The Role of Muḥāsabah al-Nafs in Conflict Resolution

Muḥāsabat al-nafs (self-accountability or self-reflection) is a concept referring to the spiritual practice developed by early Muslim scholars in the field of Sufism and Islamic psychology. It is principally founded on the Qur’an and the Sunnah. Al-muḥāsabah as a spiritual method signifying cleansing and illuminating a self/soul is widely practiced by followers and adherents of the spiritual path in Islam. It embodies a well-constructed procedure within the spiritual process called Tazkiyat al-Nafs (the Purification of the Soul). Since the notion of al-nafs denotes several connotations mainly related to human being, its nature from the very beginning of Islam occupies not only the central question in Islamic scholarship, but also the essential subject in Islamic spirituality. The nafs is endowed with numerous qualities and powers both, positive and negative. The positive or good qualities of it need to be cherished and cultivated, while the negative or evil ones ought to be cleansed and eradicated. It is believed that all evil qualities of the soul are source/s of sinful thoughts, words and deeds that usually lead to harmful, violent and catastrophic consequences triggered by it. Thus, in order to properly address the issue of a conflict, it is required to start with the very nature of human self or soul as the most feasible cause. In this article we examine the role of al-muḥāsabah or self-reflection in conflict resolution.