A Comparative Study on Imam Sajad and Martin Seligman's Viewpoints about the Fear of Death

Document Type : review Article

Authors

1 M.A. in Psychology, Researcher in the field of Spiritual Health

2 Department of Psychology, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.

3 Department of Islamic Teachings, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

The meaning and place of death in Seligman's theory of happiness and well-being (PERMA model) is ambiguous. The current study was carried out with the purpose of disambiguating by comparing Imam Sajad and Seligman's viewpoints through the method of qualitative content analysis. The findings showed that the Imam with monotheistic explanatory style considered the fear of death as an existential reality. Furthermore, he believed that the fear of death for the believer is a "warning of death, longing for death and intimacy with death" so that it will lead to mental well-being in this world and eternal health in the hereafter. By accepting death impartially, Seligman believes that a forward-looking and pragmatic person should achieve prosperity by avoiding helplessness, strengthening the 24-capabilities of his/her character, and making optimal use of life while well-being is impossible without remembering the death. Seligman's reasons for this point of view were as follows: pragmatic and secular thinking, anthropologically relying solely on statistical methods, an incomplete understanding of the concept of religion, the inability to comment on the meaning of life, and a pathological view of death. The desire for immortality, the existential loneliness of man and his/her need for something superior to himself/herself and dealing with the meaning in order to resolve the restlessness until the moment of death, the consensus positions of the both and the monotheistic attitude of the Imam and the pragmatism thinking with Seligman's secular approach are the source of their opposing positions.

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