The Supreme Leader’s View of Self-Improvement

The Supreme Leader’s View of Self-Improvement
20/03/2011

The greater jihad
The meaning of self-improvement
The necessity of self-improvement
The importance of providing moral education for children
Self-improvement in one’s youth
Moral education and moral coercion
Methods of self-improvement
Constant self-improvement
Self-purification
The purpose of self-purification
Spiritual exercise
Moral improvement
Self-purification, more important than moral education
Self-education: easy and difficult
Moral security

The Supreme Leader’s View of Self-Improvement

The greater jihad

Having returned from a tough battle, the Holy Prophet of Islam (s.w.a.) said, “This was the lesser jihad, and now it is time for the greater jihad.” The greater jihad is the fight against one’s passions. Fighting one’s inner self should not be limited to personal matters. Of course fighting one’s carnal desires, hedonistic tendencies, laziness, greed and inappropriate behavior constitutes an instance of fighting one’s inner self, and it is important. That is to say, one should constantly fight one’s inner demons and try to harness them so that they cannot force one to do bad deeds.

The meaning of self-improvement

Self-improvement does not always mean that there is a flaw which should be eliminated. No, sometimes there is no tangible flaw. Rather, self-improvement means that we should guard against the factors that cause flaws: different kinds of microbes that enter our healthy souls and corrupt us.

The necessity of self-improvement

Self-improvement is the essential requirement for improving other people and the world. It is a prerequisite for introducing change and treading difficult paths. All evils originate from man’s inner self and passions. The most dangerous idol is one’s inner self, one’s narcissistic tendencies, one’s selfishness. Man’s inner self is also the source of all blessings, beauties and virtues. If people manage to free themselves from the clutches of their negative passions and carnal desires, they will gain access to the source of blessings.

The importance of providing moral education for children

It is very important for all countries and human communities to provide moral education for their children and teenagers. This is because an Islamic community – a community which is supposed to be founded on Islamic thought and Islamic teachings – will definitely have to engage in a battle that is beyond the battle fought by ordinary communities. All human communities have to fight a battle, and no community can find the path to prosperity without fighting. It is not possible to achieve prosperity in a society in the absence of a battle. That is to say, it is not possible to achieve prosperity without putting up a fight against the opposing forces. This is because in every society there are factors which encourage children to engage in theft, corruption and laziness, factors which cause them to go off in the wrong direction – as defined by different cultures. And children are affected by these factors.

Self-improvement in one’s youth

If I was asked to summarize what I expect from the youth in a sentence, I would say, “I expect them to study, engage in self-improvement and do sports.” I believe the youth should enjoy these three characteristics.

People can easily avoid committing sins when they are young. They can easily get closer to God. Of course it is possible to do all these things at an old age, but it becomes very difficult. Some people think that one’s youth is the time for committing sins and that old age is for repentance. This is a mistake. Youth is the time both for repentance and for praying. In fact youth is the time for everything.

Moral education and moral coercion

Some people wrongly believe that the issue of providing moral and religious education for the youth is not important and that the youth should be free. However, this is an instance of neglecting the future of the young generation. Of course it goes without saying that moral education is different from moral coercion. Moral coercion is not something pleasant, and it is not what Islam has demanded from us. Forcing individuals into hypocrisy is not something good. However, education is a very important matter. Through appropriate methods of education, we should educate our youth to be religious. The essential goal is to educate youth who are religious and enjoy Islamic characteristics.

Methods of self-improvement

According to a narration from the Commander of the Faithful (a.s.), “A person who considers himself a leader should educate himself before trying to educate other people.” It is obvious that we should first improve ourselves. We should be careful in this regard. The first and the most important step in self-improvement is to critically analyze one’s own behavior. The first step is to clearly identify one’s own flaws and try to eliminate them. This is a duty that lies on our shoulders. We should control ourselves and reduce our mistakes. And we should ask Allah the Exalted for assistance on this path.

We should identify the ugly and inappropriate aspects of our behavior, and this is a difficult part of the greater jihad. We should not be narcissistic. We should try to see our flaws. And we should keep the list of our flaws in front of our eyes. We should try to eliminate some of the flaws from the list. If we are envious, we should try to do something about it. If we are obstinate, we should try to eliminate this flaw from our character. If we are lazy and lethargic on the path of life, we should address this lack of energy. If we bear grudges against other people, we should get rid of our grudges. If we constantly fail to keep our promises, we should do something about it. Allah the Exalted will help those who make efforts on this path. Allah the Exalted does not abandon those who strive towards perfection. Those who practice self-improvement are the first to benefit from their efforts. Moreover, the benefits of self-improvement and fighting one’s inner self – namely, the greater jihad – are not limited to personal matters. Rather, self-improvement benefits one’s society and helps improve the political, international and economic conditions of one’s country. In brief, self-improvement helps improve people’s life in this world and in the hereafter.

Paying attention to God, getting closer to Him, thinking before taking action, showing love towards all good-natured people in the world and all sincere servants of God, being benevolent to everybody – it is possible to engage in self-improvement by observing these principles.

Constant self-improvement

Islam and its divine world view has taught man not to stop anywhere on the path of perfection and not feel satisfied with any level of achievement. This is the nature of man: Allah the Exalted has created man like this. Human beings should make progress and improve themselves on a daily basis. As far as personal matters are concerned, one should improve oneself and become more pious on a daily basis. One should try to keep away from corruption and deviation.

Human beings have a flexible nature, and if they manage to shape it into a superior form, they will have accomplished their mission in life. This is the goal of life. Some people fail to improve themselves and leave this world the way they were born – these people are failures. Faithful people should constantly try to improve themselves. If people take care not to engage in prohibited and unlawful actions and if they make serious efforts to tread the divine path, they will be successful. This is known as constant efforts to improve oneself, and the plan presented by Islam is in line with constant self-improvement. Daily prayers, engaging in dhikr, repeating “You (alone) we worship, and You (alone) we ask for help” [the Holy Quran, 1: 5], bowing and prostrating in prayer, praising Allah the Exalted – what is the purpose of these things? The purpose is to let man engage in constant self-improvement.

Self-purification

“He indeed shall be prosperous who purifies himself.” [The Holy Quran, 87: 14] This Quranic verse means that a person who engages in self-purification and cleanses his heart and soul of corruption will achieve prosperity. The Quranic term “prosperous” means being successful in the arena of life and achieving the goals of creation.

Self-purification is what saves human beings, and what creates problems is corruption – moral corruption, corruption that results from carnal desires, grudges, greed, envy and other moral vices. Some people have created darkness in the world through their evil actions, and they have been ungrateful for the blessings God has bestowed on them.

If the world is full of oppression, if the arrogant powers are bullying the people of the world, if many nations bring about humiliation for themselves by remaining silent, if many governments oppress their people, if there is poverty and lack of education, if there are devastating wars, if there are chemical weapons, if there is oppression, transgression, lies and deception in the world – they are all the result of lack of self-purification. Human beings have failed to engage in self-purification.

The purpose of self-purification

The purpose of self-purification is to cleanse people of spiritual corruption – just like a doctor who does not just tell his patient what to do and what not to do, rather he puts the patient in a special room and gives him what he needs and withholds what is detrimental to his health. The Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) adopted this course of action during the 23 years of his prophethood, especially during the 10 years when he was establishing the foundations of Islamic rule in Medina.

Spiritual exercise

All the different kinds of worship and religious responsibility which have been placed on our shoulders are in fact the tools of self-purification or moral education. They have been recommended so that we can achieve perfection. They are like physical exercise – if you do not have regular physical exercise, your body will grow weak and vulnerable, and if you want to make your body strong and beautiful, you must work out. Daily prayers, fasting, charitable donations, avoidance of sins, honesty and benevolence towards other human beings are spiritual exercise, and they make our souls beautiful, strong and perfect. If we fail to do these things, we may still look very good on the surface, but deep down, we will be flawed, weak and vulnerable.

Moral improvement

According to a narration from Imam Sajjad (a.s.), “O children of Adam, as long as you have a preacher inside you, as long as you evaluate your actions, as long as you fear God and restrain yourself, your situation will be good.” It is useful to listen to the preaching of other people, but self-preaching is more effective. “As long as you evaluate your actions, your situation will be good.” Self-evaluation can be more accurate than the evaluation done by other people. This is because one cannot hide anything from oneself. “As long as you fear God and restrain yourself, your situation will be good.” This means that people should fear Allah the Exalted and take care not to bring divine wrath on themselves by making mistakes. If you observe these principles – that is to say, if you preach to yourself, if you evaluate your actions, if you fear God, if you try to avoid His punishment – everything will be alright. If you observe these principles, you will have a good life in this world and in the hereafter. Your behavior will be good. Your life will be more pleasant. You will not suffer from insecurity, and your life will get better.

Self-purification, more important than moral education

Moral education is different from self-purification. If moral education is offered through an appropriate method, it will contribute to self-purification as well, but self-purification is an independent process.

There is a wrong belief that anybody who enters the arena of science should drift away from spirituality and human virtues. This belief is an imported concept which is totally wrong. It originates from Christian Europe, and it is totally incompatible with Islamic understanding and teachings. This is because if a scientist is a virtuous and moral man, it will be possible to hope that he will contribute to the improvement of humanity and the improvement of his own country, no matter what his specialty is. Such a scientist will choose valuable goals, and he will move towards benefitting humanity and contributing to justice and moral virtues. He will work against the strange aberrations of the modern world.

Self-education: easy and difficult

Spiritual self-education is easy and at the same time difficult. From one point of view it is easy, and from another it is difficult. Spiritual self-education is easy because it is a vast arena which we can enter and get a positive result. It is also difficult in that every step of the way there are demons that whisper temptations to our ears. Therefore, it is necessary to be steadfast.

Moral security

Social security is not limited to prevention of theft, robbery or burglary. Moral security is one of the most important things that people need in society. Moral insecurity is when people cannot walk in the street without facing a scene that goes against their religious values. People do not want their youth to be negatively affected when they go out into society.

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