Conscience Serves as a Corrective to Ego

Conscience Serves as a Corrective to Ego Conscience Serves as a Corrective to Ego A ccording 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 al-nafs alammara (12:53) and the second is mentioned in the chapter AlQiyamah (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 alammara 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 situation, it remains in a dormant state, but when one’s ego is negatively touched, it becomes super ego and the result is breakdown. The best way to avoid an ego problem is not to provoke it. In the absence of provocation, the ego creates no problem. But provoke the ego and it is like setting a lighted match to a powder keg. By contrast, the conscience is the source of all kinds of good. The conscience checks you from indulging in any evil practices, and if you do indulge in any kind of misdemeanour, the conscience becomes alive and compels you to repent and amend your behaviour. The conscience in this way serves as a corrective to every human personality. This means that whenever there is any controversy, the outcome is in your own hands. If you provoke the ego of the