Anger Engine - 1

In the common experience of everyday life, anger is treated as a negative emotion. It is seen as the top manager of a destructive power. Overall, we are told to manage it in order to keep it at bay. I think, this scary image about anger is not fair when you consider the big picture about it. One of three powers of the ego, anger is our immune system's behavioral manifestation to repel evil, avoid loss or prevent damage.

However,  the definition and description of evil show variations from person to person, despite some universal commonalities. Plus, at the core, every individual prioritizes their personal or their own family's/company's/etc. well being, which sooner or later may contradict with the well being of others, or even with their existence and life. Such contradictions are the birthplace of anger.

When we get angry, the famous fight or flight response mechanism is triggered in our body. That is, we become more energetic to take action, and our attention is focused precisely on what threatens us. This state of psychology is very much like an arrow, placed on a bow and the string pulled all the way back. As you would appreciate, if in case of a war, this is exactly what you need; but at the same time, this is exactly when mistakes are made, hence the negative fame of anger.

So, anger is like fire. It is powerful, and needs care when handling; but it is by no means evil in the absolute sense. Anger management is born from this conclusion. It is aimed at harvesting the advantages of anger while avoiding the disadvantages. Expressed differently, what we call anger is a state of mind when anger takes the lead of other two powers of the ego. So, in case of untamed anger, wisdom and lust serve to warrant self-interest at the expense of what is in the target. Conversely, tamed anger, or you can call this anger management, ensures well-being of the self within the framework of certain rules. These rules can be due to laws, traditions, or religious/ethical values.

In life, we get angry towards people or events, and sometimes towards ourselves. These situations have been the focus of much thought and many studies. A simple search on anger can lead you to countless online sources. So, I am not going to spend time with this branch of the topic other than employing its results to understand the human psyche in context of anger. What I really want to do is to understand how anger affects our relationship with our Creator. That is, I want to explore "the anger towards God".

Before we embark on this subtle and sensitive topic, let's garner the lessons learned from the study of anger. First, it is a behavioral immune response in the face of a threat to our well-being materially, psychologically or spiritually. Second, anger focuses our attention towards the threat, which has the side effect of narrowing our perspective, as well. Third, getting angry makes us more energetic; in fact, too energetic. Fourth, anger utilizes the pathways in our minds that ensure the shortest and quickest, but not necessarily wisest, way to defeat a threat. Five, fear and grief are two factors that seed anger. So, untreated grief or fear yields anger towards their source in the long run.

You may be asking yourself "why would anyone be angry towards God?". Or, you may be thinking that a person who gets angry with God can not be a believer, but an arrogant disbeliever. It is also possible that you are relieved upon seeing this discussion, for you have seen at last that you are not the only one angry with God. Or you may just be wondering where this discussion is going. Whatever the case, if you make a search on "angry with God", you are going to see that this is not a new matter at all.

In fact, it is part of an all-time discussion on existence of evil despite a God who introduces Himself as merciful and compassionate. The general discussion of the problem of evil is not going to be my focus here. Rather, I want to explore from an Islamic perspective the individuals' relationship with God when clouded by anger. I thought this is worth exploring, because, one, Islam means submission and that notion is dictated to the Muslims as an obligation to suppress their feelings and thoughts if they mean objection to God's decree, two, the modern times are getting ever more full of situations where people find it hard to justify what befalls them with the compassion and wisdom of God. In short, how do you accommodate your anger towards God in context of Islam? Or, do you, in the first place?

As a start, consider the following sample cases:

• You were a child. Your father was killed by the soldiers of an invading country that wants to exploit the natural resources there. Your mother and sister were raped, and killed. And you were beaten until you fell unconscious. As these were happening, you constantly prayed to God, but nothing happened. Later on, you were rescued by volunteer groups who took you to another country, where you were raised near a foster family who were atheists. When you grew up, even the thought of God drove you crazy. 
• You were born with non-traditional sexual traits, but these were left unnoticed until your adolescence. When things surfaced, your family and your close friends became your enemy. They outcast you as if you were devil, and must be annihilated. Left alone, you found yourself a new set of friends, who had similar traits as you or who did not bother these issues. However, unlike your religious family, your new social environment was rather far from God. Since you have done nothing wrong, but just had the God-given properties at birth, you cannot justify in your mind and soul the animosity from your family and the older group of friends. You are suffering deeply in your heart, praying from the depths of your heart, but the God, who created you as you are, seems to be indifferent to your suffering in the face of unfair animosity from people.
• You served to the education of people and did your best to proclaim the message of mercy from God. One day, you were slandered, and were put in prison without any questioning or trial. Nobody asked you anything nor made any explanations. You didn't know what was happening and why. Then, occasional tortures started. Your cries and flowing blood were considered as a sign of success by the guardians. And the One who admonished you to pray for help stayed silent while witnessing all of the injustice. The thought of being abandoned by your Protector to the hands of lions suffocated your heart, but you resisted, thinking that this is but a trial. However, days, weeks, months followed, and nothing changed. Not being able to see the end of the tunnel, you increased your prayers. You added your tears to your implorations for God. Still, nothing changed in your situation. You started fighting against your own mind in order not to accept the picture surrounding you: you are left alone. As time went on, more people were added to the list of unfairly treated. Even the new-born babies were imprisoned along with their moms. You are not able to defeat that thought anymore. All evidences show that even the One for whom you risked everything is siding with the wrongful enemy!

If these three stories seemed too harsh for you, I should tell that I wanted to use some story telling techniques to enable you to empathize with those characters. Nevertheless, you should at the same time know that they are rather realistic. Still, if these scenarios seem unacceptable to you, it is quite possible that you never went through a trial in your life where your faith was shaken from its foundations; that is, it is easy for you to speak so boldly. If, on the other hand, you had similar experiences in your life or have observed some closely, then you can very easily appreciate the burden crushing the souls of these characters.

If you say that you went through such heavy burdens, and never felt shaken in your faith, even a minute, either your faith is real and strong, thank God, or you are lying to yourself, because you deliberately suppressed your feelings and thoughts since they were flavored with rebellion against God's decree. This, however, does not mean that your subconscious is accepting whatever you are dictating at it. Rather, your subconscious goes on with its job unbeknownst to you. Your worship gradually becomes robotic and repetitive. Your thoughts and explanations of faith matters evolve into being irrational and dogmatic, because rational thought necessitates tangible evidence and in your case, the rational evidences point at the discrepancy between your faith and the existing conditions around you.

"Do men imagine that they will be left (at ease) because they say, We believe, and will not be tested with affliction? And certainly We tried those before them, so Allah will certainly know those who are true and He will certainly know the liars." (29/2-3)

"When they came upon you from above you and from below you, and when the eyes grew wild and the hearts reached to the throats, and you were harboring doubts about Allah." (33/10)

To Love or Not To Love

Among the three powers of the ego, lust is perhaps the most misunderstood and the most abused. If you think superficially, lust is all about eating and reproducing. In this perspective, lust seems to be common among animals and humans. However, there is a major factor that contrast the lust of humans with the lust of animals: ego.

Beautified for people is the love of that which they desire - of women and sons, heaped-up sums of gold and silver, fine branded horses, and cattle and tilled land. That is the enjoyment of worldly life, but Allah has with Him the best return. (3,14)

It is curious that in this verse of the Quran, the concept of lust (desire) is used not only for women but also for children, wealth, animals and land. Considering this fact, defining lust as something only among women and men can only be explained either by sheer insanity or by stark ignorance, both of which result in a person's reduction to an animal state in their soul.

So, if lust is not just about eating and sex, what is it? This same issue is also discussed in another article on the LGBT topic, which you can reach here. A concise definition of lust that is in line with the Quranic description above can be given as "an utter desire to possess something in its physical and non-physical aspects".

With this working definition, let's look at a saying of prophet Muhammad pbuh:

In this world, women and perfume have been made dear to me, and my comfort has been provided in prayer. (Sunan an-Nasa'i, 3939, grade: hasan)

Certain people and their followers among the believers who lack a sound belief use these words of the prophet as a tool to denigrate his character. It is important to note a crucial point before we go any further. With fourteen centuries of distance in time and incredible cultural and social evolution therein, there is no commonsense in using the criteria and paradigms of today to assess anything that far in time, let alone criticizing someone on a distinctive mission given by God. However, this is not to say that it is impossible or wrong to make evaluations of the past. Rather, it is just a reminder to keep our reason and ego under control in order not to be unfair nor to deify ourselves.

If we travel back in time and look at the existing conditions of women in the Arabian peninsula, we see that women are considered as wealth, and some even discuss whether they are human. Men are held as the absolute governor of virtually everything. Some even bury their daughters alive, in order to avoid the "shame" of being the father of a girl. I am not going to go into further details here, but you can do so if your interest lies therein.

In the same society, due to lack of abundant water resources, cleanliness is not a hot topic. Available water is channeled for personal nutrition and for watering the agriculture. So, whenever people get together, especially in a closed environment of a building or tent, the ambiance may not be so convenient.

Aside from these external issues, the relationship between people and God was problematic. First of all, there were gods, not God. Idols were made in the name of these gods to worship, to eat and to make commerce. Sincere devotion to "the One" happened especially in times of trouble. In short, for the people of the 7th century Arabian peninsula, the concept of god was either used as a consolation against a trouble or was abused for commerce and politics.

In such an atmosphere, if you were a reformer for the good, which prophet Muhammad was, you would certainly do something about the women rights, the cleanliness of people and the relationship between people and God. If you think deeper, presence of women in the society and respecting their rights, plus, an attention to hygiene and aesthetics, plus, sincere devotion to individual prayer and meditation are the factors that quench enmity,  alleviate arguments and feed a sense of unity. These were all the essential needs of the people surrounding the prophet.

In fact, with the revolutions and transformations initiated him, women became able to communicate their needs and issues directly to the messenger of God. They felt comfortable in confronting the men in their families when they saw something amiss in their conduct; because they knew they could take the issue even to Muhammad pbuh, if necessary, without facing repercussions.

"The best of you is the one who is best to his wife, and I am the best of you to my wives." (Ibn Majah, 1977, degree: hasan)

At the beginning of this article, we said the lust of humans differ from the lust of animals due to presence of a major factor: ego. Then, we talked about how to define lust, and we saw a saying of the prophet and the consequent attitude in his practices. In view of all these, it is fair to say that love and lust are not synonyms. So, love cannot be confined to lust. However, an untamed ego can abuse an innocent love, boil it down to mere lust, then use that lust to exploit other people.

Today in the age of ego, where we are suffering from an explosion in the number of untamed egos, it is understandable that we are scared of the dangers of such an ego. While avoiding such risks, nevertheless, it is important not to fall prey to the other end, where we outcast lust and ego, just because they are lust and ego. In doing so, not only we go against our basic creation, hence a total loss and failure in the long run, but also we risk deifying our own egos and fall slave to it in an effort to protect ourselves.

As we explore the rather individual aspects of the issue, on top of the social ones, it is important to note that lust, according to the proper definition above, is just another talent of the humans. As long as it is tamed and motivated in proper ways, it shouldn't become a problem just because it is "lust". That is, just like we don't criticize someone for being more intelligent than average or for being stronger than average, we shouldn't outcast manifestations of lust above average given that they are within the borders and manners outlined by God.

Conservation of Solitude

Reason, anger and lust are considered as the three fundamental powers of the ego. Each of these powers has its own source of energy and a field of deployment. In this article, I would like to delve into the power of reason, and then use it as a telescope to understand prophet Muhammad pbuh in a different way so that we can better emulate his example in our lives.

There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often. (33/21)

Reason is a distinctive property of the humans. Although the initial connotation of reason is individualistic, there is also collective reasoning through communication and through writing among individuals. Still, though, history testifies that revolutionary ideas and actions take spark from key figures, and spread from them. Masses, on the other hand, are associated with status-quo and constancy, and so, they need those unique individuals' initiative to reach a new state. As you can guess, such acceptance of a revolutionary idea or movement does not happen instantly. The society that will be the future home for that idea, more often than not, plays the antagonist during the developmental stage of the story. During this initial time period, those unique individuals who are the mothers of those ideas find solace in solitude.

If you think of solitude, it may sound negative, especially in this time of ubiquitous social media invasion and addiction. Historically, solitude is especially sought by those who are after wisdom and enlightenment. Imagine yourself sitting around a camp fire with a group of people. Although you are with others, watching the fire captures your soul, and you find yourself being dragged into a world of your own where you are blown away by thoughts, emotions and inspirations. That is you find solitude, despite being surrounded by people. Be careful, this solitude is not being lonely!

Seeking solitude and having ample time for contemplation alone are traits observed in the lives of many timeless leaders of humanity, messengers of God most prominent among them. The life details of Muhammad, the last and the best documented messenger of God, provide a fertile ground of study in this regard. It is well known that he used to climb the Mount Nour, and take shelter in the cave of Hira to contemplate. These sessions would last for days or weeks. His wife, Khatijah, would bring him food and water during these periods so that he, Muhammad, could go on with his seclusion without interruption.

Nevertheless, it was not normal for anyone to stay alone in the wilderness for so long. Therefore, this state of seclusion was alarming at the same time. Muhammad himself can be included among those who were concerned about this strange state of his, since when eventually the angel brought the first revelation, his reaction was to question whether he was going crazy or being possessed.

Before we go on, I think it is important to take a moment and see the big picture so far. Wisdom is sought and found not by masses but by individuals. Furthermore, wisdom is found not among people but in solitude. Plus, wisdom is fast embraced not by the society but by the individuals of critical thought. Life stories of messengers of God, especially prophet Muhammad for that matter, make a good example of all these points.

With all the known facts about wisdom and the events prior to the onset of the mission of Muhammad, you would guess that seeking solitude and wisdom at mountain tops would remain as an indispensable component of the messenger's routine, but it does not!

On the contrary, in an increasing rate, he becomes a public figure who is almost always surrounded by others, and whose house is visited by people even at inconvenient times. Those who are familiar with the occasions of revelations for certain verses in the Quran and are well versed in the prophet's life would appreciate the severity of these situations.

So, what happened to the solitude-seeking person? Ask anyone who loves solitude, they are going to tell you that being alone is like water and air for them, and that they cannot do without it. We understand that the same was true of Muhammad pbuh. Then, what happened to this intrinsic need of his? Did it miraculously disappear?

No! As his mission to convey the message of God to people required him to be with people, he also needed to refuel himself by being one-to-one with his Lord. That is, being alone in his former life transformed into being alone during his salaah. However, since he had to do the obligatory prayers in congregation, his thirst for being alone was channeled by God towards the voluntary salaah, which he could do alone.

In this world, women and perfume have been made dear to me, and my comfort has been provided in prayer. (Sunan an-Nasa'i, 3939, grade: hasan)

Indeed, if you read through the books of hadith, you may not find too many occasions where the prophet was alone, but you can find countless occasions when he was offering voluntary prayers to Allah during the day or night. So, the "lonely thinker" of the former life was transformed to the "lonely worshiper" of the latter life.

Returning to us, here and now, along with the communication age, staying alone and contemplating has become a rare property. The business routine and the increasing pace of life are not favorable to the timeless attitude of wisdom. In all this, one way for the believers to accommodate this essential ingredient in their lives is by working on their salaah, and transforming it to the alone-time with the Eternal Light, as in the example of the messenger of God.

This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of Allah -who believe in the unseen, establish prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them, (2/2-3)

Trustee of the Revelation

Have you ever witnessed violence against people or heard about it? What about a violence by the rich and powerful on the poor and weak? What about a violence by a famous one on an ordinary one? As you know, it is very easy and rewarding to fight against violence committed by the weak, poor and ordinary people. The same is not true for the opposite, though. If you are trying to stop an evil committed by the rich, powerful and famous, long before you suffer "correctional" sanctions, you face the public that admonishes you against what you are doing, either because they think you are going to get hurt or because they believe there is no way your accusations could be true of "such a nice person". Given all, you may feel divided between heeding your conscience and prioritizing your own safety. In such a case, what if the Creator of everything orders you to go forward with your cause?

"O Messenger, announce that which has been revealed to you from your Lord, and if you do not, then you have not conveyed His message..." (5/67)

Throughout the 23 years during which Muhammad pbuh performed his duty as a messenger of God, he had to go through similar situations several times. Sometimes, it was due to stopping evil, yet at other times, it was about changing the traditions, and at other times, it was going against the status-quo. So, you can say that the last 23 years of his life were very much stressful; a state not favorable for the core of his mission: preserving the Quran.

Aisha, one of the wives of the prophet Muhammad, when asked about the character of the prophet, had told that his morals were those of the Quran,  (Muslim, 746). This was so, indeed, because the divine book is not fully established in humans' perception, until and unless it is practiced. So, you could call the prophet, in this respect, the living Quran. Nevertheless, as time goes by, conditions change, and for example today, the events and traditions of the 7th century sometimes look irrelevant to us. So, the living example of prophet is not necessarily 100% applicable to us today. The good news is we have the book of God in its original form. And for that, we owe a lot to the messenger of God, since it was him who established the tradition of memorizing and preserving the text of the revelation. 

Today's science tells us that stress is detrimental for the memory. In the above paragraphs, I had mentioned that the period of Quran's revelation was also the same time frame that harbored countless stressful events. So, on top of those, keeping the Quran in your mind, a book that amounted to 600 pages over the span of 23 years, definitely brings another factor of stress. All together, the stress that Muhammad pbuh was going through could undermine his core mission. So, the Creator regularly sent relieving verses:

Then High above all be Allah, the True King. And be not in haste (O Muhammad SAW) with the Quran before its revelation is completed to you, and say: "My Lord! Increase me in knowledge." (20/114)

O Messenger, announce that which has been revealed to you from your Lord, and if you do not, then you have not conveyed His message. And Allah will protect you from the people. (5/67)

Then maybe you will kill yourself with grief, sorrowing after them, if they do not believe in this announcement. Surely We have made whatever is on the earth an embellishment for it, so that We may try them (as to) which of them is best in works. (18/6-7)

Do you not see that We have sent the devils upon the disbelievers, inciting them to [evil] with [constant] incitement? So be not impatient over them. We only count out to them a [limited] number. (19/83-84)

Indeed, We will cast upon you a heavy word. Truly the rising by night is most potent for governing (the soul), and most suitable for (framing) the Word (of Prayer and Praise). (73/5)

So, on one side, the messenger was facing extreme challenges, but on the other side, his courage was refueled by God. One of the challenges, and actually the very first one, was to proclaim that God is one and only one. In a society, where people believe in multiple gods, introducing the idea that there is one and only one God is a great challenge. Here, I am not going to talk about the aspect looking towards the people; rather, I want to focus on the messenger. 

As witnessed by the historical records, after he made this claim, people starting shifted from "being surprised" to "being insulted", and then they grew in animosity to the point of waging war against him. Before we go that far though, in the beginning times of his mission, the Meccan pagans made an offer to him, which he rejected saying "even if they put the sun in my one hand, and the moon in the other, I am not going to give up. Either I die on this way or God makes me succeed in my cause." When this event happened, Muhammad was not in excellent conditions. Yes, he had a good reputation of being honest and truthful, he was the best in morals in the society, but those did not necessarily translate into power. Not at first sight, at least. So, this meant, he had to rely on God's help for power. 

At this point, you can feel that such experiences were actually the surgical operations of God on His messenger to hone his belief. After all, if the messenger is not fully convinced of his own mission, how else could he stand against the entire world? Trusting in your Lord who set you out on your cause means that, in reciprocity, your Lord has put His trust on you. And the first thing that follows this trust is the clearing of the fake powers and wrong information from your heart.

Indeed, we offered the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, and they declined to bear it and feared it; but man [undertook to] bear it. Indeed, he was unjust and ignorant. (33/72)

Luqman advised his son telling him, "My son, do not consider anything equal to God, for it is the greatest injustice." (31/13)

Read in the name of your Lord Who created. He created man from a clot. Read and your Lord is Most Honorable, who, by the pen, taught the human being: Taught man what he knew not. (96/1-5)

Islam, when it was first established in the Arabian peninsula, accepted Jerusalem as its qibla; meaning, the holy temple in Jerusalem was the target direction for prayers, and it was held most holy. This, in the beginning, gave the believers a confirmation and mental comfort that Islam is in the same line of Judeochristian tradition. The same fact also gave a hint to the Jews and Christians about the veracity of the message brought by Muhammad pbuh. However, there was a subtle point in all this. Jerusalem was holy, not because it was holy on its own but, because God had appointed it as such. 

This meant that if God chooses another location as holy, things change accordingly. In other words, it is not that "you are on the right path because you are turning to the right direction", but that "you are on the right direction because you are on the right path". This distinction became clear when the qibla was shifted from Jerusalem to Mecca. Even some of the believers were challenged by this shift, because the mentality was not properly set before. In a society where the confirmation of things come from their roots in the tradition, establishing something that has no roots in the tradition, be it cultural or religious, is both radical and outrageous. So, as the person who started all this, Muhammad had to stand tall and strong in the face of any backlash from his followers and from the members of the other two religions.

But if they turn away, [O Muhammad], say, "Sufficient for me is Allah ; there is no deity except Him. On Him I have relied, and He is the Lord of the Great Throne." (9/129)

So, with knowledge comes power and freedom. And with freedom comes responsibility. A distinctive property of prophet Muhammad is that, unlike many other significant figures in history, throughout his mission during which he continuously rose to greater power, he always sided with truth, and did not become a tyrant that crushes the weak. A prime example of this was witnessed when a Christian group came to Medina and had a discussion with the messenger about the status of Jesus. This discussion later grew into a heated debate. My intention here is not to talk about the content of the talks but to describe the frame of events. This discussion is taking place in Medina, where the Christians had no power at all. They are discussing the topic not with an ordinary person but with the person at the top of the political and military power. And the venue for the discussion is not any public place or home but the mosque. Yet, the Christian group is not afraid of going forward with their arguments, which is a sign that they have not been treated badly nor had they been threatened in any way. Looking at such details of the frame of these events, it is obvious that such self-control on the side of prophet Muhammad is a sign of being trustworthy with the trust given by the Lord of the Worlds.

After all these, what is our take home message? The messenger of God was sent not only to the people of the 7th century Arabs but also to everyone until the end of time. So, looking at his example on being trustworthy with "introducing revolutionary elements", we can conclude that if we are convinced of the truth of an idea or an action, if we are sure that it does not contradict with the fundamental borders drawn by God, then we can trust the One who inspired us that idea or action.

God further enlightens those who seek guidance. To those who do charitable deeds which produce continuing benefits, your Lord will give a better reward and a better place in Paradise. (19/76)

"I" for Information?

A recurring theme in the sci-fi movies nowadays is the notion that self or conscience is nothing but the aggregate of information in our brains. Classically expressed, according to this notion, what I call "I" is equal to the accumulation of all of the information throughout my life in my memory. I would like to put this interpretation under scrutiny in the light of basic human experience, modern scientific findings and pillars of faith.

At the foundation, let's see what makes a human being in terms of information. First, there is the genetic inheritance. The genetic information contains your talents, your weaknesses, your organs, etc. This code alone, however, is not enough to engender what we call life experiences. Aside from the genes, there is the chemical environment both in and around our bodies. These chemicals, be them good or bad, sometimes limit or boost the genetic activity, and sometimes they dictate how our genes are going to work. Aside from these, there are the people around us. Our experiences with them (parents, siblings, friends, relatives, society) shape our memories and our psychology. You can still dump all of these into the chemical bath in an individual's brain. Having distilled everything into material components, that is not considering any spiritual factors, if you look at what you have in hand, you'll see countless molecules interacting with each other through a unique structure. So, the first question is can you even make a copy of this?

Decoding a person's life events from their memory is not the same as decoding their psychology, since each person reacts and changes differently upon the same or similar events. This is true both in the biological sense and in the psychological sense. Therefore, in order to call something an exact replica of you, there is this daunting task of deciphering what you are, in the first place.

Second, according to the uncertainty principle in quantum mechanics, there is a limit of what you can know about a system. You can not learn everything about it, let alone copying. Then again, can you call something, which is at best similar to you, a replica of you?

At this point, let me make a clarification. By these comments I don't mean to discourage any studies to learn about how human mind works etc. My intention is to criticize the subjective philosophical attachments to the objective scientific studies and findings, since those attachments either don't make sense or contradict with the basic tenets of belief in Islam.

Going on with our discussion, let's assume somehow you deciphered all the information that makes you you, and then you copied this digital you. Now, are there two of you? For that matter, is there a limit to how many times you can "recreate" yourself? Furthermore, what if someone deletes you? Is that person a murderer?

Plus, what if that "you", by virtue of working on a digital computer, commits a cyber crime? Is "you" going to be punished for this? If yes, how? Or let's make it funny. Assuming that you and your digital copy are alive in the same time frame, and your digital copy commits a crime, and the officials put you in prison, or worse, they give you capital punishment. How would you like it?

What about in the afterlife? If there are hundreds of you, which one is going to be the real you to go to hell or heaven? This idea, in this sense, is similar to the idea of reincarnation, and has a fatal error in terms of the pillars of faith.

It is flattering to think that you can evade death by creating a digital you, but is it really you? The push by the materialistic and atheistic philosophy is the expectation that concepts like free will and conscience are all going to be proven as an artifact of the chemistry and electrodynamics in our brains. This is a mere wishful thinking on their side, which they are free to do, but it is not fair to advertise it or talk about it as a scientific truth.

Also, on the believers' side, it is important to be cautious, because an idea is not necessarily true only because it contains bits of scientific information and it is voiced by scientists or influential people. Such feelings of inferiority arises due to lack of information, weakness of faith and a disconnection with the revealed word of our Creator.

Emotion Management - 5

A machine is a machine because it does exactly what we design it for. However, there are machines that do the same thing no matter when and where, and there are machines that can learn and adapt to who, when and where. Today's smart technologies are distinguished from the past technologies, mainly because they can evolve and do things that were not explicitly registered in their memory in the beginning. More technically speaking, they "learn". How do they do it? Of course by "reading", "analyzing", "predicting", "trying" and "not fearing failure".

Wait a second! I said "not fearing failure". A machine has no emotions. How can it fear? If you think so, too, this is exactly the point I am trying to make. A machine has no conscience and no free will to deliberately try something. If there is no intention, there is no failure. So, failure and the feelings and emotions coming with it are the things that we, humans, have in our minds. That's why it is meaningless to shout at your car when it breaks down; or a car is not guilty in case of an accident but its driver, although it is the car what made the harm and damage. Therefore, both success and failure comes with a prerequisite of intention.

Accordingly, when we talk about the learning of the machines, we are automatically considering the intentions of the designers and manufacturers manifest in that machine and its actions. Also, when we say that machines don't fear failure, we are basically confirming the famous observation that "success usually comes from consistent trials and learning from errors, without succumbing to the shame of failure."

Although virtually everybody is in favor of the development and deployment of technology, which feeds from the tolerance shown for the mistakes on the way, we humans are not as welcoming to the human mistakes. We have a tendency to curtail the "courage to stand up and try again" in others and in ourselves. Except for babies and sometimes little children!

Remember, failure or success has a prerequisite of intention. A baby or a little child has no clear intention, and are innocent. That's how they get away without being reprimanded or punished for their mistakes as an adult, and that's how they go on trying.

Why is this topic important for us, when we are discussing emotion management? At the end of the previous episode, we had said "So, we need to develop an emotional immunity to travel on the questionable grounds, build brakes to avoid sins and acquire connections to recovery methods in case we sin." A rule of thumb in all of the three cases in this sentence is to keep going. That is, no matter what happens, as quickly as possible, as much as possible and as diverse as possible, go on doing good deeds.

"Indeed, Allah leaves astray whom He wills and guides to Himself whoever turns back [to Him]. Those who have believed and whose hearts are assured by the remembrance of Allah. Unquestionably, by the remembrance of Allah hearts are assured. Those who have believed and done righteous deeds - a good state is theirs and a good return." (13/27-29)

In order to better digest this verse, remember that in the Quranic terminology, heart does not refer to the biological heart (7/179). It refers to our thinking ability with common sense. If anything, the word heart in the Quran refers to the brain. One can ask at this point why, instead of saying brain directly, is the heart mentioned? If you think in terms of our topic, you can have a glance of the answer. Thoughts are not free of emotions, and emotions are linked to the heart in the public speech. So, the concept of "a heart that understands" comprises all of these.

The verse quoted above admonishes that Allah guides those who return to Him. In order to return, you must first be heading away! Upon your experiences, whatever they might be, you must return to Him through remembrance of a thinking heart that energizes good deeds. With this state, you are promised a warm welcome with your Lord. And such warm welcome is the manifestation of the fact that your Creator does not define you through your mistakes but through your returns; a fact that encourages further attempts of discovery and an attitude that fosters love and belonging to your Friend.

In this context, you can remember the story of Nuayman ibn Amr, a companion of the prophet Muhammad pbuh. This companion, although fought in the name of God in many battles and pursued other good deeds in his life, could not give up alcohol despite the clear ban by Allah. Nevertheless, he never succumbed to his failure to give up, but always stood up and tried again. And for this attitude of his, he was praised by the messenger of God.

Emotion Management - 4

We finished the last discussion by saying that you cannot be sure of the correctness of all your actions. At the same time, it is known that prophet Muhammad pbuh recommends to stay away from the suspicious and stick to the certain (Tirmidhi, 2518). Then, are we to suppress all our instincts to strictly follow those that are purely licit?

"Religion is very easy and whoever overburdens himself in his religion will not be able to continue in that way." (Bukhari, 39)

"Allah intends every facility for you; He does not want to put you to difficulties." (2/185)

"God does not impose on any soul a responsibility beyond its ability." (2/286)

If you look carefully, the messenger of God makes recommendations to the believers to provide them guiding principles in a life that is becoming increasingly gray. That's why you can find hadiths that are pointing at different aspects of the same issue. In the above hadiths, he admonishes us not to force ourselves in a case where there is no clear order or prohibition from God. And this notion of conformity to the nature (which is given by God anyway) is also underlined by the verses quoted above. The unwanted extreme in this case is abusing the word of God in order to justify anything you desire:

"... then as for those in whose hearts there is perversity they follow the part of it which is allegorical, seeking to mislead and seeking to give it (their own) interpretation ..." (3/7)

Still, if you talk to religious people, many of them would suggest you to take the hard way and force yourself as much as possible, and take the easy ways only when you have no other choice. They say that, if you don't to this, you are running the risk of "acquiring your desires as your god", a state which is alluded to in the Quran (25/43). So, with a threat supported from the Quran, your fear kicks in, and you say "how hard can it be?". But not too long after that, you find yourself in the same situation that took you to oppressing yourself and banging your head on the same walls. You start questioning whether the ease of the religion is only for beginners and not for the experienced believers, whether God values the beginners more than those who have aged in belief. Your reason forces yourself to shut up and take your manners, but your soul rebels, your head gets awash with emotions, and your brain literally heats up. You want to shut your brain, if only once, to taste the ease in religion, to become a beginner loved and valued by God, despite shortcomings and mistakes. And...

And when things cool down, this time, you are drowning in feelings of guilt. At the same time, however, your thirst for your natural needs have been quenched, and the experience of not being thirsty gives you a deep satisfaction, for which your guilt heats up (benefits of sin). But again, now you know what is natural and what is artificial. Forcing yourself to follow a strictly licit path proved to be impractical, although completely rational. On the other hand, following a path mixed with question marks and taking risks turned out to be manageable, although partially rational.

Comparing the two states, in the first, when you were forcing yourself, according to your perception, your state was certainly true, and following a life that way would certainly lead to paradise in the afterlife. It is as simple as two plus two makes four. In the second state, however, because of the questionable things you have done, you know well that you are at the mercy of your Lord. But wait a second! Aren't we supposed to have this understanding of being at the mercy of our Lord anyway, instead of having confidence in our deeds?

"Do good deeds properly, sincerely and moderately and know that your deeds will not make you enter Paradise, and that the most beloved deed to Allah is the most regular and constant even if it were little." (Bukhari, 6464)

"Did they then feel secure against the Plan of Allah. None feels secure from the Plan of Allah except the people who are the losers." (7/99)

Let's now put things together on the table to see the big picture. First, we cannot live blind to our emotions. They are messages from our Lord, and we must heed them to fare safely on the way of God. Life of certainty, and so devoid of emotions, is certain to lead to an unstable journey that ends God knows where. Second, if we heed our emotions, they occasionally take us to questionable actions or even push us towards certain sins. So, we need to develop an emotional immunity to travel on the questionable grounds, build brakes to avoid sins and acquire connections to recovery methods in case we sin.

Emotion Management - 3

Treating emotions as signs from God brings about a few questions. First of all, can you treat all emotions as signs of God? Sometimes our emotions direct us away from Him, sometimes they trigger us to obey our desires and trespass the borders of the licit. Nevertheless, in certain cases, emotions show us God's path! How to know, what to do?

“He will show you His signs, and you will recognize them” (27/93). 

“We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth” (41/53).

Remember, after an event, what makes you feel like "you have witnessed God" is the emotions that are triggered during that event. So, without emotions, the signs don't make sense. So, if God is going to show His signs to a people whether in the horizons or within themselves, this means emotions are at work. That is the emotions are employed by God to create the effect of "having witnessed". Then, knowingly or unknowingly, when a person blinds himself towards his emotions, he is closing the windows through which God's light shines. In this context, forgetting God and becoming ignorant of  one's self  merge.

And be not like those who forgot Allah, so He made them forget themselves. Those are the defiantly disobedient. (59/19)

Furthermore, in this framework, deliberately silencing your emotions or emotions of others using various means, e.g. psychological or rhetorical, is an action that is identical with disbelief, because you are becoming blind towards God's signs and deaf towards His messages.

And those who disbelieve in God's signs and the encounter with Him -- they despair of My mercy, and there awaits them a painful chastisement. (29/23)

Now then has come unto you a clear (sign) from your Lord,- and a guide and a mercy: then who could do more wrong than one who rejects Allah's signs, and turns away therefrom? (6/157)

All this tells us that the emotions are part of our journey to God, but we haven't resolved our problem at the outset. How can we distinguish the underlying motive of our emotions? Are they Godly or are they carnal?

Let's go step by step. If your emotions are directing you towards an action that is clearly forbidden by God, this is a clear misdirection disguised in your emotions. But is this it? I mean, you need only to disregard that emotion, and go on with your life? No, stop. Of course committing an action that is forbidden by God is wrong, but your emotions may carry a message, a Godly message, that may feel otherwise at first glance!

It is possible that your emotions are pointing at the essential needs of your psyche or of your body, which must be met through the licit, but which you haven't done so for various reasons. In such a case, your body or your psyche is going to show increasingly compelling urges and emotions to meet that essential need, and as the owner of this body and soul, you are responsible to take care of their needs. If you don't, even if you manage to keep yourself from trespassing the limits of God in this world, you are clearly going to be held accountable for what you did to your body and soul. So, instead of oppressing yourself, you must decipher the embedded message of your emotions and act accordingly as soon as possible.

Say: "O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. Turn in repentance to your Lord and submit to His will before you are afflicted with the torment after which you can receive no help. (39/53-54)

And those who when they commit an indecency or do injustice to their souls remember Allah and ask forgiveness for their faults-- and who forgives the faults but Allah, and (who) do not knowingly persist in what they have done. (3/135)

Along the same lines, it is also possible that you are misinterpreting your emotions due to the cultural biases and prejudices that are wrong in the face of the creation, but which survived due to the bigotry of the people (e.g. read benefits of sins). In this case, your emotions may seem like they are motivating you to do evil in your perception when, in fact, they are guiding you towards the proper path of life intended by God.

When it is said to them: "Follow what Allah has sent down." They say: "Nay! We shall follow what we found our fathers following." (Would they do that!) Even though their fathers did not understand anything nor were they guided? (2/170)

A compounded case of misdiagnosing and mistreating the emotions happens when you try to do exactly what is described above. Let's say, for some reason, you did not meet the needs of your body or psyche, i.e. material or mental needs, and your emotions directed you towards meeting them. At this point, either you fall into the hands of your urges and commit something that you would otherwise not or you treat these emotions of yours as disguised messages and try to understand and pursue those embedded messages. In both cases, you find yourself doing things that feel awkward! This feeling, let's call it an emotion of alarm, bangs to your head and you understand (!) that this was all Devil's plot against you, and you committed a sin, and you should never ever have quit the safe ground of yours, as you had done until before that action. While in this state, you become more attentive to the negative aspects of what happens around you, and you deem that "all of these adversities are signs from God for you to return". So, you take a 180 degree turn and stick your head into the same life style where you continue oppressing yourself with an intention to please God.

Before delving into the above case, let's see what the modern science says about emotions: forecasts of our brain of what is coming ahead. So, our brain is programmed to prepare us for future events in order to protect us. Now, our brain makes those forecasts based on past experiences or on learned material, including what has been ingrained in our minds culturally. Accordingly, a malformed mentality is going to prepare the grounds for the burgeoning of wrong emotions and wrong interpretations of the events due to those wrong emotions!

As you can see, you can not normally get out of this vicious cycle unless and until you take an action that truly feels awkward and you continue doing that until it doesn't anymore feel awkward, even if those around you try to turn you back. This kind of willful action necessitates firm ties with the Book of God, because you are trying to find what is truly pleasing to God and because you are intending to leave everything and everyone behind. A miscalculation in this regard means suicide! How can you be sure that what you are doing is the thing to do?

The answer: you can not be sure! The only sure thing you can be is your sincerity towards God. You trust that your Lord is going to guide you towards His ways for the sake of your sincere intentions. So, you submit to your Merciful and Wise Guide, which is the true meaning of being a Muslim, i.e. one who has submitted:

And (as for) those who strive hard for Us, We will most certainly guide them in Our ways; and Allah is most surely with the doers of good. (29/69)

An event that contains all of these was lived during the life of the Prophet Muhammad pbuh. One day, one of the companions approached the prophet complaining about himself: "I feel an urge for fornication". Although those around were appalled by the daring revelation by this person, the messenger of God, first, convinced him of the wrongness of adultery:

- Would you like this to be done to your mother?
- No!
- Know that the person you are doing adultery with is the mother of someone.
- Would you like this to be done to your sister?
- No!
- Know that the person you are doing adultery with is the sister of someone.

Having convinced this man, Muhammad pbuh places his hand on the man's chest and prays for him to recover from this state. Finally, he marries the man to a woman. Later, the man becomes one the most chaste people of his time. (Musnad Ahmad, 21708)

Isn't it normal for a man to feel an urge to satisfy his lust, especially if he is not married? I am not defending adultery nor placing the male's needs above everything else, as you may think as a person of today, but I am trying to make a point: if a person's biological, psychological or  mental needs are not met, they are going to feel an irresistible urge to satisfy those needs. And this urge, in itself, is not necessarily evil. It is a guidance to you by the Creator in order for you to establish justice in your body that is entrusted to you.

Emotion Management - 2

Feeling valued and having self-confidence are two great dynamics of the human soul, we said at the end of the last episode. And we also said, who, other than the infinitely powerful, infinitely generous and infinitely loving one, can satisfy the appetites and passions of the human soul? Nevertheless, these two dynamics are also at the heart of arrogance and rebellion against the Creator. So, the same emotions that surround our ego are both clouds of rain, bringing water of life, and are a veil depriving us of the Light of God.

Those who boast unjustly in the world, I keep them away from understanding my verses (signs) (7/146)

“Indeed, Allah is not timid to present an example - that of a mosquito or what is smaller than it. And those who have believed know that it is the truth from their Lord. But as for those who disbelieve, they say, "What did Allah intend by this as an example?" He misleads many thereby and guides many thereby. And He misleads not except the defiantly disobedient.” (2/26).

“So whoever Allah wants to guide - He expands his breast to [contain] Islam;” (6/125)

How come the same event or observation become a means of going astray for some and a means of guidance for others? The answer partly lies in the emotions that shape our vision, understanding and expectations into the future. A person without any ties to God and without any expectations of an afterlife is bound to formulate a world in their minds, where their judgment criteria are the standard of everything. And, that can lead to making God speak/act the way you desire (of course in your imagined reality).

And he entered his garden while he was unjust to himself. He said, "I do not think that this will perish - ever. And I do not think the Hour will occur. And even if I should be brought back to my Lord, I will surely find better than this as a return." (18/35-36)

The same emotions that seek self-subsistence and boundless independence go on to silence the other emotions that voice the signs of God. In simpler words, for example today, rational explanation and scientific basis are at the heart of atheist claims, because using these tools deliberately, one can silence their certain emotions (or choke, should I say!), such as awe, that evoke the innate need to feel recognized and valued by your Creator. Famously known as "the need for love and belonging" that helps us find our Ever Close Lord is silenced by the scientific explanations that are formulated and worded in godless ways. This is not to say that science is essentially against faith, but the current dominant drive is accordingly.

And We sent to no city a prophet [who was denied] except that We seized its people with poverty and hardship that they might humble themselves [to Allah]. Then We exchanged in place of the bad [condition], good, until they increased [and prospered] and said, "Our fathers [also] were touched with hardship and ease." So We seized them suddenly while they did not perceive. And if only the people of the cities had believed and feared Allah , We would have opened upon them blessings from the heaven and the earth; but they denied [the messengers], so We seized them for what they were earning." Then, did the people of the cities feel secure from Our punishment coming to them at night while they were asleep? Or did the people of the cities feel secure from Our punishment coming to them in the morning while they were at play? Then did they feel secure from the plan of Allah ? But no one feels secure from the plan of Allah except the losing people. Has it not become clear to those who inherited the earth after its [previous] people that if We willed, We could afflict them for their sins? But We seal over their hearts so they do not hear. (7/94-100)

In the above verses, the people think that the events of life have nothing to do with being a message of God, and they happen on their own according to some dynamics that need to be determined through intellectual inquiry. That is, even if they initially had a suspicion that the life events could be signs of God, they insist on not heeding those emotions and silence them. Later on with the change of conditions, they go on with their evil actions saying "I told you. It is life with ups and downs. Just bear with it and make the most of it." But they turn out to be wrong, and they are not even able to understand this, because their emotions have created blockage between them and the larger reality. So, in their small-sized and short-lived realities, they feel independent of God in any way and experience emotions due to being the masters of their world until the predetermined end comes to them.

“We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth” (41/53). 

And how many a sign within the heavens and earth do they pass over while they, therefrom, are turning away. (12/105)

As some emotions are fighting against others, where is "I"? What is "I" doing? Is my free will non-existent in the face of my emotions? Some people today claim that free will, just like conscience, is an illusion, and that it is an emotional entity that lives in our minds, but otherwise, it has no reality. Can this be true?

Well, I should say that the above claim can be shown to be true, but with a logical flaw in the process. First, you must understand that seeing things free of your emotions is very difficult, if not impossible. Accordingly, we don't normally stay above our emotions and choose from them. They are like the lenses of our eyes; we see through them. We don't see without them. This is similar to analyzing the body and heart separate from each other. Both a heartless-body and a bodyless-heart are dead. Furthermore, they both need each other to manifest their abilities. Free will and emotions are alike. One can not deny the existence of one in the face of the other.

Second, if you assume that free will is non-existent at the outset, and use people who are solely at the mercy of their animal desires and drives, then you can show that by conditioning the minds, i.e. the emotions, you can manipulate the actions of those people as you wish. The logical flaw in this process is that silencing of the free will does not mean its non-existence. So, for the same processes, people who are trained to exercise their free will would respond differently, and perhaps unpredictably, and this would clearly punch a hole in the presumption of the experiment. What is more, you can use this mechanism to motivate people to do good and to do evil.

Is this mind experiment merely mental, or have there been cases throughout the history that prove the analysis we made here? The answer is yes to both. There have been numerous cases where people have been manipulated based on their animal drives, and were manipulated to commit evil actions (murder, theft, rape, etc.) against their conscience, hence a case lost for the free will. There have also been many cases where people acted opposite to the expectations, and exhibited altruistic, heroic or creative actions due to their belief in God and the afterlife.

Do the Unbelievers think that My servants can take protectors besides Me?... (18/102)

are men whom neither commerce nor trafficking diverts from the remembrance of God and to perform the prayer, and to pay the alms, fearing a day when hearts and eyes shall be turned about,(24/37)

Among the Believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah: of them some have completed their vow (to the extreme), and some (still) wait: but they have never changed (their determination) in the least: (33/23)

Emotion Management - 1

Emotions are one of the elements that separate humans from machines. What transforms a piece of metal to a valuable memory is the emotions associated with it. What makes a human being special for us is the emotions we harbor for them. And what inspires a good lesson out of any experience is the emotions that are triggered by it. So, it is important to explore the emotions and learn to manage them, because they are part of the secret behind the fact that we are alive, conscious and are accountable for our actions.

You must have heard of time management, anger management, risk management, crisis management, perception management. How about emotion management? This is a concept that is newly emerging and gaining popularity due to its relation to how satisfied we are in anything we do or in life in general. I should say that I have a problem with this framework on emotions, because I think that emotions are not "an animal to be tamed and put into our service". Rather, I think that emotions belong to a larger picture that extends to infinity, where we are not necessarily the center of everything but where we are in relation to everything. The foremost of these relations is, of course, with our Creator, who equipped us with the emotions.

Reading through the Quran, you can come across with the situations where emotions are evident. In this first episode of "Emotion Management", we are going to start a journey through the Quran, during which we are going to see some examples and reflect upon them.

And if We give man a taste of mercy from Us and then We withdraw it from him, indeed, he is despairing and ungrateful. If after his hardship, We grant him a blessing, he grows proud and rejoicing and says, "All my hardships have gone". Except those who are patient and do good, they shall have forgiveness and a great reward. (11/9-11) 

But when He tries him and restricts his provision, he says, "My Lord has humiliated me." And as for man, when his Lord tries him and [thus] is generous to him and favors him, he says, "My Lord has honored me." (89/15-16)

Here, we see a person who, first, falls into despair due to hardship. Such despair, actually, stems from the subconscious supposition that "the good days are gone for ever". Depending on the depth and duration of the hardship, grief calls its twin-at-birth, i.e. anger. When not properly treated, grief triggers anger, which is originally aimed at destroying the cause of grief (see the story of prophet Moses in this context, 20/83-98). This is a psychological immune response for our well-being, but its uncontrolled action here is carrying its owner away from God. Remember that what exacerbates the situation is the magnitude and size of the misfortune, not in reality but, in our imagination. It is all about our expectations of the future. Just like getting angry towards your teacher, who is challenging you to improve yourself and thus destroying your comfort, is pointless, building mountains of imaginary losses when there is actually one or a few is irrational.

Our Sustainer wants us to see and stick to the reality, and He doesn't like despairing of Him. Then why did He create the link between grief and anger, which in turn creates complications on the way to Him? Yes, it is true that He created us and everything in us, but remember that He created us with a free will and with an auto-pilot. Our free will is the real us, but if we don't exercise our will in the proper way, then the auto-pilot kicks in to ensure our stability in existence. This is when the undesired results emerge. Plus, God clearly tells that He does not burden the humans with a load beyond their capacity (2/286), but sometimes the load may be more than what you are used to or greater than what you think you are capable of. In such cases, we humans may lean towards despair and rebellion as an auto-pilot reaction. Nevertheless in the long run, we are asked to take the reins of our free will and pull the stick up, as implied by the "forgiveness" mentioned in the above verses. Our merciful and compassionate God wants to see us and accompany us as we emerge from darkness to His light. And sometimes, He wants us to break the walls around us in order to open the way for other blessings.

Allah is the guardian of those who believe. He brings them out of the darkness into the light; and (as to) those who disbelieve, their guardians are the evil ones who take them out of the light into the darkness; they are the inmates of the fire, in it they shall abide. (2/257)

Returning to the above verses on human emotion in case of alternation of blessings and misfortunes, we are told that when God removes the restriction on the person, who has been hopeless and ungrateful until then, they go to the other extreme of "supposing everything will be fine for ever", a subconscious and irrational overgeneralization leading again to ungratefulness to the granter and sustainer of those blessings. So again, our Guide wants us to realize that neither the blessings nor the misfortunes occur on their own, nor are they unbounded. Everything takes place through a plan, and we are asked to trust our Supporter.

No disaster strikes upon the earth or among yourselves except that it is in a register before We bring it into being - indeed that, for Allah , is easy. (57/22)

These same notions, and more, are depicted in other verses, too, where, for example, the person goes on subconsciously thinking that they receive blessings either because they are special or because they deserved them.

So when harm afflicts a man he calls upon Us; then, when We give him a favor from Us, he says: I have been given it only by means of knowledge. Nay, it is a trial, but most of them do not know. (39/49)

The notion of deserving the blessings and honors, i.e. self confidence, is a reflection of ego, and it also exhibits itself in "the acceptance of the great trust by humans", whereby they accept being tested by the free will:

“Indeed, we offered the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, and they declined to bear it and feared it; but man [undertook to] bear it. Indeed, he was unjust and ignorant.” (33/72)

Feeling valuable and having self confidence for taking risks and accepting challenges are essential dynamics for the human soul. They are also helpful for taking refuge in God and seeking His accordance and help, because who, other than the infinitely powerful One, can meet the needs of a creature that has unbounded appetites and passions!

Why do Original People Have Strong Ego?

Ego has a negative connotation in the daily jargon. Especially in the recent years in the aftermath of the age of ego, people are praising all kinds of  sources of pleasure and are condemning ego due to its push for selfish and self-centered moves. This reactionary attitude, as is typical of all reactionary moves, brings about a blindness towards certain aspects of the human nature. In this atmosphere, scholars, thinkers, artists and leaders are destined to suffer the most due to their innate, strong ego.

Whether you like it or not, ego is part of our basic nature. If you admit it and tame it, you can put it to good use for yourself and for others; but the opposite is true, too. If you disregard it or shun it, then it is going to develop according to its untamed nature, and when the time comes, your ego is going to manifest itself in ways you may or may not like.

The group of people I mentioned above happen to have a stronger ego among others, and their individual and social lives suffer the most from this subtle issue. Why? Let's see the story from its beginning.

In the schooling systems, at best, the talents of the students are fostered, but their ego stays untamed, mostly because it is shunned: "Ego is something bad, so, better not to talk about it at all...". Later in life, we see, for example, a thinker who doesn't know how to conduct their ideas to other people and lead a civilized discussion; an artist who dislikes and harshly criticizes others' art; a scientist who crushes the students. It takes several years and trial-and-errors for them to get over this, of course if they can! And when they finally emerge from this ego trap, they are already old and outcast. Their family lives, too, suffer the same attitudes and, the original people find themselves in a social cemetery.

Now, is this all there is about ego? Did the Creator give ego to make us suffer? Is ego merely a tool of devil to create conflict and misery? And why are the most influential and valuable ones among the humans the unlucky ones for having a larger share of ego than the rest?

Said Nursi, an Islamic scholar of the early 20th century and author of the Risale-i Nur Collection, suggests the ego as a versatile tool given by God to humans to feel, measure and understand His attributes. That is, for example, an artist is the one to better appreciate the art on colors and shapes in the nature and universe, a physicist is the one to better see the invisible but omnipresent order at all levels of existence from micro to macro universe. This notion highlights the essential role of ego in fulfilling the requirements of being a servant of God, and it encompasses not only the talented people but also the ordinary.

In fact, if you dig deeper into the Eastern teachings on education of the self, you will discover that, instead of disregarding or shunning the ego, they are also pointing at a crux for ego where wisdom, trustworthiness, mercy and will power unite into one spirit. So, can we use this same perspective to have an idea of why original people are given strong egos? We sure can!

Let's see some examples throughout the history. Imagine yourself witnessing Galileo Galilei defying the dogmatic attitude of the Middle Age inquisition courts and speaking in the face of the oppression they have been exercising on the minds. What is the force that he has to do such a brave objection and to stay firm on his word?

Imagine Isaac Newton, the greatest scientist of all history according to many. How did he manage to survive despite his antisocial attitudes, and how did he go on to use mathematics as a tool to study the universe? Today, we take this for granted, but why in the world should numbers and symbols on a piece of paper explain the "future" of the existence? And with what force did he preserve his motivation and continue his studies despite a body of religious elite questioning his intentions?

Imagine Said Nursi standing against a global body of atheist scientists and philosophers who embarked on annihilating the idea of a creator. How did he persist on his teachings and commitments in the face of exiles, tortures and how did he speak so bravely in favor of the Islamic practices at a time when the opposite was the norm?

Imagine Abraham Lincoln, the father of the USA. How did he manage to stand against his own political failures for so many years until eventually seeding the union of the states?

How did Albert Einstein insist on not accepting the hegemony of the Newtonian understanding of the universe and developed a relativistic understanding that shook the minds? And ironically, how did the same Albert Einstein fail to accept the quantum behavior at the micro scale that was going against his own baby, the relativity?

This list can be extended. An original person in any field of life, before receiving the proper acceptance among the people, faces dire resistance socially, intellectually, but they manage to stand against all those thanks to some force within. When the same happens for the sake of a personal issue in private life, we call such people egoistic, but in the above-mentioned cases, these people see a light of truth that empowers them. The instrument that receives this light of truth and converts it into useful deeds is ego.

With a tamed ego, a scholar can work on a new theory and defend it in the face of entire humanity, because and if the same ego is receiving the light of truth. With a tamed ego, an artist can consistently exercise a style and interpretation in their art even if it goes against the accepted public opinion, because and if their ego is shining like the moon due to the light falling on it from the Light of all existence.

And with a tamed ego, ordinary people can do extraordinary actions in the face of the status-quo, because and if they are clinging on to a rope descending from the heavens conveying timeless truths.