A Comparative Study of the Perfect Human and the Means of Attaining It in the Mystical Thought of Rumi and Maslow’s Humanistic Psychology

Abstract

This study aims to comparatively examine the concept of the perfect human and the means of attaining perfection in the thought of Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Balkhī (Rumi), a Muslim mystic, and Abraham Maslow, a prominent humanistic psychologist.The present research first explores the concept of the perfect human and its defining characteristics in the views of Rumi and Maslow, and subsequently examines the paths to perfection, the obstacles to growth, and the practical strategies proposed by each thinker.Employing thematic analysis alongside philosophical-conceptual analysis, the study systematically compares the two perspectives.Whereas Rumi's thought, grounded in a mystical and monotheistic worldview, regards the perfect human as a being who-by transcending the ego and attaining annihilation (fanāʾ) in divine love-reaches unity with the Absolute Truth, Maslow, within the framework of humanistic psychology, conceives of the perfect human as an individual who achieves personal transcendence through self-actualization, the realization of human potentialities, and peak experience, within the context of freedom and personal responsibility.The findings indicate that although these two perspectives differ in their ontological, epistemological, and teleological foundations-one rooted in spiritual wayfaring (sulūk) toward union with the Divine, the other in the realization of the worldly self-they converge in their emphasis on overcoming egocentrism, cultivating higher potentials, and moving beyond superficial needs toward meaning and transcendence.Furthermore, Maslow's concept of "peak experience" bears a noteworthy affinity to the experience of "unity and annihilation" (waḥdat wa fanāʾ) in Rumi's mysticism, and may be regarded as a point of convergence between the two approaches in elucidating the transcendent dimensions of the human being.