Essence of Quranic Wisdom

intentions and bad intentions are not relevant; the only thing that matters is the reaction of your fellow beings. If your behaviour is acceptable to your fellow beings, then it is not a nuisance and if your behaviour is not acceptable to your fellow beings, then it is certainly a nuisance. ‘Nuisance’ is obviously not a sin. But it is as bad as a sin, because when you hurt the sentiments of your fellow beings, your actions in terms of their results are certainly a sin. Conscience Serves as a Corrective to Ego According to the Quran, all human beings, both men and women, are born with two opposite moral constituents. The first is mentioned in the chapter Yusuf (Joseph) as alnafs al-ammara (12:53) and the second is mentioned in the chapter Al-Qiyamah (The Day of Resurrection) as al-nafs al-lawwama (75:2). What are al-nafs al-ammara and al-nafs al-lawwama? In psychological terms, they are the ego and the conscience— with which everyone is born. Almost all human behaviour is affected by these two features. Negative behaviour is the result of al-nafs al-ammara and positive behaviour is the result of al-nafs al-lawwama. The ego, if left uncontrolled, becomes the source of all evil, for it is a highly inflammable part of man. In a normal