Mouood Mouood English Edition
Emeritus Professor and Dean,
Faculty of Psychology and Education,
University of Tehran, Iran
A psycho-educational perspective of Hajj
“Therein are clear signs – the station of Abraham, and whosoever enters it is in security. It is the duty of all men towards God to come to the House a pilgrim, if he is able to make his way there. As for the unbeliever, God is All-sufficient needing no beings.” The House of Imran 3:97
Here I am, O Lord, at Your service,
Here I am declaring that no associate do You have and I’m at your service,
The kingdom, the praise, and the blessing are all Yours,
No associate do You have and I’m at Your service.
Given the deeply and reflecting more inclusively on the philosophy of existence, hypothetical principles of religious values, and all the ‘must’ and ‘must not’ articles of a belief system, one arrives at the fact that the Creator of the reviving world and Controller of the world of living has created mankind for a purpose. All programmes and methods of an individual exaltation of self and deliverance of this noblest of all creatures who is worthy of being His viceroyalty on earth in this transitory life, are destined to be balanced on man’s innate disposition and his nature.
In other words, in a worldview scope of Islam and Quranic culture, all ‘religiously devised must and must not’ articles are squarely balanced on the innate disposition, reason, and on sound judgment of the one with whom the power of reason and thinking; and the competence of discernment and choice are entrusted.
In an overview, we come to realize that the overall collection of religious ‘must’ and ‘creditable’ items (compulsories and desirables) or ‘must not’, ‘incredible’ (forbidden and unapproved), ‘halal’ or ‘haram’ (permitted or unacceptable) and ‘dos and don’ts’ enjoy clear reasonable principles and value criteria. Whatever they could mean, whether actually or potentially, in the long or short run, overtly or covertly, and individually or collectively, they may prove to be a threat to the health and desirable wellbeing of man or may put his exalted intellectual, mental, and social development in jeopardy as forbidden.
In other words, what is harmful to one’s health or mental, psychological and social life is termed as forbidden or haram and what is beneficial to one’s body, mind and social behaviour approved or (halal). In principle, therefore, all broadminded and wise people should avoid them. Conversely, it is incumbent on all discerned and insightful individuals to be bound to what may pave their way for a better physical, intellectual, mental, moral or social development of man. The expanse of religious obligations and recommendations is as such that everyone, according to his capacity and capability, can enjoy an everlasting success when threading the escalating path of perfection to achieve deliverance.
For example, when closely examining the overall governing principles and criteria of what are termed as ‘religiously forbidden’ such as those of the consumption of alcoholic drinks and pork , and abusing of narcotic drugs or moral and behavioural ills, i.e., telling lies, back biting, accusing, theft, cheating when trading, performing acts of perfidy, atrocity, injustice, and so on, we come to realize that all such issues fall within the category that are somehow considered as ills of general health of the public and threats to intellectual, mental, and social development of people, one way or another.
On the other hand, when fully considering the rational criteria we are but to confirm that all the ‘must’ articles and Islamic recommendations only seem to prepare the ground for general development and exaltation of the man himself in his individual, family, and social life. Abiding by these principles would guarantee mental health, flourishing of personality, general physical health, and exaltation of human community. Telling the truth, truthfulness, impartiality, justice, being anti-atrocity and defending of the oppressed, chastity, nobility, avoiding vulnerability, the winning of hearts and trying to maintain peace and harmony, paying the one fifth of all the revenues and alms to secure the needs of the needy, are of the compulsory affairs.
So are accountability , and rectifying the affairs of oppressed and the deprived, paying respects to parents and showing civility towards children, accumulating knowledge and fighting illiteracy and ignorance, being cooperative and offering helping hands, etc. All those who are endowed with wisdom and thoughts can but persist on condour and necessity of their manifestations in the individual and social life of man. According to the Prophet of God, “Religion is reason and reason religion.” This means that a reasonable person is certainly religious and definitely wise.
A reasonable person is the one whose personal and social life is squarely balanced on standards of reason, wisdom, development, and exaltation. One may enjoy a very high intelligence quotient but on many an occasion, fail to show a reasonable mode of behaviour. For instance, the smoking of specialists in medical knowledge who are fully aware of the dangers of smoking of tobacco to human health is not a reasonable code of conduct. Intelligence is a means and reasons a proper use of the intelligence. When one fails to follow his logical beliefs cannot be demonstrating a thoughtful and sagacious mode of behaviour: “O you believers, wherefore do you say what you do not?” Or, “Will you bid others to piety, and forget yourselves…”
Islam is a religion of truth, logic, and rationality. Beliefs, thoughts, Islamic ‘must’ and ‘must not’ issues, together with Quranic teachings are as such that they act as charters for an objective and exalted lifestyle over all eras and generations for the informed, discern, insightful, and percipient people.
In the process of globalization and internationalization, what can be as the most exalted culture and the most superior value standards to respond in profundity to all the innate and rational needs of people within the existence of man are non other than Islam and Quranic teachings. This is so because, Islam as a universal school of thought, carries the most everlasting value standards. Internationalization, on the pivot of global economic sovereignty, cannot maintain a perpetual and established meaning. In this uncertain process, the only creed, culture, thought, and logic that can hold triumphantly the perceptional, mental, and cultural lead of the human being within the world community, is the searching and rich Islamic culture as well as Quranic teachings. This is so because predomination of Islamic culture over the world can only be translated into the sovereignty of all values and beauties, and, naturally, all the long outstanding undeclared answers.
Today, more than any other time, all the world community whether youngsters or adults, adolescents or the young, men or women especially families, need serenity of mind, mental security, and the achievement of a lasting prosperity. Prerequisites to the serenity and security of mind to experience the true prosperousness remain reverting to reconsideration of divine values, which are based on intrinsic needs while satisfying innate dispositions of man, and endemic recognition and reasonable individualism of mankind. There are many a man who being incarcerated with passions do not benefit from their insight, power of thinking, and the strength of their rationality.
