Human brain is associated with all kind of feelings/emotions- pleasures and sorrows, liking and disliking, excitements and shocks, sadness and happiness, love and hate, affection and aversion, hope and frustration, lust and lack of lust, trust and distrust, self-respect and lack of self-respect, courage and cowardliness, mercy and cruelty, meanness and charity, patience and impatience, resilience and lack of resilience etc. these emotions along with acquired knowledge, skills and conducive environment provide for basis of good or bad human deeds. In other words, these human emotions are neither good nor bad in their essence; it is the human choice of the situations, and kind and magnitude of these emotions to manifest in those situations, which makes a human deed good or bad. A human deed based on each kind of emotion (e.g. love or hate, lust or lack of lust, courage or cowardliness etc) may be both good or bad, depending upon the situation chosen and the magnitude of emotion to display in such situation.
The composition of these emotions granted to a person constitutes his psyche/ nature. Every person is granted with various composition of emotions in terms of kind and magnitude; that is why every person reflects different psyche/nature. It may be noted that composition of emotions granted to a person is a divine/natural phenomenon which has nothing to do with human effort and environment; human emotions cannot be cultivated. Allah says:
“Allah has not made for an individual two ‘qalbs’ in his interior” (al-ahzab-4).
As word ‘qalb’ is used in Quran to describe all human brain’s functions including feelings/emotions, this verse means that composition of emotions/ feelings once granted to a human being is never changed. In other words, human nature cannot be changed; this is what has been stated by our Prophet Muhammad (saw).
Though composition of emotions granted to human being can never be changed, it is within capability of human being to determine what emotions are to be manifested, and in what degree, in a situation faced with. It means it is within control of human being to let play any emotion in a situation and not to let play any other emotion in that very situation.
It may be noted that each human emotion plays independently of other emotions; but there is one such emotion which does impact play of other emotions and that emotion is LOVE. Love is such an emotion which determines what other emotions, and with what degree, are to play in a certain situation. For instance, People having love for money would manifest all their other emotions in such situations and in such manner which may get them money; such people would not allow emotions like self-respect, hate, aversion and patience etc. to play in the manner and in situations which may deny them money benefits. Such people’s love for money would determine what emotions are to play in what situations and in what manner.
It may be noted that each human emotion plays independently of other emotions; but there is one such emotion which does impact play of other emotions and that emotion is LOVE. Love is such an emotion which determines what other emotions, and with what degree, are to play in a certain situation. For instance, People having love for money would manifest all their other emotions in such situations and in such manner which may get them money; such people would not allow emotions like self-respect, hate, aversion and patience etc. to play in the manner and in situations which may deny them money benefits. Such people’s love for money would determine what emotions are to play in what situations and in what manner.
Similarly love for power or for popularity etc. makes concerned person play his other emotions in situations and in manner best suited to bring him power or popularity.
This prime and basic role of love behind human deeds does not always help creating an environment best suited to public welfare and interest. Rather it may create an environment marred with so many confrontations and conflicts, due to the simple fact that imperatives of love nurtured by two different persons often operate in opposite directions. Even love for humanity at large cannot always go in the best public interests, due to the fact what human beings, based on their best judgment, consider best for humanity often turns out to be worst for humanity.
Human being is created with potential psychological homogeneity. (for details plz see my article “Psychological Homogeneity of Human Being”). It means human being can attain psychological homogeneity through singularity of rationale/basis of all his deeds. Love can help a person achieving psychological homogeneity which resultantly enables him to pursue all life interests with full energy and full potential, and leads him to higher planes of achievements and success. But all such achievements may be or may not be in the better interests of humanity at large, if such love is for other than Allah. Love for Allah compels individual to go along religious injunctions which are, of course, designed by Allah keeping in view the best interests of humanity. In this way love for Allah, on the one hand, helps human being in creating environment best suited to public welfare and interests, and, on the other hand, helps human being attain psychological homogeneity through achieving singularity of rationale behind his deeds; when a person uses all his emotions (e.g. love or hate, lust or lack of lust, mercy or cruelty, courage or cowardliness etc.) for obedience to Allah or love for Allah, he becomes able to synchronize all his deeds which otherwise he cannot synchronize.
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