The Importance of Positive Psychology

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

Ismail later divorced his wife and married another woman. After some time, Prophet Ibrahim came back to meet his family. Ismail was away and his new wife, rather than have any complaints or grudges was thankful for everything. On hearing this, Prophet Ibrahim said to her, “When Ismail comes home convey my message to him, ‘Retain your doorway.’” (Sahih al-Bukhari)

Prophet Ibrahim had settled his family in the desert, so that in this natural environment a new generation would arise which would take up the mission of monotheism and spread it throughout the world. This incident concerning Prophet Ibrahim 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 tazkiyah: that man 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 tazkiyah, whereas positive thinking is the most essential condition for tazkiyah. 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 tazkiyah cannot be attained without the help of the angels.