Desire and The Ability to Think
Summary - "Nafsu" is not a bad thing
A very busy day... Too busy that I don't even have time to check my phone and reply the shoutbox. Again, I'm very sorry.
Still, while working one thing come to mind. let me share it with you. And maybe you can further develop the idea with me
So why do we work? There are a lot of answers to this question but in general, it is because we want more for our life. More money, more excitement, more experience, better status etc. This feeling of wanting more is better known as desire or "nafsu"
The thing is people almost always like to think that desire is the path to corruption. People want more money, so they received bribe. Teenager curious about sex took the wrong path. "Desire" were blamed for all these.
Then these people who blame "desire" started doing extreme thing to repair the damage. People who used to take bribe, suddenly realize the sin he committed.. then decided to throw away all money, because according to him, money corrupts. His family is now in danger of starvation, and his children left unschooled.
Then there are also people who get fatter because of their love for eating. They were convinced that they look unatractive by their friends. Trying to be thinner person, they stop eating entirely in the name of diet... perhaps die in a week or two.
What the examples are showing are how people tends to blame their desire when something bad happened. In my opinion this is partially wrong. Meaning... desire is not entirely responsible for the corruption. Let me explain..
I remember this saying back in high school. Human is claimed by Allah in Surah AtTin to be the best of his creation. (sebaik2 kejadian). Why not the animals? Because they have "nafsu" (desire) but no "akal" (the ability to think).Why not the angel (malaikat)? Because they have "akal" but no "nafsu".
If an angel is assigned to manage the rain all over the world. He will do it until the judgement day without objecting. He will not trade his assignment with other angels for the fun of it or because his job is getting boring. That's because he doesn't have any desire to achieve more.
Human are the best creation because we are given both "akal and "nafsu". Then we will strive to better ourselves motivated by our "nafsu" but we know exactly when to stop, because of our "akal". It is when we do this we will be the best of creation.
In the same time, if we continue to satisfy our "nafsu" ignoring our "akal", like killing our own flesh and blood because of shortage of money. or having sex with prostitute without thinking of Allah's wraith and of course STD. Aren't we then the worst of creation?
Conclusion - Don't blame desire for everything bad in the world. It is almost always because of the "akal" is being ignored. Wear them both proudly and of course equally balance. Come to think of it, "nafsu" if used in balance with "akal" is what make us a better.
--------------- Personal Note --------------------------
As you know in a palm oil mill, we strive to extract as much oil as possible. For the past few days, the amount of oil extracted is declining. Yesterday, by calculation, the amount of oil extracted is just 16%, which is very low. Upon investigation, we found where the problem lies. You see, there is this one big tank which we used to separate water and oil. Technically, we just pour in the mixture and as we all know, water and oil don't mix. So with time, the two separated naturally. This is where we suspect the source of the low percentage. To make things short, almost half the tank is full with fine sand and soil. This will prevent the mixture of water and oil to separate properly because not enough time. Cleared everything... Let's see how's the figure tomorrow.
ehehe My attempt to explain what I do :)
Labels: Idea