Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Studies in Islam and the Middle East, cilt.7, sa.1, ss.2-30, 2010 (Hakemli Dergi)
This paper focuses on the self and related concepts as a Sufi phrase and is a comparative analysis
between Islam tradition and Western psychology.
Sigmund Freud and his followers (Freudians) divide man‟s mind into three structures. These are
Id, Ego and Superego. Id is equal to Nafsi Ammar. Nafsi Ammar is the source of harmful inclinations
according to the Holy Qur‟an.
In the Qur‟an and Islamic culture there is another entity, Satan, those psychologists have not yet
identified completely enough or rather have confused the negative effect of him / it on consciousness.
This is named as Satan. Satan makes use of images, and uses feelings and weakens thought and willpower.
Ego is equal to Nafs alone without any adjective. In the Qur‟an, Nafs is used as Self, Entity. This
is identified as Ego by psychologists.
In the Quran the one other dimension of self is Nafsı Lawwam. This structure is identified as
Superego by psychologists. This structure is equal to Nafsi Lawam, but the Qur‟an also expresses the
other soul structure Nafsi Mutmainna, which is not expressed by psychologists except Abraham
Maslow and Kurt Goldstein. Nafsi Mutmainna results from the pressure of Nafsi Lawam on nafs with
prayer and worships. Calm and peace is dominant and harmful impulses and Satan has no effect on it.
However, in Sufi tradition, beyond Nafsi Mutmainna there are the other dimensions of nafs‟ which
specialists do not know or are not sufficiently aware of. In each of these dimensions Sufis receive
some peculiar perceptions from God and see The Divine world from different points according to these
dimensions. In the study it has been expressed that these dimensions of the self are not available in the
terminology of the West, These dimensions belong to Islam itself.