Higher Aim of Self-Development
One of the important aims of successful self-development is to be able to realign ourselves towards our natural inclination to understand and obey Allah (swt). This moral compass of being able to realign and orient ourselves comes from the understanding of fitrah.
To develop a healthy personality, we need to achieve harmony and optimal balance between the various dimensions of the “self” which includes psychological, mental, biological, social and spiritual dimensions.
Any imbalance or incongruence between these dimensions of the self, create various types of tensions and disequilibrium that can only be unified via tawhid.
The integration of all these dimensions are all directed towards the pleasure of Allah.
With all these dimensions of the human self working collectively, often we forget that with the ability to achieve these higher objectives of the self, that there is individual accountability and responsibility for our thoughts and consequent actions and inactions.
In order to understand the essential elements of tawhid, we need to be aware of our own selves and many early philosophers, as well as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: To know yourself is to know Allah.
Hanan Dover
