Written by: Hassan Mohammed Al-Bayti
Some may think that the title of the article is taken from a series that said, “Sixteen men died for the box.”
But my dear brother and sister, there is no harm in getting to know these characters if you have that in mind. The important thing is to take your time and take a deep breath before reading.
Arabs used to rely on horoscopes to analyze a person's personality. Every person born has a unique zodiac sign. For example, I was born in December, and my zodiac sign is known that month as Capricorn. There's no need to mention the characteristics of its owner. These zodiac signs are ancient, predating the advent of Islam.
The theoretical science that the Arabs took from the Greeks and Hellenes in analyzing personalities through horoscopes developed, and then they transformed it into a religious science known as “physiognomy,” which is the recognition of a person’s characteristics and behaviors through his external features (recognizing the inner character through the outer character).
Among the things that indicate its legitimacy are a verse and a hadith. Al-Tirmidhi narrated on the authority of Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Beware of the intuition of the believer, for he sees with the light of Allah.” Then he recited: “Indeed in that are signs for those who reflect.” Surah Al-Hijr, verse 75. Mujahid said in his interpretation: “for those who reflect” means: those who reflect.
On the authority of Anas, may God be pleased with him, with a chain of transmission traceable to the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace: “God has servants who know people by their appearance.” Narrated by Al-Tabarani, Al-Quda’i, and Al-Wahidi.
Imam Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya - may God have mercy on him - wrote a book called “Physiognomy” as a science, in which he included some of the positions of Arab physiognomists since the beginning of Islam.
Physiognomy continued to develop until the golden age of Islamic civilization. With the advent of the European Renaissance, which derived its sciences from Islamic civilization, Europeans developed the science of “personality analysis” so that every person would be able to analyze his own personality. This is one of the characteristics of horoscope analysis. They added physiognomy to it, by exploring a person’s desires and natural tendencies to analyze his personality. This is one of the characteristics of physiognomy analysis. These two sciences combined a third science, which is also a legitimate science, namely analytical psychology. It emerged from two schools. The first school is the school of the Swiss scientist Carl Gustav Jung, the pioneer of analytical psychology. He divided people (1919) according to certain stages: the first: extroverts - introverts. Then the second stage: cognitive functions (judgment or perception).
Then came the American psychologist Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel in the 1920s to develop Jung's theory by providing letter keys that describe a specific personality. This led to the emergence of what is known as the MBTI in 1962, which was known as the "16 Personality Test" and the reliability rate of this test reached, according to psychological analysts, 85%.
The test consists of approximately 40 questions about natural human tendencies. The results of the test play a role in identifying the personality and its academic and professional tendencies.
Now it's time to get to know the 16:
