Components of Resistance Focusing on Campaign against the Self (Nafs) in Textbooks

Considering Quran verses, Hadiths, and quotations of religious authorities as well as the lifestyle of prophets, Imams, and religious leaders, Jihad against the ‘self’ is regarded as the first and foremost form of Jihad which is among the Islamic obligatory deeds (Vajibat) with great reward before God; thus with regard to the current global status and the structural alteration of wars, from military invasions of land to penetration into and destruction of the thoughts, beliefs, and feelings of the invaded, the students need to be informed that the identification of one’s self and confronting worldly desires are the requisite for victory in each and every battle. The present study aimed at investigating components of resistance focusing on campaign against the self (Nafs) in high school and pre-university Persian literature textbooks through content analysis method. It should be mentioned that campaign against the self (Nafs) in this research is to ignore one’s rights, desires, and pleasures for the sake of God and His servants. Research questions were: What percentage of contents of high school and pre-university Persian literature textbooks are allocated to resistance literature? Is campaign against the self (Nafs) referred to in high school and pre-university Persian literature textbooks? In addition to stating the objective (to resist and stand against tyranny, tyrants, and invaders) are any practical strategies provided for reaching the objective in the studied content? The results showed that 15 to 20 percent of the contents of the mentioned books were allocated to resistance literature, however campaign against the self (Nafs) was scarcely indicated in the corpus. The lesson of “Neyayesh (Imam Sajjad)” was considered the most prominent practical sample in which in addition to stating the objective, practical strategies for reaching it were provided as well.