I Want to Fight My Soul So What Is The Way?
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Creator: Nawwâl Bin Abdullâh
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Subject: tazkiyah
Title: I Want to Fight My Soul So What Is The Way?
Created on: Wed Dec 26 13:53:39 -0500 2007
Updated on: Wed Dec 26 13:53:39 -0500 2007
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Abstract: ... -Nawawî said: “When a person desires to speak, if there is definite goodness in his words for which he will be rewarded then let him speak and if it does not appear to him that there will be good in his words and that he will be rewarded then he should refrain from speaking.” When a servant is strict and hard upon himself in such a way he will travel upon the path of goodness and success as a result of it. However, if he abandons his soul and neglects it he will be lead to the path of destruction and ruin by it, and into committing sins very easily without having the desire to seek forgiveness and repent from them. The Second Type: Calling the soul to account after the action has been completed. This itself is of three types: The first: A person brings the soul to account for an act of obedience which was performed and which fell short in fulfilling Allâh’s right. This means that it was not performed in the best possible way. The right of Allâh upon the servant in every act of obedience consists of six matters: Sincerity in the action (for the sake of Allâh alone), Pure devotion to Allâh in it, Following and imitating the Messenger in it, Seeing and observing excellence in it Seeing Allâh’s Benevolence in it Seeing one’s shortcomings (in performing this action) after all of this. So a person will call himself to account. Has he considered all these things with care and attention, the way they ought to be? And did he fulfil them all in this action? The second: A person calls himself to account for every action that he did, the abandonment of which would have been better for him than actually doing it. The third: A person calls himself to account for a matter that is mubâh (permissible - with no reward or punishment resulting from it). Why did he do it? And did he desire the Face of Allâh and the home of the Hereafter by it so that he will have profited and succeeded? Or did he desire by it, the world and its temporary rewards and delights as a result of which he loses that success A person will call himself to account so that one day when he is sixty years old he will be counting his days and will find that they are twenty-one thousand and six-hundred in number. He lets out a scream and says: “Woe be to me, I will meet my Lord with twenty-one thousand sins. How will it be when there are thousands of sins in a day?!” Then he falls to the ground unconscious, and dies. Let us therefore, look at the strictness and intensity of the way he called himself to account and the way in which he saw his sins to be against him. What then, will our condition be?! One amongst the Salaf would choose a certain time, late at night, to call his soul to account. He would ask himself about the obligatory duties first and if he found any deficiency in them, he would complete them, either by fulfilling them or by making up for them. Then he would call his soul to account with respect to the forbidden matters since he did something which the Sharee‘ah has forbidden or which the Prophet () warned against. So he would make up for it by seeking forgiveness from Allâh and then being remorseful and repenting from it. Then he would hold his soul to account for its heedlessness. If he had been heedless of what he had been created for he would make up for it with the remembrance of Allâh, directing his attention towards Him and performing His worship. If he had been heedless with respect to a certain sin and went on to commit it, he would return to Allâh, seeking forgiveness from Him, repenting to Him. He then goes on to call himself to account about what he said and uttered on a certain day, or to what his feet walked towards or what his hands grasped or what his eyes saw or what his ears heard and so on. He would therefore, see whether his action was in agreement with what Allâh is pleased with and whether he desired Allâh with his action and made it sincerely and purely for Him. Or did a blemish or impurity mix with his action such as showing off or seeking to be heard of, or opposing the command of Allâh (in the way that he performed his action). Therefore, he throws against every one of his actions or his words two questions: For whom did I do it?! Was it for Allâh or other than Him? This a question about sincerity to Allâh. The other question: How did I do it?! Was it in agreement with the Book of Allâh and the Sunnah? Was it in agreement with the Sharî‘ah or did it oppose and contradict the Sharî‘ah (this is a question about following and imitating the way of the Messenger of Allâh . There are Great Benefits in Calling the Soul to Account Amongst them are: 1. Realising the shortcomings and weaknesses of the soul. Whoever does not know the weaknesses of his soul will not be able to put an end to them. We can observe this quality in our Pious Predecessors. Due to the intensity with which they called their souls to account, they knew all their shortcomings and faults. Yûnus bin Ubaid said: “Indeed, I know of a hundred characteristics from among the characteristics of goodness and I do not know whether I possess a single one of them.” Therefore, we find him to be the most knowledgeable of people of his own self. He knows what his soul is in need of and what it hopes for and other such matters. And Muhammad bin Wâsi‘ said: “If sins were to produce a smell, no one would be able to sit next to me” 2. Knowing the right of Allâh upon oneself. This will instill in the servant hatred of his own soul and its contempt. It will purify him from being amazed with his actions and also from showing off. Ibn al-Qayyim said: “Verily, hatred of the soul for the sake of Allâh is one of the characteristics of the Siddîqûn (the truthful and the sincere).” Imâm Ahmad has mentioned in his book az-Zuhd that Wahb (ibn Munabbah) said: “It has reached me that the Prophet of Allâh, Mûsâ, passed by a man who was calling upon Allâh and was humbling himself. He (Mûsâ) said: O my Lord, show mercy to Him as I have shown mercy to Him. Then Allâh inspired to him: If he calls upon me until his...... I would not respond to Him until He looks at My right over Him.” Looking at the right of Allâh opens the door towards submission, humility and defeat in front of Allâh. The one who reflects about the condition of the people nowadays will find that most of them do the opposite of this. They look at their own rights upon Allâh, at their needs from Him but do not look at the right of Allâh upon themselves. We will find one of them when he is inflicted with a calamity or misfortune on account of what his own hands have committed, angry, irritated and grumbling. He does not even ask his ownself: What is the cause of this misfortune, this calamity? And he is not aware that it is due to his sins and his disobedience to Allâh. Likewise we find that many amongst mankind have been cut off from Allâh and their hearts have been veiled from knowing Him. To Allâh then, is the complaint and there is no power nor movement except by Allâh. The Second Way: Struggling Against the Soul by Opposing it and not Following its Desires Ibn Taymiyyah (rh) says: “And this is by not following its desires and opposing what the soul desires. Opposing the soul occurs by opposing its desires and its desires do not arise except by following Shaytân. Therefore it is vital to oppose Shaytân and seeking refuge in and recoursing to Allâh from his whisperings and his plans. Shaytân enters upon the soul and penetrates into it with two matters or from two doors. It is necessary for us to know them, oppose them and to close them tight in the face of Shaytân the Accursed and Rejected: The First: Due to excessiveness and squandering. This happens by giving ones soul whatever it desires of food, speech, sleep and other such matters which the soul makes its owner aspire for, what it cannot do without and what it loves. Therefore it is incumbent upon a person that he does not give his soul its need and desire in its entirety. He should not be extravagant and excessive in giving it food, sleep and other such delights and pleasures. When he shuts this door, against his own soul and against Shaytân he will acquire peace and security. Thus, we will find that a person has been forbidden from excessive food and speech, letting the gaze wander too much, mixing with people and accompanying them in excess since giving the soul whatever it desires is among the things which if done excessively and continuously hardens to heart and makes it heedless. This leads to the hearts death and refuge is sought from Allâh! Thus, the door of fasting has been opened and we have been urged to fast. Even voluntary fasting has been strongly encouraged. Fasting puts an end to the desire and excessive eating. Thus Islam has encouraged fasting and made it beloved to its adherents. Likewise, there is an excellence attached to the night prayer (tahajjud). It prevents a person from excessive sleep. A person will strive against his soul and wage war against it in order to pray during the night and fast during the day. He will continue in this until his soul submits and humbles itself to these acts of worship. The soul will then find the joy and delight of fasting and praying at night. It is also, from the wisdom of Islâm that urges the Muslim to be silent unless he has something beneficial to say. The ... [Full Article...]
