The View of the Philosophers From the perspective of the philosophers...

The View of the Philosophers From the perspective of the philosophers, perfection can be sought in two things: wisdom (which is the comprehension of the universal truths of the cosmos) and justice (which is the tempering of the instincts and the human faculties by the intellect, or in other words, the intellect dominating the human faculties) Islam also considers wisdom a virtue. The Qur`an refers to wisdom as “ abundant good ” (2:269) and recognizes it as a means of perfection.

Justice is also emphasized by Islam. However, in Islam the intellect’s domination over the sensual and psychic faculties is considered effective only when it is reinforced by Revelation. c. The Mystic Ideology Mystics are of the opinion that reality is nondual. Reality is God and all else is the radiance of His existence. Thus, the human being attains to perfection when he comes to view only Him and nothing else, when he reaches annihilation in the Truth.

The closer one ascends to the Truth, the more perfect he becomes. And the path of this journey is the heart, and one must combat one’s ego and overcome it and belittle it so as to erase any trace of egoism. Although Islam approves of the path of the heart and vision, it also supports the intellect and has referred to the latter as the “inward prophet”.

In contrast to mysticism, both the personal and the social aspects of life have been recognized, and so the perfect human being is he who perfects himself in both aspects. Another defect of the mystical perspective is that it undermines self-esteem and self-worth to the extent of demeaning the individual. Islam does not allow such excessive self-humiliation. From the view point of Islam, at the same time that the believer must combat his ego and tame it, he must avoid ignoble and unbecoming acts.

Detailed Answer Definition of Perfection First, we must define perfection. Tamam (completion) is contrasted with naqs (deficiency) and so is kamal (perfection). In the Noble Qur`an we read: Today I have perfected your religion for you, and I have completed My blessing upon you [^1]. That is, the Qur`an considers tamam and kamal different in meaning: it employs tamam in the context of deficiency in blessing and kamal in the context of deficiency in religion.

At this point it is necessary to explain how kamal (perfection) differs in meaning from tamam (completion) and pishraft (progress).