---
sidebar_label: Taqwa framework
---

The Taqwa Framework is a quadrant-based model for understanding and managing blameworthy character traits.

This article focuses on the framework itself. For how to use it in defining domain outcomes, see [Domain outcomes](Resources/Domain%20outcomes.md).

> [!info] Prerequisite
> 
> This framework is relevant to **bad trait domains** — those that aim to remove a blameworthy characteristic (anger, envy, pride, lust, etc.). It is not needed for worship domains, where the outcome is simply action consistency.
> 

## The Two Axes

Instead of tracking emotional states abstractly, the framework uses two hardware-level axes to describe your current state at any moment:

- **Vertical Axis: Vigilance (Fear)** — Your awareness. Are you alert to what's happening, or are you running on autopilot?
- **Horizontal Axis: Resolve (Hope)** — Your drive to act correctly. Do you have the energy to do the right thing, or are you frozen?

Each axis has a high state and a low state. Together, they form four quadrants.

## The Four Quadrants

| Quadrant | Vigilance | Resolve | What it looks like |
|----------|-----------|---------|-------------------|
| **Taqwa Zone** (top-right) | High | High | Safe and productive. You're aware and motivated. |
| **Paralysis** (bottom-right) | High | Low | Safe but stuck. You're aware of what you should do but can't move. |
| **Headless Zone** (top-left) | Low | High | Dangerous. High energy but blind — you're moving without awareness, which is when slips happen. |
| **Despair Zone** (bottom-left) | Low | Low | The crash site. Both awareness and drive are gone. Active sin or complete stagnation. |

### The Devil's Footsteps

The critical insight is that the devil (or your nafs) cannot move you diagonally from Taqwa directly into Despair. The descent always happens in **sequential steps** through an adjacent quadrant:

1. **Taqwa → Headless**: You lose vigilance while still having energy. You start moving without awareness.
2. **Headless → Despair**: Once blind, the low-vigilance state leads you into active sin.
3. **Taqwa → Paralysis**: You become overwhelmed or exhausted while still aware. You freeze.
4. **Paralysis → Despair**: The freeze turns into hopelessness, and you fall into active sin.

Understanding which route your trait takes is the key to stopping it.

## Trait Paths

Each bad trait has a dominant path (the direction it typically falls):

### The Headlessness Route

Driven by high-energy boredom, unstructured free time, or procrastination. Vigilance drops first. The person thinks "I want" and acts before awareness catches up.

**Common traits**: Anger, pride, ostentation, loquaciousness.

### The Paralysis Route

Driven by low-energy exhaustion, overwhelm, or shame. Resolve drops first. The person thinks "I can't" and freezes, then slides into the behavior as an escape.

**Common traits**: Envy, self-admiration (in the form of "why not me?").

### The Dual-Threat

Some traits can take either route depending on your energy state at the moment.

**Common traits**: Lust/gluttony (can arise from both boredom and exhaustion), stinginess (can come from both impulsive fear and depleted generosity).

## The 3-Level Outcome System

Mapping your trait to its path enables you to define a precise 3-level outcome, which serves as the **lagging indicator** for that domain:

### Level 1 — Despair (Bottom-Left Quadrant)

**State**: Conscious sin. You know the behavior is wrong and feel hopeless about changing it.

**Identification**: Ask yourself — "When I engage in this trait, am I aware I'm doing it and feel unable to stop?"

**Path clues**: You may recognize yourself in the Despair quadrant of the model. Both vigilance and resolve are low.

**Intervention**: Hope injection. The person needs to believe change is possible before any behavior work begins. Look for small, undeniable wins.

### Level 2 — Path (Top-Left or Bottom-Right Quadrant)

**State**: Automatic sin. The behavior happens before awareness catches up. You regret it afterward but don't recognize it in the moment.

**Identification**: Ask yourself — "Do I slip into this trait automatically, realizing it only after the fact?"

**Path clues**: You may notice yourself in Headlessness (acting without awareness) or Paralysis (freezing, then escaping).

**Intervention**: Speed bump. Install a protocol at the trigger point that forces a pause. If Headlessness: a physical interruption that restores vigilance. If Paralysis: a hope injection that restarts momentum.

### Level 3 — Taqwa (Top-Right Quadrant)

**State**: Maintenance. You catch the trigger early. The old automatic response has been replaced by awareness.

**Identification**: Ask yourself — "Can I feel the trigger rising and choose a different response before acting?"

**Path clues**: You're mostly in the Taqwa zone. Slips are rare and short.

**Intervention**: Identity reinforcement. Morning priming, occasional review, re-anchoring to the person you want to become. This is preventive, not reactive.

## Example: Anger

If we apply this to the Anger domain, the outcome looks like this:

```
Path: Headlessness

L1 (Despair): I lash out consciously and feel hopeless about controlling anger.
L2 (Path): I react automatically — words leave before my mind catches up.
L3 (Taqwa): I feel the heat rising, shut down speech, and choose my response.

Current: L2 | Target: L3
```

## How to Apply the Framework

1. **Pick one trait** at a time. Don't try to map all traits at once.
2. **Identify its path**: Does it more often come from boredom/energy (Headlessness) or exhaustion/overwhelm (Paralysis)?
3. **Define your 3 levels**: Be specific about what each level looks like for you personally.
4. **Assess your current level**: Honest self-assessment is critical. Use the weekly review for this.
5. **Apply the right intervention**: L1 needs hope, L2 needs a speed bump, L3 needs maintenance.
6. **Track your level over time**: The goal is not perfection but upward movement. L2 → L3 may take months.

## Relation to the Weekly Review

The [Weekly review](Resources/Weekly%20review.md) asks questions about specific behaviors for each trait. The Taqwa Framework adds a second layer: instead of only asking "did I do the process?" you also ask "what level am I at for this trait?" — the lagging indicator that tells you whether you're actually progressing.

For the full explanation of how leading and lagging indicators work together across all domain types, see [Domain outcomes](Resources/Domain%20outcomes.md).