نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
عنوان مقاله English
نویسندگان English
The components of mental health are one of the important topics that psychology deals with. Referring to religious sacred texts can also help to discover and enumerate some of the components of mental health. Paradise is the manifestation of this-worldly life, and in the Qur’an, Paradise and the states of the people of Paradise are described in such a way that man, based on his nature, is encouraged towards the mental state that is worthy of him and creates a Paradise-like life for himself in this-worldly life. Therefore, the characteristics of Paradise-like life can be understood as a description of a worthy life for man in this world, of course, without the limitations of the material world, and the mental states of the people of Paradise can be considered in accordance with the components of a healthy mental life in this world. The method of this research involves analyzing the verses of the Qur’an through semantic analysis, and the components of a healthy mental life have been derived from the analysis of the semantic network of verses describing Paradise. The eight essential components of a healthy mental life, according to the verses of the Qur’an that describe Paradise, are as follows: the deep and inner happiness, self-satisfaction, a sense of dignity and honor, a sense of psychological security and certainty about the future, belief in eternity and deliverance, freedom from fear, freedom from sadness, and freedom from internal chains, resentment, and enmity. Of course, these eight components are based on intellectual exclusion.
کلیدواژهها English
Extended Abstract
1. Introducton
The semantic method was invented by Toshihiko Izutsu, a Japanese philosopher and a Qur’an scholar who used this method to understand the key words of the Quran. He believed that to understand a religious text (such as the Qur’an), one should not be satisfied with just translating the words, but rather see what meaning each word has in a “network of conceptual relationships.” The words in the Qur’an are not separate islands; rather, they acquire meaning in connection with each other. We have also tried to present an analysis of the semantic network of a healthy mental life and enumerate the components of a healthy mental life by analyzing the semantic relationship of the verses that describe Paradise. Of course, it is clear that the Qur’an is a book of guidance and its goal is to lead man to salvation and deliverance, and reducing it to a psychological or sociological book, etc., is unacceptable. However, revelation, as one of the sources of acquiring knowledge - whose origin is the Creator of man and is immune to the danger of distortion - can provide us with important and valuable clues for discovering and enumerating the components of a healthy mental life.
2. Method
Our method for enumerating the components of a healthy mental life in the Qur’an is to examine and analyze the verses in which Paradise is described.
3. Findings and Results
The reason for choosing the analysis of the verses describing Paradise to enumerate the components of a healthy psychological life is that the afterlife of man is the manifestation and innermost aspect of man's this-worldly life, and what will be manifested in the hereafter, in the form of Paradise or Hell, is the inner aspect of the same appearance that has occurred in a man’s this-worldly actions. The Qur’an has described some things as heavenly rewards and has invited and encouraged people to live a religious life through this. Things such as pleasure and pain in this world and the hereafter, although they are different and incomparable in terms of degree and quality, are the same in terms of their nature. For example, it is not the case that the feeling of security is one of the basic components of psychological peace in this world, and a man does not gain a sense of psychological peace in the hereafter from being in security. The reason of this is that God gives some descriptions of Paradise in His promises in the Qur’an so that a man can understand them in accordance with the requirements of this worldly life, and in the Hereafter, the same reward will be given to him with a higher quality, because if it were not so, no one would be motivated to it by hearing the descriptions of Paradise. Therefore, some of the characteristics of Paradise can be considered as essential components of a healthy psychological life in this world. The verses of the Qur’an in which Paradise is described can be divided into two groups from one perspective: a group of verses refers to the facilities and blessings that are mentioned as means of comfort in terms of the material world, and another group of verses refers to some psychological characteristics that can be considered essential components of a healthy psychological life. We choose the title “happy life” for the sum of these two types of components, which indicate “the components of comfort” and “the components of tranquility”, because the components of comfort are pleasant and desirable for human beings because of providing the components of tranquility, and, in fact, the psychological tranquility is authentic, and, therefore, we will apply the title of “happy life” to the sum of these two types of components. With this view, by using the verses describing Paradise to enumerate the basic components of a healthy life, we have reached eight basic components, which, of course, are not limited to intellectual exclusion and can be more. These components are as follows:
1. Happiness is one of the basic components of a healthy psychological life, but it is not the case that every happiness can provide a healthy psychological life. The true happiness, first of all, must be deep and internal and not a temporary and fleeting happiness that is merely an emotion arising from a joyful event. True happiness is a deep and internal happiness that is manifested and revealed in the external life of the happy person on his face and is not an artificial happiness with an accumulated sadness in him. Also, this happiness arises from the feeling of benefiting from blessings and internal satisfaction and refers to the confidence that the happy person has about the future. Therefore, such a person is happy because he believes and knows that the benefits will come and the harms will be avoided in the future.
2. Self-satisfaction is another essential component of a healthy psychological life in which the person is satisfied with himself, his abilities, capabilities, his past actions, his existential capacities, and the correctness of the path he has chosen in his lifestyle. This satisfaction gives him an identity and makes him completely hopeful for the future.
3. A sense of dignity and honor is another essential component of a healthy mental life. Someone who has a healthy mental life does not feel that he is an abject person, but he feels that he is dignified by being accepted in the family and society, and feels that he is satisfied with living among other members of society.
4. A sense of psychological security and confidence in the future causes the individual to be trier in developing his talents and to live with a positive and hopeful look at the future.
5. Belief in eternity and deliverance is an essential component of a healthy mental life. Those who see themselves as having eternal life that will not end with death and who place themselves in the general flow of the universe on the path of truth, consider their end to be a deliverance. Therefore, with such a belief, they give meaning to their lives and feel that their existence is meaningful.
6 and 7. Fearlessness and the lake of sadness are other basic components of a healthy psychological life. Someone who enjoys fearlessness and the lake of sadness is neither afraid of future harm nor burdened by sadness about the past. Therefore, he is satisfied with his past and is not involved in complexes, failures, and blows inflicted on him in the past, and is not afraid of the future.
8. Freedom from internal chains and avoidance of resentment, hostility, and internal anger are also other essential components of a healthy mental life. In a healthy mental life, a person does not a bad feelings about others, and what he wants for them is goodness, truth, and purity, and he is successful in his social relationships. Therefore, such a person enjoys being in society, and other members of society feel that being and associating with him is valuable for them, and do not feel any danger from him.
4. Acknowledgement & Funding
· The manuscript did not receive a grant from any organization.
5. Conflict of Interest
All authors share equal responsibility for the content of this paper.
Massoud Zeinolabedin; Email: massoudzz@yahoo.com; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4172-2777
Ali Akbar Abdol Abadi; Email: a_abdolabadi@sbu.ac.ir; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-8374-2639
