Reflections on the book "Elements of the Islamic Psyche"
Episode 1
Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds, and prayers and peace be upon the Imam of the pious, and the master of the messengers, who was sent as a mercy to the worlds, our master Muhammad, and upon all his family and companions, and make us with them, and gather us in their group with your mercy, O Most Merciful of the merciful.
O Muslims:
Dear listeners, listeners of the Media Office radio of Hizb ut-Tahrir:
Peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you. Hereafter: We will be with you over several episodes, as much as God opens up to us, contemplating with you the book: "Elements of the Islamic Psyche." In order to clarify the meaning of the term "Islamic Personality", we say, with God's help:
The personality in every human being consists of his mentality and his psyche, and has nothing to do with his appearance, his body, his attire, or anything else, for they are all shells. It is superficial for anyone to think that they are a factor of personality or affect the personality.
It has become common among people that whenever they see a person who takes care of his appearance, shape, body, and attire, they use the phrase: "He has a personality." Business owners and company managers often focus on these aspects during their personal interviews when choosing and selecting their employees, paying attention to the shells and superficial matters, and neglecting the most important aspect of personality, which is the mentality and psyche, which consequently leads to poor selection and failure in business.
The correct thing is what we said in the opening of this episode, which is that the personality in every human being consists of his mentality and his psyche, and has nothing to do with his appearance, his body, his attire, or anything else, for they are all shells. It is superficial for anyone to think that they are a factor of personality or affect the personality. This opinion we have expressed is confirmed by many pieces of evidence, including the poet's saying:
A young man's tongue is half, and half is his heart Nothing remains but an image of flesh and blood
It is confirmed by the saying: "Man is only by his two smallest: his heart and his tongue." When Omar bin Abdul Aziz took office as Caliph, delegations from every country arrived to state their needs and to congratulate him. The people of Hijaz came to him, and a Hashemite boy stepped forward to speak. He was young, so Omar said: Let someone older than you speak. The boy said: May God improve the Commander of the Believers, man is only by his two smallest, his heart and his tongue. If God grants a servant a speaking tongue and a حافظ heart, then he deserves to speak and knows the virtue of those who hear his speech. If the matter, O Commander of the Believers, were about age, there would be in the nation someone more deserving of your seat than you. Omar said: You are right, say what you want. The boy said: May God improve the Commander of the Believers, we are a delegation of congratulations, not a delegation of condolences. We have come to you for the sake of God who has blessed us with you, and we have only come to you out of desire and fear. As for desire, we have come to you from our country, and as for fear, we have been secured from your injustice by your justice. Omar said: Advise me, boy. He said: May God improve the Commander of the Believers, some people have been deceived by God's forbearance towards them, the length of their hope, and the many praises of people for them, so their feet slipped and they fell into the fire. Do not be deceived by God's forbearance towards you, the length of your hope, and the many praises of people for you, lest your foot slip and you join the people, may God not make you one of them, and join you to the righteous of this nation, then he was silent. Omar said: How old is the boy? It was said to him: Eleven years old. Then he asked about him, and it turned out that he was from the descendants of our master Hussein bin Ali, may God be pleased with him, so he praised him well and prayed for him, and recited:
Learn, for a person is not born knowledgeable And the brother of knowledge is not like one who is ignorant
For the elder of the people, if he has no knowledge Is small when the gatherings turn to him
Everything other than mentality and psyche are shells. This is also confirmed by the saying: "It is time for Abu Hanifa to stretch his legs." Imam Abu Hanifa, may God have mercy on him, was meeting with his students in the mosque, and he was immersed in explaining a jurisprudential issue. During that time, a man with a good appearance entered the mosque, fine clothes, apparently from the people of language, science, and literature.
When Abu Hanifa saw the man's appearance and attire, he thought that he was from the people of knowledge, eloquence, literature, rhetoric, wisdom, and insight. Abu Hanifa immediately respected his presence, then adjusted his sitting position, raised his turban, and restrained his feet. He, may God have mercy on him, was suffering from pain in his knee, but in that session he did not stretch his legs, he bore the pain and kept his leg bent out of respect for this man. He interrupted his explanation to his students, then received that man as scholars, writers, and princes are received, because the people of knowledge have a high honor and sufficient worth, as the poet said:
Knowledge builds houses without pillars And ignorance destroys the house of glory and generosity
Everyone in the mosque saw the man's appearance, so his matter became great in their souls, given his outward beauty and magnificent grace. The man sat down at first, and did not utter a word, fulfilling the saying: "Men are walls unless they speak." The meaning of this proverb is that a person is like a wall, and what is behind it is not known until he speaks. If he speaks, what the wall was hiding is revealed, for there are walls that hide behind them singing gardens full of white flowers, and walls that hide beautiful cities with many rivers, and others that hide behind them scrap that brings sadness to the viewer.
After a while, the man asked Abu Hanifa, saying: O Abu Hanifa, I am asking you, so answer me if you are a scholar to be relied upon in fatwas! At first, Abu Hanifa felt that he was being asked by a divine scholar who was unsurpassed, so he said to him: Go ahead. The man: When does the fasting person break his fast? After the man asked Abu Hanifa, he felt that he had a deep purpose in this question, for his question was easy and simple, and it was possible for boys to answer it. Abu Hanifa thought that the man wanted to test his patience with the trivial questions of the common people, so the man's matter increased in Abu Hanifa's mind.
Abu Hanifa replied, saying: When the sun sets, the fasting person breaks his fast. The man said after Abu Hanifa's answer, his face speaking of seriousness, firmness, and haste, as if he had found something to blame Abu Hanifa for. The man: What if the sun does not set that day, O Abu Hanifa? After his second question, what that man's wall was hiding became apparent to Abu Hanifa. His wall is well-built, well-painted, ornate, and firmly established. But unfortunately, it is the wall of a graveyard, what a graveyard! It is not a graveyard of humans, but a graveyard of ignorance. Abu Hanifa smiled at that man with a broad smile, then said his famous saying that was written in the folds of the volumes of biographies in golden letters, so it became a proverb that the predecessors bequeathed to the successors, which is: "It is time for Abu Hanifa to stretch his legs." This proverb applies to everyone who is determined to offer something, so he is determined to give and strive, but he is surprised by the level of what is in front of him or who is in front of him. At that time, he sees that there is no place for his effort and work, and that rest is better and more worthy, and that he must stretch his legs as Abu Hanifa stretched them. Therefore, everyone who wants to work must make sure that the healthy environment is available, so that he does not have to say, at a certain moment, as Imam Abu Hanifa said.
Therefore, everything other than mentality and psyche in relation to personality are shells. This is also confirmed by the saying of the Commander of the Believers, Ali bin Abi Talib, may God be pleased with him. He said: "Speak, you will be known, for a person is hidden under his tongue." This is also confirmed by the saying of Omar bin Al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him. He believes that the person with an Islamic personality, in order to be described with this description, must be of benefit to himself, the Islamic nation, and the religion of Islam, and he is not judged only by his appearance. Therefore, he said: "I see a man and I like him, so I say: Does he have a profession? If it is said: "No", he falls from my eyes!
Dear listeners, listeners of the Media Office radio of Hizb ut-Tahrir:
We are satisfied with this amount in this episode, provided that we complete our reflections in the coming episodes, God willing. Until that time and until we meet you, we leave you in God's care, protection, and security. We thank you for your good listening, and peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you.
