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Human Rights from the Viewpoint of Imam Sajjad (2) - Al-Shia The Scientific and Cultural Website of Shia belief Human Rights from the Viewpoint of Imam Sajjad (2) 2021-06-22 358 Views Imam Sajjad , Treatises on Rights , Human Rights In this part of the article titled “Human Rights from the Viewpoint of Imam Sajjad”, we shall focus on other related aspects of the topic.

Modern psychology has been able to confirm the Islamic viewpoint that man himself is not aware of the major part of his characteristics, and this results in self-contradictory or negative behaviour. For instance, when faced with a social problem, he sometimes resorts to an evil behavior, which he had not thought of before. The point is that if he was better cognizant of his own self, he would not have responded in such a negative way.

Thus, self-awareness means the maximum cognizance of one’s own self and innate characteristics by suppressing evil desires. In other words, a faithful person acts according to the famous hadith that says whoever knows himself, knows Allah. Hence, the human being, who is made up of body and spirit, ought to be fully aware of his innate characteristics.

This is possible by keeping both the body and mind purified, which is essential is developing the intellect to distinguish the right from the wrong. To be more precise, real prosperity and access to the path of perfection depend on self-purification, because the bodily organs, in most cases, follow what the self desires. For example, our eyes follow the dictates of our mind and heart, and see things that we crave for.

Thus, in view of these facts, we should try to abstain from sins and negative behaviour by keeping our thoughts and desires purified in order to save ourselves from psychological diseases. In this regard, the Prophet’s first infallible successor, Imam Ali (PBUH), says psychological diseases are cured only through self-awareness.

He means to say that it is essential for a believer to become better cognizant of his own self through knowledge of ethics and moralities, which strengthens the faith and saves the soul from impurities. Such a person ought to be mindful of both the benefits and the dangers, and make notes of these realities in order to take serious action in purifying his soul. Generally, whoever knows his weak points and deficiencies he or she will be successful in removing them and strengthening the faith.