The significance of emotions in Islam

5/17/2013

This week's post discusses the significance of emotions in Islam - an oft-neglected component of our psychological configuration. It can be found on:

http://www.suhaibwebb.com/personaldvlpt/character/the-significance-of-emotions-in-islam/

6 Comments

Spen

11/1/2015 12:48:54 pm

Hello there,

I found your article regarding Muslim emotions very interesting, but am not clear what the terms or concepts are for certain types of emotion. For example, are does Islamic teaching contain terms for reverence, veneration, adoration, fear, awe, and numinosity?

Kind regards,

Spencer

Tarek Younis

11/4/2015 05:39:24 pm

Hi Spencer, good question. The purpose of the article was too reflect on the reality that emotions play a significant role in the development of our lives and the processes in constructing meaning. With regards to the specificity of the emotions, although I alluded to several e.g. anger in the article, we now know very well that emotional characteristics differ across time and space. As such, people of one culture may possess certain manners of defining their emotional configuration which differ greatly from another. In Buddhism for example, there aren't any words for emotions in the Western sense, but rather their vocabulary refers to feelings (vedanā) and other constructs. The reason I bring this up is to highlight the fact that while Islamic traditions may refer to certain emotions, they are by no means an exhaustive list, and may very well not refer to the concepts you mentioned in the same manner. Perhaps Hamza Yusuf's Purification of the Heart is a good book to reflect on a specific list of emotions and how they're perceived within Islamic traditions, if you're interested. I hope this helps. TY

Tarek Younis

11/4/2015 05:38:26 pm

Hi Spencer,

good question. The purpose of the article was too reflect on the reality that emotions play a significant role in the development of our lives and the processes in constructing meaning. With regards to the specificity of the emotions, although I alluded to several e.g. anger in the article, we now know very well that emotional characteristics differ across time and space. As such, people of one culture may possess certain manners of defining their emotional configuration which differ greatly from another. In Buddhism for example, there aren't any words for emotions in the Western sense, but rather their vocabulary refers to feelings (vedanā) and other constructs. The reason I bring this up is to highlight the fact that while Islamic traditions may refer to certain emotions, they are by no means an exhaustive list, and may very well not refer to the concepts you mentioned in the same manner. Perhaps Hamza Yusuf's Purification of the Heart is a good book to reflect on a specific list of emotions and how they're perceived within Islamic traditions, if you're interested.

I hope this helps.

TY

Sister Monica link

7/28/2016 02:36:29 pm

As-salaamu 'alaykum Brother Tarek,
The link you posted no longer works. However, I found your article here -> http://hadithoftheday.com/emotions-in-islam/

Tarek Younis

7/29/2016 01:17:50 am

Barak Allah fieki for bringing this to my attention. They changed their domain, the actual link has changed to: http://www.virtualmosque.com/personaldvlpt/character/the-significance-of-emotions-in-islam/
I've tried to make the necessary change in the blog post, but it's not working for whatever reason. Not sure about that haithoftheday link, as I never sent them the article.

TY

georgina cardo link

11/1/2019 04:19:35 am

asalaam alaikum
I like your article highlighting emotions, not much out there on this
have you ever come across a term for the word emotions from and islamic context? one that conceptualises emotions

The significance of emotions in Islam

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