Thursday, March 22, 2007

Religious Faith in Personality Structure
According to Islam, personality is an interaction among soul (nafs), heart (qalb), mind (`aql), and conscience (bashirah) qualities. Personality, in addition to being provided with inborn tendencies and genetic heritage from one’s parents, is also formed through a long process during his lifetime, including internalization of values, knowledges, and experiences in his self. In this perspective, religious faith one obtains from knowledges and experiences also enters his personality structure. A Muslim with a strong Muslim personality can’t enjoy the delicious of pork, although it has been cooked in accordance with his taste. A Muslim with a strong Muslim personality can’t enjoy the beauty of opened up awrah. He also always awakes from his sound sleep if he hasn’t done his Isha prayer yet.

Obviously, every Muslim has a different Muslim personality quality. That quality itself isn’t necessarily constant. Sometime it is firm, intact, and prime. But in other times it can be distorted by influences coming from sources other than his religion. In this connection, religious counseling may be given to reactivate innate impulses of faith of one which has been experiencing a spiritual disturbance making his personality no longer intact, so that with the innate impulses of faith his nafsany (self) system functions back by creating a synergy to result in positive behaviors. In certain conditions, religion is a huge power to motivate behaviors, as in other certain conditions, biologic motivations (such as hungriness) have important influences on human behaviors.

In sufistic perspective, consistent fasting (shaum), night prayers (qiyamullail), dawam al wudu, wirid are highly effective in developing one’s personality.

Developing Muslim personality
One is said as having a Muslim personality if, in perceiving, responding, or doing something, he is controlled by Muslim conception of life. One’s personality, in addition to being provided with inborn tendencies and genetic heritage from his parents, is also formed through a long process during one’s lifetime, including internalization of values, knowledges, and experiences in his self. In this perspective, religious faith one obtains from knowledges and experiences enters his personality structure. One who masters religious sciences or akhlaq (morals) science doesn’t necessarily have a noble personality, since personality is not merely an aspect of knowledge.