MISHKAT

MISHKAT

Self-Compassion Conceptual Boundaries in the Holy Qur’an with a Psychology Approach

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Bibi Hakimeh Hosseini Hekmat 1
HasanAli Razi 2
1 Assistant Professor, Qom University of Science and tradition (corresponding author)
2 Visiting Professor, Qom University of Science and tradition
10.22034/mishkat.2025.502038.2503
Abstract
Self-compassion or kindness towards oneself is considered a moral virtue in the Holy Qur’an and psychology, as a foundational positive construct. Emphasizing self-acceptance, moving beyond failures without isolation and excessive self-blame, if not understood accurately and correctly, can distort this noble virtue into undesirable psychological and moral characteristics. The present research aims to extract concepts that are easily confused with self-compassion in the Qur’an and psychology, and to explain their distinctions. To this end, in the first phase, verses related to any kind of interaction with oneself were extracted and analyzed. In the second phase, the aforementioned points were explained within two domains: the Qur'an and psychology, and their distinctions from "self-compassion" were analyzed. The research findings identified two major vices that can be confused with self-compassion; arrogance (linked to concepts like narcissism, self-centeredness, and selfishness) and self-deception. Although these two share superficial similarities with self-compassion, they are fundamentally different from it. However, self-esteem, considered by some psychologists as being opposed to self-compassion, was found to be compatible and aligned with that in the Qur'anic discourse.
Keywords
Self-compassion
Qur’anic morality
self-kindness
self-deception
self-esteem
arrogance
Subjects
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