zarzh mind space

Ego, arrogance and hubris all together make a word so call Takkabur.

The word ego is taken directly from Latin, where it is the nominative of the first person singular personal pronoun and is translated as "I myself" to express emphasis.
When the ego is personified, it is like a slave to three harsh masters: the id (inner desire) , the super-ego (The super-ego tends to stand in opposition to the desires of the id because of their conflicting objectives, and is aggressive towards the ego) and the external world. It has to do its best to suit all three, thus is constantly feeling hemmed by the danger of causing discontent on two other sides. It is said however, that the ego seems to be more loyal to the id, preferring to gloss over the finer details of reality to minimize conflicts while pretending to have a regard for reality. But the super-ego is constantly watching every one of the ego's moves and punishes it with feelings of guilt, anxiety, and inferiority.

Arrogance - The act or habit of arrogating, or making undue claims in an overbearing manner; that species of pride which consists in exorbitant claims of rank, dignity, estimation, or power, or which exalts the worth or importance of the person to an undue degree; proud contempt of others; lordliness; haughtiness; self-assumption; presumption. Closely related to the act of arrogating.

Hubris - is exaggerated self pride, arrogance of self-confidence (overbearing pride), often resulting in fatal retribution.

There was a lot of number of hadith which remain us to beware from became Takkabur. As one of the character of Iblis which make him away from paradise and away from Rahmat (Mercy) of Allah is because the Iblis got the character of Takkabur. He use to sit at the highest position above the Angel, but once because of the Takkabur he got, he refuse the order of Allah to prostrate as respect to Adam a.s, which make him a loser forever. Although he was very well know who is Allah and understand very well that nobody can refuse any order of Allah but because the character Takkabur he got, he simply forget the punishment which he will get.
Abu Jahal also face the worst calamity which make him suffer forever because of the character Takkabur he have. Even he know very well about Rasulullah as he was one of the uncle, and even time to time he saw the the sign of true about Rasulullah but each time Rasulullah invited him to Allah, he refuse it. By the time, he became more strongly cruel against Rasulullah and the muslim follower, which make Abu Jahal end his life in worst way and even an ayat was send down to woe him.
So one thing is very clear, those who got this chacrater, and keep on with this chacrater, he or she will never understand the mistake make by own. This is the big different between Adam and Iblis, which Adam and Hawa realize that their making a mistake by eating the forbidden fruit and keep-on ask for forgiven but Iblis never realize his mistake, beside he make an swear until the last day, he will keep making afford to bring Adam and all Adam generation on the wrong way.

Rasulullah s.a.w said: "Shall I tell you of the people of Paradise? They comprise every poor humble person, and if he swears by Allah to do something, Allah will fulfill it; while the people of the fire comprise every violent, cruel arrogant person." [Sahih Bukhari]

Rasulullah s.a.w said: "If anyone dies free from pride, unfaithfulness regarding spoil, and debt, he will enter Paradise." [Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah and Darimi (Mishkat)]

Rasulullah s.a.w said: A person who persistently keeps himself aloof from people and behaves insolently, so much so that his name is counted among the arrogant, he is meted out the same punishment which is earmarked for insolent persons. [Tirmidhi (Mishkat)]

"He in whose heart there is as much as a grain of arrogance will not enter paradise," and a man remarked: "A man likes his garment to be beautiful and his sandals to be beautiful." Then Rasulullah s.a.w replied: "God, Most High, is beautiful and likes beauty; arrogance is disdaining what is true and despising people." (Sahih Muslim).

Narrated by Abu Huraira r.a that Rasulullah s.a.w said, "While a man was walking, clad in a two-piece garment and proud of himself with his hair well-combed, suddenly Allah made him sink into the earth and he will go on sinking into it till the Day of Resurrection." [Sahih Bukhari]

- May Allah help and guide us to be away from the character of Takkabur, verily the Only One can protect and save us for that we always on the correct way is Allah Taala. By keep on reminder each other about the greatness of Allah, insyaallah, the greatness of own-self and the greatness of mahluk (creation) will be out from the heart, make the heart soft and always turn to Allah beside the guidance about own-self behavior through the word of Rasulullah s.a.w.

Psychology in literally Greek its means "to study the soul", from ψυχή, "psyche", soul, and λόγος, "to study" is an academic and applied discipline involving the scientific study of mental processes and behavior.  Psychologists attempt to explain the mind and brain in the context of real life and psychologists study such phenomena as perception, cognition, emotion, personality, behavior, and interpersonal relationships. Psychology also refers to the application of such knowledge to various spheres of human activity, including issues related to daily life like family, education, work and the treatment of mental health problems.

Social psychology is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. The terms thoughts, feelings, and behaviors include all of the psychological variables that are measurable in a human being. The statement that others may be imagined or implied suggests that we are prone to social influence even when no other people are present, such as when watching television, or following internalized cultural norms and etc. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the interaction of mental states and immediate, social situations and an interdisciplinary domain that bridges the gap between psychology and sociology (Sociology is the scientific study of society, including patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and culture)

"Islamic psychology" is centred around the concept of the Nafs, which means "self" or "psyche" in Arabic. In the medieval Islamic world, the study of the Nafs was known as Ilm-al Nafsiat (knowledge of Nafs) and encompassed a broad range of topics including the qalb (heart), the ruh (spirit), the aql (intellect) and irada (will). In medieval Islamic medicine in particular, the study of mental illness was a speciality of its own, and was variously known as diseases of the mind, al-‘ilaj al-nafs (psychotherapy in Arabic), al-tibb al-ruhani (spiritual health) and tibb al-qalb (mental medicine).

The concepts of al-tibb al-ruhani (spiritual health) and mental hygiene were introduced in Islamic medicine by the Persian physician Abu Zayd Ahmed ibn Sahl al-Balkhi (850-934), who often related it to spiritual health. In his Masalih al-Abdan wa al-Anfus (Sustenance for Body and Soul), he was the first to successfully discuss diseases related to both the body and the soul. He used the term al-Tibb al-Ruhani to describe spiritual and psychological health, and the term Tibb al-Qalb to describe mental medicine. He criticized many medical doctors in his time for placing too much emphasis on physical illnesses and neglecting the mental illnesses of patients, and argued that since man’s construction is from both his soul and his body, therefore, human existence cannot be healthy without the ishtibak (interweaving or entangling) of soul and body. He further argued that if the body gets sick, the nafs [psyche] loses much of its cognitive and comprehensive ability and fails to enjoy the desirous aspects of life and that if the nafs gets sick, the body may also find no joy in life and may eventually develop a physical illness. Al-Balkhi traced back his ideas on mental health to verses of the Qur'an and hadiths attributed to Muhammad, such as:

"In their hearts is a disease." — (Qur'an 2:10)

"Truly, in the body there is a morsel of flesh, and when it is corrupt the body is corrupt, and when it is sound the body is sound. Truly, it is the qalb [heart]." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Iman)

"Verily Allah does not consider your appearances or your wealth in (appraising you) but He considers your hearts and your deeds." (Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal)

Major sunni scholar hold the opinion that there are seven stages of Nafs (self/psyche), the stage of correction the heart and deeds (amal) until reach the higher stage of succes in own soul and mind. And in Islam, the first of all, the level of hearts is means to gain the Iman or faith in One Allah and perform the good-deeds (amal-solehan) as show by the Prophet Muhamad s.a.w, and by this means (Iman and amal), each human either man or woman, rich or poor, alphabet or unalphabet, high IQ or normal IQ, handicape or not, well educate or not well educate and etc can reach the higher level nafs of human-kind. 

1 - Nafs-i-ammara (The Commanding Self) - In its primitive stage, the ego tells one to commit evil with-in the bad attitude like pride (Takabbur), greed (Hirs), jealousy (Hasad), lust (Syahwat), back biting (Gheebah), stinginess (Baghil), Malice (Keena) and it need a lot of afford to bring own-self out of the level of nafs. The prophet Muhammed said after returning from a war, "We now return from the small struggle (Jihad Asghar) to the big struggle (Jihad Akbar)". His companions asked, "Oh prophet of God, what is the big struggle?". He replied, "The struggle against Nafs".

2 - Nafs-i-lawwama (The Regretful Self) - This is the stage of awakening. On this level the conscience is awakened and the self accuses one for listening to one’s ego. One repents and asks for forgiveness, but falls back into bad behaviour. Here the Nafs is inspired by the heart, sees the results of the actions, agrees with the brain (aqli), sees own^s weaknesses, and aspires to purication. Stage to correct the amal (deeds/action) and niat (intention) for goodness and if contineuly make afford on amal and niat, will reach the next level, other-wise will stay at same stage or turn back to down stage of nafs.

3 - Nafs-i-mulhama (The Inspired Self) - This is the higher stage of action and intention. On this level one becomes more firm in listening to one’s conscience, but is not yet surrendered. Once have seen the weaknesses and have set the targets, this nafs inspires to purifier the good amal and niat.

4 - Nafs-i-mutma'inna (The Contented Self) - On this level one is firm in one’s faith and leaves bad manners behind. The soul becomes tranquility and taste the sweatness of obedience to Allah Taala (beside step-out from the materiallism idea). The stage of perfection the heart and the deeds (amal). The stage which also all the good quality (good sifat) come in own-self and make the heart and mind contented and pacific.

5 - Nafs-i-radiyya (The Pleased Self) - On this level one is pleased with whatever comes from Allah and doesn’t live in the past or future, but in the moment. One thinks always: ‘Ilahi Anta Maqsudi wa ridhaka matlubi’ - One always sees oneself as weak and in need of Allah.

 6 - Nafs-i-mardiyya (The Pleasing Self) - On this level the two Ruhs (Soul) in man have made peace. One is soft and tolerant with people and has good Akhlak (good manners).

 7 - Nafs-i-safiyya (The Pure Self) - On this level one is dressed in the attributes of the Insan Kamil, the perfected man, who is completely surrendered and inspired by Allah. One is in full agreement with the Will of Allah.

 The Prophet s.a.w said: "Al-mujahidu man jahada nafsahu fi ta`at Allah `azza wa jall" - The fighter (Mujahidin) is he who fights against his ego (nafs) in obeying God. (Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Ibn Hibban, Tabarani, Hakim, etc)

Sufyan al-Thawri said: "I never dealt with anything stronger against me than my own ego (nafs); it was one time with me, and one time against me" Yahya ibn Mu`adh al-Razi said: "Fight against your ego (nafs) with the four swords of training: eat little, sleep little, speak little, and be patient when people harm you...then the ego (nafs) will walk the paths of obedience, like a fleeing horseman in the field of battle."

- Basicly there are three typ of nafs; nafs ammara - the lowers, nafs lawwama - stage to get better, nafs mutmai`na - stage of tranquality. Allah have mention in surah fajr: "(To the righteous soul will be said:) "O (thou) soul, in (complete) rest and satisfaction! , Come back thou to thy Lord,- well pleased (thyself), and well-pleasing unto Him! , Enter thou, then, among My devotees! , Yea, enter thou My Heaven! " (89: 27-30)

- Imam Ghazali rah on jihad of nafs