THREE STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

The ‘born personality’ is bestowed by God. At the level of the ‘born personality’, every human being is more or less identical with only marginal differences. In terms of capabilities, there are always differences between people. But despite these natural differences, all human beings have the same potential capacity. This fact is indicated in the following Hadith: A strong believer is better and more pleasing to God than a weak believer, and there is good in everyone. Seek that which is beneficial for you, and ask for help from God and do not lose heart. If you face something unpleasant or unwanted, do not say: “If I had done so and so, I would not have had to face this situation.” But rather say: “This was according to God’s divine plan.” Because saying such things opens the door to Satan. (Sahih Muslim) In this Hadith, it is man who is referred to as the believer. This means that if anyone becomes conscious of some shortcoming, or feels that there is something lacking in him in some respect, he should never despair, for he might possess some particular quality in greater measure than others do. Therefore, man ought to discover that God-given quality with which he is blessed and proceed to construct his life full of hope. In the course of life’s struggle, if he suffers any setbacks, he should feel certain that there is bound to be some positive gain even in that negative experience. Each and every negative experience should teach man a valuable lesson. He should, under no circumstances, become the victim of despair. In this way, he can continuously build his personality. By introspection, he can continue to rid himself of any wrong conditioning and, by awakening his consciousness, he will nurture such a personality as has the capacity to accept the truth—a personality which is fully in consonance with the spirit of a prayer of the Prophet: “O God, show me the truth in the form of the truth, and give me the ability to follow it, and show me falsehood in the form of falsehood and enable me to abstain from it, and O God, show me things as they are.” (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Tafsir Ar-Razi) This sort of person is a ‘developed personality’. Wise is the individual who moulds himself along these lines. So far as the ‘born personality’ is concerned, every man receives this on an equal basis along with others Those who engage themselves continuously in self-purification are the ones who, by the grace of God, will succeed in discovering the truth and wholeheartedly accept it.