Understanding the Islamic Perspective of Emotional Intelligence (EI)

Abstract

Emotion is a strong feeling of an individual, which originates from the temperament, circumstances, or relationships with other people or members of the society; and the capability to distinguish, recognize, accomplish, and grip these sentiments is termed as “Emotional Intelligence,” commonly abbreviated as EI. Today, the subject of (EI), is deep seated as a sub-branch of psychology, in the academic realm of contemporary social sciences. The evolution of (EI) has gone through several stages. It started with the concept of “emotional strength” in 1950s; to the term "emotional intelligence" in 1964; to the label “Emotional Intelligence and Emancipation” in 1966; to the fame “emotional quotient” in 1987; and to the term “Emotional Intelligence” in 1990; and to the popularized academic discipline “Emotional Intelligence” in 1995. Despite the fact, that the emergence of EI is a remarkable academic contribution of our time, this paper believes that the literature of (EI) has its roots in the early Islamic literature. Therefore, it aims to understand the term ‘Emotional Intelligence’ from an Islamic perspective. The approach followed throughout this treatise shall be entirely conceptual, and unbiased.