Positive and Negative Aspects of Ego
The ego, in its positive aspect, is the life force. It gives man conviction and stability and enables him to face life’s challenges and continue his journey.
Man is born with his ego. He is an egoist by birth. What is ego? The ego is the consciousness of one’s existence. The ego is the part of the mind responsible for your sense of who you are. But ego has both a positive and a negative aspect. The positive aspect of ego is that it produces confidence in oneself. The ego enables a person to take up a task with determination. Ego gives a man conviction; it gives him stability and allows him to face life’s challenges and continue his onward journey. The ego, in its positive aspect, is the life force. The ego produces all the noble qualities that make up for one’s manliness. It is indeed the ego that turns a man into an iron man.
Then there is the negative aspect of the ego. This negative aspect is arrogance. When ego assumes this negative form, all kinds of evils are produced, like anger, hatred, violence, insolence, injustice, vengefulness, and even unjust killing. We find an extreme example of this in the Quran in the stories of Abel and Cain. Abel and Cain were real brothers. Cain became angry with his brother Abel and killed him mercilessly. (5:27-30)
In the initial period of human history, God gave this law to man after this incident. It has been outlined in the Quran in chapter five: “That was why We laid it down for the Children of Israel that whoever killed a human being—except as a punishment for murder or for spreading corruption in the land—shall be regarded as having killed all humanity, and that whoever saved a human life shall be regarded as having saved all humanity. Our messengers came to them with clear signs, but many continued to commit excesses in the land.” (5:32)
The human race started with Adam and Eve. As a result of birth and re-birth, the human population continued to increase. Gradually, human beings spread throughout the land. From the very beginning, God began guiding humanity through His Prophets. The Prophets continued to come and spread the message of God to people through peaceful struggle.
