The Importance of Positive Psychology

Four thousand years ago, Prophet Abraham settled his wife Hajra and his son Ishmael in the desert of Arabia and returned to Syria. Later, when Ishmael grew up he married a woman of the Jurhum tribe. After some time had elapsed, Abraham visited them and found only Ishmael’s wife at home. The woman complained of living in very difficult conditions. Prophet Abraham asked her to deliver the following message to Ishmael, “Replace your doorway.”

Ishmael later divorced his wife and married another woman. After some time, Prophet Abraham came back to meet his family. Ishmael was away and his new wife, rather than have any complaints or grudges was thankful for everything. On hearing this, Prophet Abraham said to her, “When Ishmael comes home convey my message to him, ‘Retain your doorway.’” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 3364)

Prophet Abraham had settled his family in the desert, so that in this natural environment a new generation would arise which would take up the message of God and spread it throughout the world. This incident concerning Prophet Abraham shows that the individuals required for this great task must above all have the quality of possessing a positive psychology, and have no propensity to complain. This shows what is of the utmost importance in the process of tazkiya: that a person cease to complain and give utterance to grievances and that he become a positive thinker in the full sense, in spite of having every cause for complaint. Negative thinking is a killer of tazkiya, whereas positive thinking is the most essential condition for tazkiya. A person who indulges in negative thinking becomes subject to Satan. On the contrary, a person who engages in positive thinking lives in the companionship of the angels, and it is a fact that tazkiya cannot be attained without the help of the angels.