Virtues and Character Development in Islamic Ethics and Positive Psychology

The development of good character in Islam is mostly a process of dealing with one’s emotions. It helps to build and support positive or good emotions or virtues and to fight and suppress negative emotions. Character building would therefore, have much to do with patience and perseverance in controlling emotions leading to negative aspects and reinforcement of emotions leading to positive ethics. Manipulation of emotions lead to good ethics would also guide one to have a spiritually and psychologically healthy life. This research aims at investigating the relationship between new approach in psychology namely, positive psychology which emphasised the positive aspects of emotions and the age old values of virtue ethics. This conceptual study concludes that the integration of virtue ethics and some aspects of modern Psychology which are in harmony with the worldview, ethical principles, ethical values and norms of Islam not only can be sources of action guides and but also serve as effective methods of management of emotions that steer to self-development and interpersonal relationship skills.