جلسات #مع نفسي 05 ... مادة [فقه النفس]: ما هي؟ ومن أين جاءت؟ ولماذا؟ وما جديدها؟

Dr Abdulrahman: Welcome The Host: Welcome Dr Abdulrahman: Which visit are we in? The fifth one? The Host: The fifth visit Dr Abdulrahman: Alright, may Allah assist us The Host: In sha Allah Dr Abdulrahman: Where did we reach then? The Host: Last session I have asked you about the story of “Fiqh An-Nafs” and why we called it “Fiqh An-Nafs” so I would like to hear more from you Dr Abdulrahman: Alright sir .The subject of “Fiqh An-Nafs” was formed a while ago The public may have first heard about it in 2002, but the process of writing it started in 1997 and of course it has been cooking in the human self sitting in front of you from the end of middle school..high school.. university Through readings and interest about “The Self” and the like As I said yesterday “Fiqh An-Nafs”

is a topic that covers the human self But I claim that I try as much as possible to overlook all the negative aspects of modern psychology because modern psychology has a lot of negative aspects besides the hype that you see in the media and since the predominant culture is the western culture everything we study is coming from there but if you were to ask someone in the department of psychology:

Do you know someone called “Miskawayh”? Do you know someone called “Abu Zaid Al Balkhi”? Do you know someone called “Maymon Bin Nafeh”, for example? No… then what it is that you are studying? Ask him: Do you know “Aba Hamed Al-Ghazali?” This is a popular name.. What did he write on the human-self? What did Ibn-Hazm write? There is no answer.. Even Ibn Al- Qayim What did Ibn Al-Qayim write on the human-self? What did Ibn Al-Jawzzi write on the human-self? What did Ibn Tayyimiah write on the human-self? What did Ibn Rushd write on the human-self? Ibn Sina, Al-Farabi... Basically...Fiqh An-Nafs in short is

a collection of observations that started ever since I was young, I was raised in an environment -I ask Allah The Exalted and Almighty to grant my parents good- that was religious and happy even though we were materially poor, we were still happy Alhamdullah and during the days of the Iraq-Iran War despite the air strikes I don’t recall us being depressed

or anything of this sort and we got a bit older

and saw some examples that we found later -of course there were people around us

who we thought were blessed like us, happy with their religion- we found, unfortunately, religious people that are not only unhappy but they were a bad example of the religion miserable, depressed, worried, backbiting

slandering people's honor you find one of them coming to our house to complain about her husband to my mother using horrible phrases Then you would go to the Friday sermon and hear: “Islam is the solution! Islam is…., and the companions of the prophet are….” so I went through a phase -honestly-I had a lot of questions. What is right? What about Islam? etc.. and I started reading- and it is from Allah’s blessing that our father reads and has a decent library- so I started looking at western schools and I found that we already have a treasure and are not in need of this talk it could be that these people’s culture led them to a school like Frued’s School Carl Young’s School ,Humanistic School (Carl Rogers and his group) but we have a treasure

a treasure that can cure the entire world and just like Sheikh Al-Ghazali said: “a winning case in the hands of a lousy lawyer or valuable goods in the hands of a horrible salesperson unfortunately, except a few..” and all these matters started assembling gradually The Host: That was at an early age Dr Abdulrahman: All of these thoughts were during high school and university At university I started always carrying a bag on my back and a notebook at the restaurant, the bus.. etc and I would write and write and write The host: What would you write? Dr Abdulrahman: thoughts about [...] The Host: You mean notes? Dr Abdulrahman: Notes about the human self what tires people, and what is the relationship of this with [...]? How do quranic verses solve this topic? How does this incident in the prophetic history (seerah) treat this issue? but I didn't have the courage yet to publish my work [and face backlash] “Who are you to say this [...]?” “You are only but a medical and psychology student [...] etc” Until I started working. When I started working at the clinic I started receiving cases and started experimenting with what I have so I started giving people psychological prescriptions based on “Fiqh An-Nafs” before the term “Fiqh An-Nafs” was even developed. and I started noticing people -Alhamdulillah- getting better and ask:

“Why didn't we hear about this before?...Which school do you follow?” They want to classify you right away Are you psychoanalytical or CBT or humanistic or positive or biological or [...] etc? and gradually I was introduced to the Arabian Gulf and I saw charlatanry in its original form and I saw it in the market so I started having another concern which is

“How do I purify religion from this charlatanry?” and how do I protect religion from people who claim: “Allah said, The Messenger said ” but unfortunately they are fabricating it and twisting it,so the worry started piling up and I noticed that people come to the clinic

not knowing who they are in the first place so you think the first thing to start with is what? The self “Look here my buddy, my friend, my dear, my darlings the self is: one, two, three, four, five… alright?” Then you find out that people have a problem That actually they are not honest with themselves so they come to the clinic to stop feeling bad about themselves .“Look at me I even came to the clinic [...]” but of course in reality they did not come to be treated except a few of course The Host :because they aren’t convinced? Dr Abdulrahman: not because they aren't convinced but they come to you without the intention of implementing what you tell them They come to say

“Look at me, I came and I did what I had to” and when we surpass the issue of honesty

we find a bigger problem which is a problem

in their way of thinking So I realized that the first thing

to be taught is how to think Why? because after you hear what I say

and go out there someone might come to you and say

“Where did you get all of this from?” -“Abdul Rahman Thakir told me so” -“What makes you think he didn't trick you?” -"Really?! How?”

- “He is…..” So he messes with your brain again so I actually have to arm you in a way whereby you won’t be tricked by me or anyone else and after this we come and say .Let's define “The Self”, what is it? and where did we come with it being (body + soul) and all that and how to think Simply, it is very easy to forget all this talk over night So from here came the trilogy “Read”: Everything related to how I think,how I process and how I deal with external inputs… etc After all of this

what do I do? Read yourself first = (By the Self)

So "Read" then "By the Self" After you are done with this package "I now know how to think and how to process" and the media does not deceive me, if I see an advertisement I know that they want to deceive me into purchasing that product and I know how to read the news in a way…

I know all this Even more than that I know what it means that this religion is the true one and the other is false How to separate Truth from falsehood

with the ideologies that I am exposed to… etc All of this happens through? All of this is from “Read” After that I go into The Self Done with the package of “Read” and “By the Self”? It is time to learn how to deal with others through the “Knowing one another" In “Knowing one another”, we talk about unconditional acceptance Understanding differences, and a bit of perspicacity Greetings and salutations, the manners of discussion argument, debate, disputes… etc up to choosing a life partner

and marriage and parenting The Host: I'm noticing that these words -ma sha’ Allah - are Islamic, as if listening to a religious preaching Dr Abdulrahman: Exactly The Host: First, the word "Fiqh An-nafs",

"Read" is taken from the Quran, so is "By the self and the One who fashioned it", "To know one other". Is the material a mixture of preachings and [...]? Dr Abdulrahman: Alright, whether we like it or not this will push us to examine the word "Preaching" We have become somewhat aversive

to any matter related to religion Where they tell you:

"This guy is preaching"! And when you go to a therapist,

What will he make of you? He preaches as well

but in a "cute" manner and you pay him

And he suits up [...] etc In the end he is a preacher as well.

But enough of the word preach The material is religious and its background is religious and its sources are religious and its quotes are religious Under one condition…. Although it is religious

it does not mean we should turn into -unfortunately- "Religious Charlatans" "Give me your cup to recite on it” and stay in your place and touch the screen And I can exorcise the demon within you" We respect our minds And respect the mind Allah blessed us with Therefore, these words do not mean

that if we discussed religious matters the material will turn into traditional religious one understood as repulsive to people But at the same time it does not mean

that because of the religion's ill-reputation to people I wear clothes I do not believe in I have been offered several opportunities by satellite channels to present the material under the condition of removing the religious elements. So I refused

The material is like this The Host: So we can say that the material of Fiqh An-nafs is a psychological material

drawn from Sharia' or based on it Dr Abdulrahman: Based on the religion

Since the word shariah is more [..] I do not picture the psychological material other than this Meaning the origin of any psychological material [...] As if you are saying: “Dr., as if you are trying to show us how a smartphone is manufactured But you are teaching us from Apple or Huawei's manual? My reply: is there anything else other than that? The self must return to its creator to know how it was created and what happened to it Everything else is a speculation and an impersonation of the creator's role

(God Forbid) The host: Last episode we mentioned that much of what is presented in t he market speaks about the "self" So what is the difference between "Fiqh An-nafs" and other presented material? Dr Abdulrahman: Firstly, like I said before There are people whom I think good of they have material similar to "Fiqh An-nafs" It may not have the same structure or model but it has strong Islamic roots But it is (pieces) Modules related to anger, feelings, self-expression, leadership, education etc But that is not what we are looking for

I am searching for a complete model I think the key differences between Fiqh An-Nafs and a lot of what is present in the market is First: The clear Islamic origin Second: You are talking about a holistic curriculum That starts from how to think all the way to choosing a life partner and raising your kids The third and very important matter:

The material restores confidence in Islam as a source of knowledge I argue that we are presenting the material in a way that makes people say: What is this? Is that the Quran? I never understood the Quran this way! Why were we not taught the prophet's life this way? Why were we not taught the prophet's life this way? Why are we hearing this text for the first time? I argue that this is the fundamental difference from other material But of course that does not mean it doesn't overlap with other material For example, we might overlap slightly with the analytical school and with cognitive behavioral therapy frequently and with humanistic therapy frequently But in the end, the material is drawn from what we see to be right, better and the Truth In hopes of providing people

with what will make them happier in this world and the hereafter The host: So what are the topics that we will be discussing inshallah? We said we will discuss (Read, By the Self, Knowing one another) No, so that we are being fair We are barely going to finish (Read) and (By the Self) in these sessions during Ramadan And send off people to Eid telling them:

"Here is (Read and By the Self), now show us in Eid how you will deal with people" The Host: Proceed then Dr Abdulrahman:

What we could do, if Allah wills

is set up later sessions where we only talk about (Knowing one another) but we will mostly talk about (Read) and talk about (By the Self) Inshallah The Host: two sessions passed and we haven't received a prescription Dr Abdulrahman: Prescription... Today’s prescription we could say is related to an important matter I want you to write down [...]If I were to say that (Read) comes first and (By the Self) second Ask yourself this question and we will answer it tomorrow inshallah Why did we start with “Read” and not with “By the Self”? You might say, we mentioned today that if we didnt take (Read) before anything else we could be deceived No… There is another thing.

What makes “Read” more important before “By the Self”? As in, why is it not beneficial to study the Self

before I know how to reason and read? The Host: Reading here means [...]? Dr Abdulrahman: Reasoning, thinking, gathering causes, effects and observations All this will be discussed Inshallah But this is your task until we meet tomorrow inshallah The Host: Inshallah, thank you Doctor Dr Abdulrahman:

You’re welcome