Spirit And Lust
Humans are born into the world as individuals with various potentials, and their personality is formed gradually starting from when they are still in the womb until the end of their lives in the world. As individuals, each person is a unity between spirit and body. In this sense, there is no difference between Jono and Joni, the difference between the two is their individual personality.
The spirit is the representative of God who was sent to rule on earth and the human body that comes from the ground is the executor of that command. To carry out the duties of his caliphate, the spirit needs the body and vice versa. But in reality, the two often have different interests that are not easy to reconcile.
With his spirit, humans have a nature that tends to the truth and noble values that will lead humans to the highest degree; and with his body, humans have desires that tend to always pursue external pleasures which if not controlled will reduce human status to the lowest level. Thus, humans throughout their lives are always faced with an internal conflict between two impulses, namely the encouragement of progress that comes from their nature and the impulse of decline that comes from their lust.
The struggle of the two drives in interacting with the environment leads humans to choose one of the two drives which is manifested in the form of behavior. Personality is all types of human behavior that is formed from the choice of these drives and individual habits in reacting and adapting to all impulses and stimuli that come from inside or outside him. This pattern of behavior is a functional unit that is unique to each person.
Everyone's choice of how to react to any urge and stimulus may be different. To choose the impetus for progress is to step towards perfection; on the other hand, choosing the impulse of decline means moving away from perfection. Thus, the development of personality is dynamic, which means that as long as the individual still wants to add and improve the quality of his knowledge, faith and charity, improve the quality of his experience and skills, the more stable his personality will be.
The heart is the spiritual element that determines all human actions, whether a person chooses to move forward or backward is determined by his heart. What is meant by the heart here is of course not the physical heart, but the spiritual heart which acts as a link between nature and the reality in the outside world. He is the king who rules, governs, and controls the personality. In other words, a person's personality is determined by how his heart is; if his heart is good, his personality is good, and if his heart is bad, his personality is bad too.
As a decision maker and determinant of personality, the heart becomes a battleground and arena for the struggle for influence between the fitrah that strives for the manifestation of great moral values in life and the passions that position itself as the opposition.
In carrying out its function as the executor of actions, the heart is assisted by reason, namely the spiritual element that acts as an advisor and mediator in considering behavior. It is the intellectual capacity by which potential humans are able to distinguish between behavior that is substantially humanistic in nature and animal behavior.
Alienation and not at peace with oneself can eventually also make a person alienated from his environment and difficult to make peace with others. When a person lives his life by allowing his nature to be isolated, without morals and without principles of life, then he is like a wild animal that roams in cities and villages, even his presence in the community can endanger the security and safety of the lives and property of others.
The existence of a person whose desires have submitted to his spirit provides a sense of security for the environment in which he resides; he is a person who is reluctant to take actions that harm or harm others because he is aware that if he does not like being treated like that, other people will have the same feeling. Other people's sorrows are theirs too. And finally, a person whose lust has submitted to his spirit loves others as he loves himself, loves and respects others as he loves and respects himself.