-Alim) he created man to realize the greatness of his attribute of divine

intelligence, love, and beauty. Mankind was the creation that was given in some small measure



18

the gifts, faculties and qualities of the divine attributes. With these gifts man can take part in the

process of reasoning, contemplation and receive knowledge through higher intelligence and

infusion. The integration of the two aspects of al-aql , i.e. al-aql al juzi (reason) and al-aql al-

kulli which is intuition and higher intelligence will lead man to the realization of the divine.

Man’s integrative intelligence of al-aql can witness to the truth of a superior intelligence, i.e.

God. To the faculty of al-aql , man can understand God and love him because God has made him

and given him some of the attributes of himself. Mankind is the reflection of the image of God.

Of course, this does not mean that God is an image; rather it means that man, as the expression

of an image himself in his human form, possess all the God offers him as qualities, faculties and

gifts, which are themselves divine possibilities through which man can take part in the divine

reflection. Man is the image, and “God is the Light of the heavens and the earth (24 Light, 35)

behind that human image.

God is the Absolute and the All Knowing (Al-Alim).God is also the Loving (Al-Wadud).

God bestows intelligence human species to reflect on the attributes and infuse these attributes

within the human psyche. As such we are bestowed higher level of intelligence that is capable of

discernment and contemplation. We are given free will which we can exercise with reason to

achieve true success in life.

In Islam, the essential knowledge of the nature of Godhood and the purpose of life on thisearth was sent down by God through the faculty of intuition and revelation. The medium of

communication between the Divine and the human species is the mind/al-aqal which is the

integrative intelligence that can grasp the nature of the Divine. Man’s intelligence is capable of

objectivity because it can grasp the idea of supreme intelligence. Similarly, we are given free

will and reason so that our mind/al-Aqal can act upon to make correct and good decisions. It

would not be sufficient if man could grasp the notion of supreme intelligence i.e. God, but could

not act on behalf of God. The medium for this intervention is the mind/higher intelligence/aqal.

As mentioned earlier, our mind/higher intelligence/al-aqal is imprinted within the spirit/ruh. The

spirit/ruh provides the ground in which the result of our interaction of our intelligence and free

will can take root. The mind/aqal is the meeting ground between God and man in the intellectual

sense, and acts as a bridge between the world of the senses and the world of the spirit.



19

Al-Jasad (Physical Self)

In all spiritual tradition whether Hebrew, Hindu, Chinese or Islamic traditions, the physical

world is infused with a subtle element of life force, imparting motion and movement to the body.

Thus, if we talk about the physical realm, we have in the physical dimension, space and time.

Whereas, the spiritual dimension are not bounded by space and time.

It is evident, from the above ideas, that Islamic view of man self essentially include, soul/ spirit

aspect which is non invisible, corporeal and transcendental. We identify this as the ruh with its

imprint of the inner heart or mind. This primordial ruh, come in contact with the physical realm

when we are born into this world and carry a physical body which we call al-jasad . This body

forms the borderline area which connects the physical aspect of man to his spiritual self. At this

stage in the world, it is as if we are living in a purely physical world. This is an illusion. Our

prime life force that enables us to exist beyond space and beyond time is our spiritual aspect

which will remain forever, i.e. beyond space beyond time.

Our physical body that we carry in this world will disintegrate at the point of death. The

sum total of our experiences in this world, i.e. our belief system, our deeds and actions, feelings,

etc. will be permanently imprinted into the spiritual self. Thus, the physical body is there to serve

the purpose as a tool towards differentiating success or failure. The Creator is aware of the

tendencies of the human self or nafs in the physical world to seek base desires and pleasures.

God knows the weakness of the human self in its physical tendencies for ego, lust and passion.

Man, in this physical realm tend to lose sight of his spiritual nature and seek base pleasure as

mentioned in the Quran:

“By the token of time, man is verily in the state of lost. Except those who have faith and do good deeds. And those who practice patience and constancy.”

(Asr:1-4)

Through the discipline of our physical self we can reduce the egoistic tendency to become align

with the spiritual reality. As we go through the journey of life, there will be a serious battle

between the ego and the spirit. The ego led by the physical master, the physical desires tends to

gravitate towards evil, lust, greed, i.e. egoistic behavior. At this stage, the human self is at the

stage of the self that has tendency towards evil (an-nafs ammarah bi su’). In this state, the human



20

self is totally egoistic. Muslim scholars equate this stage as those of the diseased state. They

classify the diseases of the ego as those who lived through greed, lust, pride, ostentatiousness,

hypocrisy, self-centered, avarice, restlessness and animalistic behavior. In the contemporary

world today this nafs ammarah is manifested, it is a dog eat dog world, and in the Wall Street the

game of the survival of the fittest.

The human self in this world, with its physical aspect, can transcend the egoistic state to

align itself with its spiritual reality. Through serious effort in developing faith in God, prayers,

and other practices, we train the physical body to be disciplined. In every situation, we can use

our free will to choose the way of the ego or the way of the spirit. We strive to take the higher

route that is to follow the way of the spirit. By continuous practice and discipline of the ego

within the physical self, we can finally eliminate the ego and at that point the human self will be

open to the spiritual and divine truth. This is not an illusion but a reality through real experience

by all human beings in this world, provided we follow the path of self-discipline through faith

and good deeds.

3. THE KHALIFAH HYPOTHESES

The Khalifah Hypothesis states that, if any individual or social group is given two things:

1) A positive, Accurate and motivational worldview, that is, if one is given a way to see the

world that is positive, accurate and motivational which I now believe to be Islam

understood scientifically and objectively, in combination with traditional interpretation,

and;

2) A good and broad understanding of the laws of learning by which all human development

takes place, that individual or social group will naturally and inevitably move toward

everything that is good and right.

For this, Khalifah hypothesis we can now understand the role of Khalifah in this

world. The whole purpose of the creation of the universe is so that Allah’s Khalifah can exist

on earth, what exactly is the Khalifah suppose to do? Through on research Islamic scholars



21

have from the earliest days of Islam concluded that the responsibilities of Khalifah of Allah

on earth mainly three:

a. To perfect himself

b. To perfect society, and

c. To perfect the physical world of space and time

To restate it more simply, especially for children, the three responsibilities of

Khalifah of Allah are:

a. To make yourself good

b. To help others become good

c. To make the physical world good (clean and beautiful so it is pleasing to Allah).

These responsibilities actually cover absolutely everything a human being can do.

And so everything a human being is supposed to be doing as Khalifah of Allah is making

goodness prevail- in him, in society and in the physical world. And that is the totality of

man’s responsibility in his life-until he enters the spiritual world (in the next life) . Thus, we

have as our total responsibility the obligation to bring good to ourselves, to others, and to the

physical world.

KHALIFAH MODEL OF LEARNING BASED ON TRANSENDENT INTEGRATIVE

PSYCHOLOGY

In the last hundred years or so a number of interesting, even useful, personality theories

have been offered by adherents of the various ‘schools’ of psychology and psychiatry. In general,

these theories have shown considerable insight into the human condition, but none has ever dealt

sufficiently with the full range and complexity of variables which influence human development.

A theoretical construct of personality development was needed which provided a mechanism by

which we could come to objectively understand the influences, both within and without, which

determine the course of our development. Without this knowledge we would never be able to

gain control over our own development by utilising to its maximum the great potential of our

free-will. It is necessary to consider all of the variables in the environment influencing the

development of the personality; and it appears that three sources of input include all of these



22

variables. Of the three sources of input the first, physical environment, is largely self-

explanatory. What must be explained is why interpersonal communication is considered as a

separate source of input rather than as part of the physical environment. At this point it might be

of benefit to diagram the three sources of input in relation to an individual personality.

Note: the physical environment impinges directly on our various sensory inputs.



23

Note: Personality B can only communicate (impinge on the sensory inputs) with

Personality A through the manipulation of the physical environment: but; the source self is

not empirically observable, rather it is an abstract concept

Note: inner speech originates within Personality A, becomes a conscious process

through entering the perception: and, as do the other sources, affects the total past learning

history (TPLH).

In addition to considering the affect these three sources of input have on the development of the

personality, this model of personality development makes one further, all important

consideration; and that is we must consider a concept of perception. In essence this says we are

not affected by our environment; but instead, by our perception of the environment. As an

example, consider two people who arrive at a meeting late; they both step through the doorway

at the same time; all those at the meeting stop what they are doing and look at the late arrivals.

One may perceive what is occurring as indicative of negative feedback (input), that the people

present are critical of the late arrival; and, the other may perceive this situation as positive

feedback (input), that the people present consider the late arrival to be appropriately fashionable .

On the basis of this input the first may resolve never again to be late at a meeting, while the

second may find himself arriving late more often. This result could be independent of the true

feelings of those already present at the meeting. Of course the reason the two persons

(personalities) perceived and responded to an identical environmental situation differently is that

the two individuals brought to that environment vastly different past learning histories. Not only

does our past learning history affect our behavior, but it also affects our perceptions of the



24

environment. Each input, from whatever source that enters the individual’s perception, has an

effect greater than zero on the TPLH; and, each change in the TPLH has an effect greater than

zero on the individual’s perception. The effect of any perceived input while always greater than

zero will have a range of effect from negligible to all pervasive. Of course many, perhaps most,

of the inputs from the environment will have a negligible effect on the TPLH, but it is possible

for a single input to have such great significance as to result in a major change in the course of

the development of the personality. It is also the case that any change in the TPLH has the same

possible range of effect on the perception of future inputs from the environment. I am not

disclaiming the effects of our spirituality, physiology, biochemistry, or heredity; but, their effect

is determined by our perception of them and how they alter our interactions with the

environment. In the purest theoretical sense, with this ‘tabula rasa’ personality construct, we

would have to say that there is a time, probably pre-natal, when the first sensory input, probably

from the physical environment, is perceived, processed, and stored. The early inputs would have

a greater effect than the later ones since they have less past learning history to dilute their effect,

and they would also have a greater effect because they would be more influential in determining

the perception of future inputs from the environment. This would account for the presumption

common to most personality theories that the basic personality is formed in the very early years

of childhood. This theoretical model addresses several of the major, but simplistic, challenges to

and reservations about behaviorism. One reservation is the idea that behaviorism is a tautology

since we define our stimuli by their effect on the responses they are made contingent upon. This

is answered in theory, although not in practice(due to the state of the technology) by the fact that

it would be possible to determine ‘a priori’ with absolute certainty, the effect of any stimulus in

any contingent relationship with a response if we fully knew the total past learning history of that

individual. A second much asked question is how two people who grow up in a seemingly

identical environment can become two very different people? Those who would ask such a

question are taking a naive view of the environmental variables affecting human development;

and, based on this model they have probably neglected to consider the input from source three,

inner speech, Additionally, they have not considered that the inputs from the so-called ‘identical’

environments have been mediated by each individual’s unique perception of that environment. A

third and very compelling reservation about behaviorism is that the practical application of the

theory, while changing behavior, does not change the ‘inner’ person; and, it is less than a true



25

therapeutic agent. I think it is clear from this learning based personality theory that as we affect

the individual’s behavior by a manipulation of environmental variables, we are affecting the

‘inner’ person, the personality. I would agree, though, that since behaviorists have largely

ignored the inner being, they have not been nearly so effective as they could be in developing

behavioral generalization from the therapeutic environment to the outside world.

Finally, there are many who believe that since behaviorists say that the individual

becomes the person he is based on his interaction with his environment they are saying that the

individual is not responsible for his actions. I believe this has been misinterpreted. What is

actually the case is that at any given point in time the individual could be no other than he is,

based on his past interactions with his environment; but, it is also true that the humanists were

right, that the individual is responsible for and in control of his own destiny? At any given pointin time the individual is free to choose any of the infinite courses of action available. Our past

learning history may determine the course of action we choose, but we can determine our own

past learning history.

[FRAMEWORK OF TRANSCENDENT INTEGRATIVE PSYCHOLOGY-

KHALIFAH MODEL]

Nafs

Spiritual Existence

Environment ( 3 sources) Physical existence

4. PHYSICAL

5. SOCIAL

6. INNER SPEECH

P E R C E P T I O N

Ruh-Qalb, Akal

(Spirit- Heart-

Mind)

Jasad (Physical

Bod

TOTAL PAST

LEARNING HISTORY



26

The consciousness of the individual

A human being comes into the world with nothing written on his consciousness. The

influences from the three sources of the environment will write millions of messages onto his

consciousness. However, there are fundamentally only two types of message – good or bad

messages – that can come into one’s consciousness. So every message that enters the

consciousness is either good or bad.

In Islam, and also in the science of Physics, there is a fundamental law: No

moment is the same as the one before. In the flow of time, a moment following the one before

can be in either one of two places – to a higher degree or to lesser degree. There is always

movement, never stagnation.

All day long, messages (good and bad) are constantly being written onto our

consciousness, whether we are aware of them or not. Each time a message is written on our

consciousness, it enters our total past learning history. The next message that comes in cannot

leave us at the same place we were a moment before. There are only two possible places we can

be. If it is a good message, we move closer to God; and if it is a bad message, we move away

from God and closer to shaitan.

God has made the world that way: we come into the world in a state of fitrah, and then

we are going to have messages written onto our consciousness (and TPLH). God gave us Islam

as our way of life to give us a society that is to function like a process of social engineering,

guiding us to all that is good and right.

If we live in a right Islamic society, all the influences, particularly from the social

environment will be directed toward writing good messages that are consistent with the Will of

God. See Diagram 4, where G2 represents good messages from the social environment and G1

represents good messages from the physical environment (which we do not have to be unduly

concerned about). Both the physical and social influences are from external sources.

Also, the thoughts that we think in our minds must be consistent with what God tells us is right,

and wrong. Bad thoughts must be corrected, overwritten and replaced with good thoughts. So

from the third source of the environment, which is an internal source, the inner speech, we will

have good messages (as represented by G3) written onto our consciousness.



27

But we do not live in totally right Islamic society. The world today, even in a relatively

nice Islamic country like Malaysia, writes huge numbers of bad messages, especially from the

social environment, into our consciousness. The powerful negative influence of the electronic

media such as TV, films, the Internet, and the printed media, are destructively harmful. Bad

messages such as it is “cool” and “fun” to indulge in promiscuity, indecency, drug abuse,

smoking, alcoholism and violence (as represented by `B’ in Diagram 5) are mercilessly

impinging on our consciousness.

The sad reality in the world today is that the number of bad messages overwhelmingly

outnumbers the good messages, even in a nice, moderately Islamic country like Malaysia. The

situation is far worse in the secular, decadent countries of the West. Even in the consciousness of

the average Muslim living in an Islamic country, the bad messages have begun to outweigh the

good messages. Across the planet we have a whole lot of bad messages and only few good. For

example, messages saying:

“Smoking is cool”

“Drinking alcohol is OK”

“Using drugs is acceptable”



28

“Promiscuous sex is allowed”

There are even people in the world who will be thinking “WAR is OK”. Someone like

U.S. President George W. Bush, in his consciousness, (although he was born with a pure

consciousness, in a state of fitrah), has come to think it is right to send the most sophisticated

military hardware that ever existed over to regions in the world where people live in mud huts

and kill them by the thousands! And he has no qualms at all about doing that! Because the

messages written into his consciousness tell him it is right to do such obviously wrong things and

the people around him likewise have similar messages written into their consciousness.

Another of the world’s ill is murder. We have millions of murders committed in the

world every year because we have millions of people who have messages written into their

consciousness that tell them that murder is somehow acceptable. Likewise for drug sale and

abuse, corruption, pollution, theft, violence and crime – all these evil things happen in the world

because people in the world have messages written onto their consciousness saying in a wide

variety of ways that all this evil is OK!



29

World consciousness is the sum total of individual consciousness

What I have just described is within one human being. This is how the consciousness of

an individual human being develops. There are about 7 billion people in the world. Each one of

them has a consciousness that has messages written on it. If we were to combine the individual

consciousness of every human being in the world, we would have a world consciousness of

world society. What will it be like? It will be just like in Diagram 5, where the consciousness of

one individual has very many bad messages and only a few good messages written into it; so,

world society likewise has many bad and few good messages written into it.

So, it is absolutely impossible not to have a world with so many wrong things happening

like we have today because so many bad messages are being written into the world

consciousness. All the evil in the world is happening because of the messages that are written

onto the collective consciousness of world society which say that these bad things are O.K. That

means we have a society that writes those messages into the world’s consciousness. As long as

we have a society that writes wrong messages into the consciousness of individuals as they

develop all of the terrible problems facing our world will continue to exist. To get rid of the

terrible problems facing our world, we have to get rid of bad and wrong messages being written

into the consciousness of the world’s individuals.

Doesn’t all this information seem very logical to you? This is almost undeniably why

problems exist in today’s world. Of course, we have yet to address the question as to why does

the world write so many wrong messages in the first place, but so far the logic of this explanation

seems unassailable.

Basically the answer to why all the terrible problems exist in the world is because we live

in a world society that conditions people to do all these bad things. It teaches people that it is

somehow alright to do all of these bad things – war, crime, violence, corruption, pollution, etc.

Could there be anyone who does not consider this a sufficiently logical answer to the question:

“Why do the problems in the world exist?”

It is all so clear it just has to be the correct answer!



30

A world that is truly good

Once we have the answer as to why all the problems exist in the world, we must find a

solution. The solution is also obvious! To remove all the terrible problems in the world, we have

to stop the wrong messages from being written onto the consciousness of individuals and the

collective consciousness of world society. There is no other way! We cannot have a society that

receives wrong messages and not have these terrible problems. If we have a society that writes

only good messages onto the consciousness of the whole of humanity from the three sources of

the environment, all of those terrible problems will disappear.

Whatever is in the consciousness will determine our every action – whether they are

physical, verbal, or thought actions. If we had bad messages written in our consciousness, we

will have bad physical actions, bad words, and bad thoughts. But if we had good messages

written in our consciousness, we will have good physical actions, good words, and good

thoughts. It is as simple as that!

What is not so simple is how to get from the present situation in the world, as illustrated

in Diagram 5, where most of the messages written into the consciousness are bad and wrong to a

virtually utopian situation as illustrated in Diagram 6.



31

Every good message is a message from God. A good message is not only like “Be nice to

other”, but “2 plus 2 equals 4” is also a good message, which is from God. However, 2 plus 2

equals 5 is a bad message. It is not from God, because it is not right. Hence, everything that is

good, right, positive, and beneficial in the whole universe is a message from God.

God gives us the opportunity to have a right way of life. God has revealed guidance on all

aspects of our life on earth – the right personal and social behaviors, the right spiritual practices,

even the right warfare. Unfortunately, we live in a world where we are not doing all the right

things God has instructed us to do.

At risk of being labeled fanatical, I believe the most poignant message that I have to

convey is that to have a world that is truly right, it has to be a right Islamic World. Then we will

have a world that will write only good messages onto the consciousness of individuals and all of

humanity. This essentially necessitates the elimination of every single thing that is not what God

wants from the world, and every single thing that God wants, if it does not already exist, has to

be made to exist in the world.

CONCLUSION

The Khalifah Method of transcendent integrative psychology solutions for the twenty first

century societal problems is in line with the rightly understood and practiced of Islam, since

Islam which Allah has perfected for us and given to us as our way of life, is the perfect plan for

the social engineering of a good and right society. Through understanding the Khalifah model of

learning and parenting, all parents and educators can raise the children in the right way. As a

result, they are able to create a right family, community, and ultimately create a right world.

Hence, a world of right communities becomes an ever more right Muslim world; and, an ever

more right Muslim world creates ever more right communities.



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Ahmed, Yahya, (1998) Veils and Keys: “Possibilities of a contemporary spirituality in the light

of traditional Islamic wisdom”, Kualumpur: A.S.Noordeen.

Al’Mahdi, Muhammad (2004), Islamic Solution to the World's Problems, Darul Ihsan: TheKhalifah Institute.

Al’Mahdi, Muhammad (2004), On Being Khalifah of Allah, Darul Ihsan: The Khalifah Institute.

Al’Mahdi, Muhammad (2004), Understanding the Concept of Khalifah, Darul Ihsan: TheKhalifah Institute.

Al’Mahdi, Muhammad (2005), Effective Islamic Parenting, Darul Ihsan: The Khalifah Institute.

Al’Mahdi, Muhammad (2005), The Unified Theory Of Existence: " The Created Universe”,Volume I, Darul Ehsan: The Khalifah Institute.

Al’Mahdi, Muhammad (2005), The Unified Theory Of Existence: " The Law of Learning”,Volume III, Darul Ehsan: The Khalifah Institute.

Al’Mahdi, Muhammad (2005), The Unified Theory Of Existence: “Human Social Behaviour”,Volume II, Darul Ehsan: The Khalifah Institute.

Al’Mahdi, Muhammad (2006), Getting Serious About Boy-Girl Relationships in Islam, DarulIhsan: The Khalifah Institute.

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Al-Attas, Syed Muhammad Naquib (1994), The Degrees Of Existence, Kuala Lumpur:

International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC).

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Shariati, Ali (1979), On the Sociology of Islam, Berkeley: Mizan Press.

Yahya, Harun, (2002), Matter The Other Name For Illusion, Istanbul: Kultur Publisher.

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Zohar, Danah (1990), The Quantum Self: A revolutionary view of Human Nature andConsciousness Rooted in the new physics, London: Bloombury.



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Appendix:

Examples of applying Khalifah Psychology Model in Positive Youth Development

A. ILLUSTRATION OF HOW A TEENAGED BOY CAN ENGAGE IN JIHAD

AGAINST EVIL WHEN FACED WITH A BAD INFLUENCE

With our inner speech, we can think any thought we want. Our free-will allows us to do so.

Referring to the same illustration of Ali, the teenaged schoolboy seeing Saiful smoking, an

entirely different outcome can arise. If Ali uses his inner speech to say or think to himself rightly

Guided thoughts instead of those harmful thoughts of the previous example,

a. “it is ‘haram’ to smoke”

b. “smoking is harmful and only losers smoke”

c. “I don’t want to do what Allah disallows,”

His inner speech, through his thoughts about the wrongness of smoking, can take away the

power of the bad influence. The bad influence instead becomes an opportunity for a positive

learning experience. It has prompted Ali to think right thoughts (as represented by N-, referring

to a negative thought in this case - instead of a rewarding thought - about the bad influence, in

Diagram A).The negative inner speech following the bad influence will decrease, if not

eliminate, the probability of Ali smoking a cigarette. Again, this is the most fundamental Law of

Learning at work.

Suppose, the following day after school, Ali walks past Saiful who offers him a cigarette.

Because Ali has already used his inner speech to stamp out the power of the bad influence, he is

not likely to accept Saiful’s offer to smoke with them. So the first bad action does not happen; it

is blocked by the correct use of the inner speech. See Diagram A.



35

Diagram A: The power of a bad influence is cancelled by negative thoughts about that

bad influence from his inner speech.

In essence what Ali did was to engage in jihad,the holy struggle of good versus evil, by

commanding the right and forbidding the wrong, through the correct use of his inner speech.

So Allah has given us the ability to overwhelm the influences from the external

environment.Actually, we have the ability to be totally free from external influence if we want to

use it. We can be totally free of any bad social influence if we use our inner speech correctly, in

accordance with Allah’s Will.

B. ILLUSTRATION OF HOW ALI LEARNS TO DO EVIL EVEN HE IS WHEN

FACED WITH A GOOD INFLUENCE

Let us consider another alternative scenario. Suppose, Ali and his friend Farid meet Saiful

who offers Farid a cigarette to smoke together with him. Farid declines the offer and remarks

that it is haram in Islam to smoke because it harms the body given to us by Allah. Ali

observes Farid refusing the cigarette and a message of good influence is written into his

consciousness. Suppose Ali, using his inner speech, says or thinks to himself the following

thoughts,

a. “how silly of Farid not to accept Saiful’s offer of the cigarette”

b. “Saiful’s the coolest boy in school – Farid should want to be like him”

c. “I don’t want to worry about my health 50 years from now. I want to enjoy the

present,”

What Ali has done with his inner speech and freewill is follow a good influence with

negative thoughts about that good influence, and has therefore taken away the power of the good

influence. As a result, Ali has written new messages in his consciousness with his inner speech

that are bad influences, which can then lead Ali along the wrong path, to becoming a smoker.

This is illustrated in Diagram B. The outcome may now On Being Khalifah of Allah result in an

increased likelihood of the first bad action (FBA) occurring, meaning that Ali is now more likely

to smoke a cigarette.



Diagram B: A good influence is overwhelmed by negative inner speech

C. ILLUSTRATION OF HOW ALI LEARNS TO DO THE RIGHT THING WHEN

FACED WITH A GOOD INFLUENCE

Let us consider yet another scenario in the same circumstances. On observing Faridrejecting Saiful’s offer of a cigarette, Ali could have said or thought to himself, using his inner

speech and freewill, the following right thoughts,

a. “Farid did the right Islamic thing”

b. “I’m proud to have a friend like him”

c. “if I was offered a cigarette, I would refuse too.”

Thus Ali has followed a good influence by some positive thoughts about that good

influence, and thus increased the power of the good influence upon his consciousness. This

becomes part of Ali’s personality and perception, which will lead him to the first good action

(FGA), refusing a cigarette when it is offered. This is illustrated in Diagram C.

Diagram C: A good influence is reinforced by positive inner speech

Documents

Article of Islamic Solution for 21st Century Societal Problems