INTROSPECTION IN ISLAM

INTROSPECTION IN ISLAM Purify Yourself for Paradise INTROSPECTION (or what is called muhasaba in Arabic and ehtisab in Urdu) has an important place in Islam. Without introspection, you cannot stand on true faith. Without engaging in self-analysis, you cannot purify yourself in order to be selected for Paradise. Selfobservation leading to identifying and correcting your mistakes on a regular basis, will protect you from egoism, arrogance and bad intentions. People harbour numerous desires. Living in society, one is constantly faced with provocative situations and negative experiences, which, if not handled properly, can lead one to develop negative emotions. Hence, it is very important to engage in regular selfanalysis or introspection. It was a Sunnah or practice of the Prophet of Islam to reflect and introspect daily. Regular reflection on your actions, speech, and intentions acts as selfpurification, helping you follow the principles of Islam in the right manner. There are two areas for introspection. Some are evils that we know to be bad and others are hidden or secret evils. All evils or unwanted actions fall into one of these categories. Regular introspection helps us to check if we are engaging in either category of evil. In Islam, consuming wine, dealing in usury, committing murder, engaging in adultery and eating pork, for instance, are clearly forbidden. All Muslims know or should know these to be wrong and refrain from these actions. These can be called ‘unjustified evils’, since Islam clearly forbids them. Believers cannot justify them in any way. But there are other evils that can be called ‘justified evils’. People who engage in these evils offer what they regard as justifications for them. Consciously or otherwise, they do not believe these actions to be sinful because they are wrongly sought to be justified as ‘good’. This point is referred to in a Hadith report. The Prophet of Islam said that in the future, a group among his followers would consume wine. Without introspection, you cannot stand on true faith. Without engaging in selfanalysis, you cannot purify yourself in order to be selected for Paradise.