There are numerous Qur’anic verses and Prophetic traditions purporting to commend “good character”. According to interpretation of Muslim psychologists like al-Ghazzali, “good character” refers to the just management of three powers of the soul, viz. the concupiscent, irascible, and rational powers.
The Qur’anic basis of al-Ghazzali’s thesis is al-Hujurat (49):15, which reads to the effect that: “The believers are those who believe in Allah and His Messenger, then have not doubted, but have struggled with their possessions and their selves in the Cause of Allah; those-they are the truthful ones.”
Belief and the denial of doubt refers, according to him, to knowledge with certainty, which is true wisdom, which aligns to the management of rational power; the struggle with possessions refers to the virtue of temperance and liberality, which are associated with the management of the concupiscent power, and the struggle with their selves refers to the virtues of courage and fortitude, which correspond to the management of the irascible power.
There are three ascending stages in the progress of one’s struggle against passion (hawa): firstly, a man may be vanquished by his passion such that it becomes his object of worship; secondly, he may be in a constant warfare with it, alternately losing or gaining the struggle; or thirdly, he may overcome it and thus completely subdue it.
The last condition, however, is still full of pitfalls. Many who feel that they have achieved this condition are in fact misguided by Satan among men and jinns (al-An‘am, 6:112), or by the evil propensities in their soul.
The counsel of reason and the counsel of passion can only be distinguished by following the rules of genuine knowledge.
As such, one’s reason must be developed and trained with the science of knowledge-based discourse (mi‘yar al-‘ilm or mantiq) in order to achieve right action and avoid error.
In general, reason prescribes the most advantageous course of action even if it is attended by hardship, whereas carnal aspect of the self prescribes apathy and the quitting of strife (see al-Nisa’, 4:95), reflecting impulses which run counter to truth and morality.
Therefore, whenever one is faced with two courses of action, one ought to choose the course which one’s carnal self dislikes, rather than the one which it likes.
To grasp this truth is not possible without a divine light or heavenly support. Whenever one is in doubt, one should turn to Allah for guidance.
Commenting on the Qur’anic verse “But as for him who feared the station of his Lord, and kept the soul back from its caprice (al-hawa), the Paradise is his abode” (al-Nazi‘at, 79:40-41), Hatim al-Asamm (d. 237/851) says, “I was certain that the Qur’an is a genuine truth, so I hurried to what my ego was opposed to, and I set to work combating it and restraining it from its caprice, until it was satisfied with obedience to God the Glorified and Exalted, and it gave up (its caprice)”.
Al-Ghazzali lays down a series of practical rules for harnessing the evil propensities of the soul through a process of training and struggle (riyadah wa mujahadah).
Riyadah wa mujahadah is a keynote of the Sufi’s way which al-Ghazzali regards as inseparable from the moral life. This process should be aimed at cleansing the soul by recourse to diverse practical steps, beginning with inculcating in it through constant repetition those traits which render the habit of right action perfectly manageable.
To achieve the traits of liberality or humility, for example, one should persist in performing, at near intervals, acts of liberality or humility.
Doctors apply to the symptoms of a given disease the contrary principles or antidotes to counterbalance them and restore the equilibrium of the humors or health.
Analogously, such a therapeutic method is an effective device in combating the soul’s propensity to evil as well.
Hence, if the soul is inclined to inordinate passion, cowardice or avarice, it should be trained to affect actions of temperance, liberality or courage until the equilibrium of virtue is achieved.
Virtues and vices are easily accessible in religious writings (shar‘) and collections of prophetic wisdom (adab).
Here, it is interesting to note that al-Ghazzali uses the term adab to denote the collections of prophetic wisdom, while he employs the term shar‘ not in the context of procedurally legalistic mindset as is unfortunately prevalent now, but rather in the context of recognizing virtues and vices.
It is also significant that he calls virtue as both khuluq and fadilah. Hence, he categorizes virtue as an excellence of mind (discernment) and good character.
Character is a stable state of soul. If it causes action commended by the intellect and the religion, it is called good character.
Good character may be achieved by learning and habituation; it may also come by nature as a divine gift.
Good character may change to bad character; and bad character may change to good character.
We have said earlier, when discussing the powers and virtues of the soul, that to produce virtue and good character, the animal soul and its bodily faculties must be subordinated to the rational soul’s practical faculty.
The practical faculty of the rational soul directs individual action after deliberation in correspondence with what agrees with the theoretical faculty.
Hence the intellect must be trained in deliberate thinking and reflection. By accomplishing deliberate thinking and reflection, the intellect can realize wisdom. The trained faculty of desire will realize temperance; while the trained faculty of anger will realize courage.
The subordination of the faculties of anger and desire to the rational faculty signifies the realization of justice in managing one’s sentiments and mind. This is good not only for a man by himself, but also for his parents, children, wife, friends, fellow citizens, and humanity at large.
