THE PSYCHOLOGY OF TRIGGERS
Cues drive human behaviour, hence the Divine caveat: ‘Do not go near adultery’ [17:32].
Instead of cautioning against adultery per se, which holds the potential to unlock many more evils, God wishes to place distance between us and it by also proscribing the triggers which may lead to such lewdness.
In the preceding verse [17:31], the prohibition pertains to infanticide due to fear of provision. Unlike verse thirty-two, the commandment here is more direct, but you can still apply the trigger disabling structure: trusting God as our Provider is the safeguard against fear of want and the vices which may stem from it, of which killing is the worst.
Both verses, when viewed this way, offer insights into the other. They invite us to become part of the text, proving the universality of the Quran.
Verse thirty-two asks us to look at triggers that may lead to a capital vice and avoid them, while verse thirty-one invites us to discover vices that may flow when we reject guidance, which serves as a deterrent.
Scholars have placed both proscriptions under the category of major sins in Islam.
Allah has placed the cures within both commandments, and since they are capital offences, we can assume these solutions will work for lesser evils, too.
Verses thirty-one and thirty-two are not just commandments, but also contain the secret for breaking habits: 1) Keep away from the triggers that will lead to negative behaviour, 2) Accepting guidance will curtail negative consequences, 3) Vices have explicit general triggers but also cues specific to the individual, thus know yourself, 4) Become aware of your environment, believe to be the most significant driver of human behaviour and 5) Understand that context, belief, association and our surroundings drive the cues.
Remarkably, when you invert them, they also offer the recipe to build habits.
Instead of removing cues to circumvent bad behaviour, we can set signals to trigger a new habit. We determine the most effective cues to drive the specific habit and make them visible in our environment.
If you want to garden more, you can leave various gardening paraphernalia where you will encounter them daily. Whether it is a gardening book on your bedside table, gardening tools where you will see them daily, a watering can on your stoep or setting a reading bench in your garden, these visual triggers will create the climate to drive and maintain your gardening habit.
OUTGROW THE SELF
Personal growth is the habit of the lovers of Muhammad (s).
You emulate whom you love, thus it is inevitable that a positive comportment will shape you if the Prophet (s) occupies your heart.
Moulting, the shedding of various body parts and typically the shedding of the outer skin, is a regular biological process which some animals undergo to facilitate development or adaptation.
Humans, typically Muslims, must regularly shed too, if they hope to fulfil their mandate and grow in the image of the Prophet (s)
For us, shedding can take the form of kilos, but more importantly, erroneous ideas, beliefs and behaviour, contrary to the prophetic way.
None of us arrived with pristine philosophy, and we will need to go through continuous perspectives if we wish to emerge intellectually, emotionally and spiritually healthier.
By routinely shedding our uninformed ways, we will create room to supplant the old with the prophetic new, which will have us habitually pivoting towards the Sunnah.
Whatever we build that’s not connected to Allah will crumble.
Until next week, InshaAllah
Zaahied Sallie
Author of The Beloved Prophet – An Illustrated Biography in Rhyme
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