From Self Esteem to the Tranquil Heart: Theoritical Analysis and Integration of Western Self-Esteem with Islamic Tazkiyah Al-Nafs
Abstract
Self is the fundamental concept of psychological well-being. Western psychology has mostly used self -esteem as a person’s global evaluation of their own worth, which is considered a primary framework for healthy relationships. But researchers have pointed out certain deficiencies; it depends too much on external success, hard to differentiate between narcissism, secular and do not give clear way to handle moral failure. Muslim psychology takes a different approach with tazkiyat al-nafs; purification of self which is rooted in Qur’an, Hadith and classical scholars like Al Ghazali and ibn Qayyim. This theoretical research article, compares Western self -esteem with Muslim self -worth. The Western approach is about how one can subjectively rate themselves using scales like Rosenberg Self -Esteem Scale (RSES; Rosenberg,1965) which is a secular way of judging one’s self-worth. The Muslim perspective starts with the idea that your worth is inherent and given by the God (Qur’an 17:70), then describe three levels or stages of self; Ammara, lawwama and mutmainnah and structure pathway for Restoration after moral failure through tawbah or repentance (Qur’an 39:53). But, the views of two perspectives agree on the importance of self-awareness and early experiences but they split on transcendence; how they understand guilt and the actual goal of self-development. On its own; neither approach is complete or cover everything. Western psychology provides empirical tools, while Muslim psychology provide transcendent foundation, a more differentiated model of self and spiritual practices for growth. They can be interrelated to give Muslim clients more complete mental health care. The paper concludes by saying there is a necessary tension between evaluation and purification; one that cannot be resolved, we just have to understand it.
Keywords: Self-Esteem, Tazkiyat Al-Nafs, Muslim Psychology, Western Psychology, Nafs, Self-Worth, Comparative Analysis
