Purify the Soul

Purification of the Soul:
by Shaykh Zulfiqar Ahmad (db)
Those will prosper who purify themselves (87:14)

Some Introductory Vocabulary
The exact meaning of the word falah in Arabic is “to
expose what is hidden.” Thus a farmer is known as
fallah because he exposes the hidden beauty within a
seed by planting it in the ground. Likewise, a person
who cannot close his mouth due to a birth defect is
known as rajulun aflaha, the man whose mouth is open.
The falah in the word istilah refers to “the opening
of the doors of success,” such success after which
there can be no faltering or disgrace. This meaning of
falah also applies in the same fashion to joy, where
istilah gives so much joy after which there is no
sorrow.

Understanding this, the blessed verse of the Holy
Quran is saying that only those who are pure or purify
themselves can achieve this falah. Man is to purify
the negative base desires of his nafs, or inner soul,
if he is to achieve this contentment.

Cleansing and Purification
Allah has borne man into a struggle of good and evil
by creating within him both righteous and evil
desires. Examples of good desires are to become an
obedient servant of Allah and to work righteously.
Likewise, an example of evil desires is the endless
pursuit of worldly status and self-satisfaction, which
are only indications of greed and arrogance that breed
more of the same. Allah wishes man to develop his
righteous characteristics and hence purify his nafs by
eliminating his evil desires. 

Two words that mean to cleanse are tasfia and tazkia.
The root word of tasfia is safa – “to clean,” whereas
tazkia comes from the Arabic verb meaning “to purify.”
A mirror that has accumulated a layer of dust has only
to be wiped with a dust cloth and some polish to
sparkle like new and it will be cleaned. The dust is
only superficial and hence easily wiped away: this is
an example of tasfia. 

On the contrary, a cloth that has become filthy needs
to be thoroughly washed and wrung because the filth
has settled into its fibers and become ingrained. This
thorough process of washing to make sure that no filth
remains is an example of tazkia. The inherent
difference is that dirt does not penetrate the object
in the former and thus can easily be cleaned, but does
penetrate and becomes a part of the object in the
latter case of tazkia. 

In terms of tasawwuf, tasfia is sufficient for the
heart whereas the nafs requires tazkia. Sin forms a
layer on the heart like rust does on steel but does
not penetrate like the evil and selfish desires that
seep in and transform the nafs. Rust only requires a
superficial application of rust remover for the steel
to sparkle again, and likewise the heart needs the
constant application of dhikr (remembrance of Allah)
and repentance to keep it sparkling. The nafs is more
stubborn and in the majority of cases needs strong
tazkia to root out evil desires.

The word falah is so potent that it has been connected
to only three major actions in the Holy Quran. The
first of these is tauba, or repentance. Allah says:

O you Believers! Turn you all together towards Allah
[in repentance] so that you may attain Bliss (honor)
(24:31)

The second action to attain this honor is tazkia as
has already been discussed above, and the third of
these is salat (prayer). Allah says of this sacred
action:

The Believers must (attain success), those who humble
themselves in their prayers (23:1-2)

The Holy Quran was revealed and organized with exact
structure and logical order, and the same order
applies to the falah connection in the three
above-mentioned actions. The scholars of the Holy Book
have explained that tauba has been mentioned first
because man can only start on the journey of falah by
first seeking repentance. The second step in this
journey is to struggle hard to purify the soul of the
evils that plague it, hence tazkia of the nafs. Only
after completing these two steps is he ready to stand
in salat in which he can witness the true majesty of
Allah and thereby attain the best falah. 

A Precise Order
This paradigm and order has been set by Allah and
cannot be reversed by man. The first step towards
anything has to be repentance (tauba) and cannot be
by-passed. Man wants success and acceptance in his
prayer but is not prepared to repent of his sins. One
cannot get to the top of the ladder without stepping
on the first rung. Hence if one wants to attain the
final and best falah he is required to repent of his
sins, struggle against his base desires to purify his
nafs, and then worship with such sincerity and
devotion that he witnesses the glory of his Lord with
his full attention.

Unfortunately today we are merely physically present
in our prayer but mentally are in our place of
business or at the shopping mall. Allah does not need
our worship but He certainly does not want prayers in
which we are anything less than attentive to Him. The
Messenger of Allah said that man should pray as if he
is seeing Allah, and this is the true worship sought
from us. Every man and woman is desirous of falah, and
one of the reasons our Prophet was sent was to
instruct us in how to acquire it.

Four Objectives
The Holy Quran outlines four major objectives of the
Prophet’s mission, of which tazkia of the people is
one. Hadrat Ibrahim supplicated to Allah at the
completion of Bait Ullah to send a prophet and
worshipper now that the House was built. Allah
accepted the supplication and sent the Prophet, who
later said, “I have been sent in acceptance of my
grandfather Ibrahim’s supplication.” 

The aforementioned objectives of the Prophet’s mission
as outlined in the Holy Quran are the very same that
Hadrat Ibrahim had specified in his original
supplication, only that Allahswitched the order of
importance. Hadrat Ibrahim had mentioned tazkia as his
fourth criterion, whereas Allah mentions it as the
second objective. 

This significant change in the order of tazkia is a
strong message for us. The Holy Quran is such an
amazing Book that every word and its positioning has
potent ramifications and subtle flow as if diamonds
and pearls have been strung together. Likewise the
change in positioning of the word tazkia from fourth
to second also has important meanings for mankind.

Detail in the Holy Quran
Allah says regarding the creation of humankind that He
created them with hearing (sami’am) and sight
(basira). Hearing has always been mentioned before
sight wherever the creation of man is mentioned in the
Holy Quran, something that also has a logical and
fascinating scientific reasoning. 

The first organs of a baby’s body to develop when it
is still inside the mother’s womb are the ears. The
eyes are created after the ears and this sequence has
a further fascinating reason. The fluid in the middle
ear is the balance mechanism by which the body
determines if it is upright or not. The eyes alone
cannot determine whether the head is at a right angle
or not because the eyes cannot see the head. It is by
way of this balancing mechanism that the brain can
tell at which angle the body is and should be. Allah
created the ears first because the first task was to
keep the body upright, after which the eyes were
created. There was no science in the desert fourteen
hundred years ago but Allah told mankind then that He
created the ears first and then the eyes. This is yet
more dazzling proof of the minute placement of every
word in the Holy Quran.

In constructing a house, builders first lay
foundations and lay the roof and fit the doors as the
very last steps. Allah has detailed a like account in
the Holy Quran regarding the creation of the universe
by discussing the earth’s creation first. 

Is it that ye deny Him Who created the earth in two
days? (41:9)

Staying with this paradigm, the sky is mentioned after
the earth:

Then turned He to the heavens (2:29)

In interesting contrast, demolition of a house begins
the other way around. The lights and other electrical
fittings are taken down first in preparation and then
the roof and walls are demolished. 

The lights of our universe are the stars, the moon and
the sun. In beautiful illustration of this example
Allah mentions their destruction first when describing
the end of the universe on the Day of Judgment.

When the sun is folded up, when the stars fall
(81:1-2)

The roof is next to fall after the lights have been
taken down.

When the sky is rent asunder (84:1)

The earth is next in line when the sky has been torn
down.

And when the Earth is flattened out (84:3)

These are just a few illustrations outlining the
beauty and specific structure that Allah has given in
the Holy Quran. There is logical reasoning behind each
word and its placement.

The Dream 
Hadrat Yusuf saw a dream in which the sun, moon, and
stars were prostrating before him. However, the
placement of the words seems out of order to the
untrained eye because the stars are mentioned first
followed by the sun and then the moon.

I did see eleven stars and the sun and the moon (12:4)

This order neither follows the traditional ordering of
large to small in which the sun would be mentioned
first and the stars last, nor does it follow an
ordering of small to large where the stars would be
mentioned first and then the moon and the sun.
However, this unique placement also has fascinating
logic behind it because the dream likewise had
structure to it. 

The eleven stars symbolize Hadrat Yusuf’s eleven
brothers, whilst the sun and the moon symbolize his
father and mother respectively. When finally reunited,
the brothers met him first, followed by his father and
then his mother. In equally remarkable fashion, the
brothers prostrated first, followed by their father
Hadrat Yaqub and finally their mother. 

These prostrations were to take place years later, yet
the dream already indicated the order in which they
would take place. Hence when a student of the Holy
Quran studies this incredible Book this specific order
reveals itself like diamonds.

Likewise Allah switched the position of the word
tazkia from fourth to second from its position in
Hadrat Ibrahim’s supplication to its place in the Holy
Quran, and this too is equally potent in reasoning.
The mere fact that the word was positioned higher in
numbering indicates the extreme importance of
purifying our inner soul of the filth of evil desires.

Spiritual Diseases
People are very familiar with physical ailments such
as diabetes and high blood pressure. Similarly people
have spiritual ailments such as hatred, greed, lust
and the like that are much more dangerous than any
physical disease can ever be. Allah has referred to
these spiritual ills as diseases in the Holy Quran and
hence tazkia is absolutely mandatory on everyone. 

In their hearts is a disease (2:10)

Likewise the women of the believers were ordered to
veil themselves so that the person with a disease of
the heart would not be tempted and fall to lust.
Hence, looking at unfamiliar women with lustful eyes
is an indication of a disease within the heart because
the gaze is yet impure. Tazkia is mandatory to purify
our hearts of these spiritual diseases, and this is
the main reason why we need to surrender ourselves to
the care of a trained shaykh who can cleanse us of
these.

In this world no one can say that he will read all
there is to know about his disease from books and then
formulate his own prescription and cure. Even the most
knowledgeable doctors often take the opinion of
superiors in certain situations, especially when they
themselves might be ill because they acknowledge that
a third opinion should always be sought. Hence where
there are doctors for physical ailments there are also
doctors for the spiritual diseases mentioned above.

Spiritual doctors are called mashaikh, righteous
people who have spent time with their elders who were
close to Allah so that they could learn and perfect
their roles as guides and healers. A profession or art
cannot be learnt from books and it is a foregone
conclusion that one must sit in the company of a
teacher to learn the specific skill effectively.

Moreover, no one can claim to become a doctor merely
by studying the books of medicine even though all the
necessary knowledge may be present there. Medical
students are put through rigorous schedules under
their teachers and, even after passing, are not
allowed to prescribe until they complete their
residency supervised by more experienced personnel.
Only after successful completion of residency are they
certified to treat patients. Hence these doctors
passed through a predetermined system where they first
had to learn medical knowledge under teachers, and
then had to perform practically under the supervision
of trained doctors already in practice before they
were deemed ready to be able to treat people on their
own.

The training of spiritual doctors follows the same
course in which students start by learning religious
knowledge of the Holy Quran and hadith from trained
scholars. After this stage the student stays in the
company of the mashaikh who train and test him further
to determine his value and skills. The student is then
endorsed after this long association with his elders
just like the resident is endorsed after his long
residency. Only now if his elder mashaikh deem him
ready is he certified to teach dhikr and become a
spiritual healer of people.

In order to heal people of these spiritual ailments
the mashaikh do not prescribe rigorous treatments or
impossible tasks. The Messenger of Allah said that
dhikr is the cure of the heart. Hence the mashaikh
teach different dhikr for different kinds of diseases
and Allah cures the heart through the blessing of that
particular dhikr. This is known as tazkia-e-nafs. 

For effective tazkia a person needs to find a suitable
shaykh in the world and sit in his company. A doctor
cannot help if the patient does not reveal his
disease, and likewise the person needs to be candid
with the shaykh regarding his hidden diseases no
matter how shameful. He then needs to use the
spiritual prescription that the shaykh gives him so
that all his inner evils are eventually cleansed. This
is the easiest option to tazkia but there is still
another option if this is not taken advantage of.

Allah has promised Paradise for the believers, but a
condition is that only those can enter who have
achieved tazkia and purified their hearts.

Gardens of Eternity beneath which rivers flow…such is
the reward of those who purify themselves [of evil]
(20:76)

If a believer dies without having achieved tazkia in
this life then Allah will begin his tazkia as soon as
he enters the grave to prepare him for Paradise.

© 2001 - 2007 Tasawwuf.org. This material may be used
for non-commercial use, provided it is unaltered and
this copyright information and a link to our home page
is included.

This World

A leading scholar of Basra visited Rabi'a al-Adawiyya while she was ill.
sitting beside her pillow, the scholar spoke about how terrible the world was. In reply, Rabi`a told him:
"You love the world very dearly. If you did not love the world, you would not mention it so much. It is always the purchaser who first disparages what he wants to buy. If you were done with the world, you would not mention it either for good or evil. As it is, you keep mentioning it because, as the proverb says, whoever loves a thing mentions it frequently."
- Rabi'a al-Adawiyya

Knowledge and Wisdom

If you wish to know which sciences and acts are the most important and beneficial for you, imagine that you are to die the next day and return to God to stand before Him and be asked to account for your knowledge, behaviour, and all your affairs and states, subsequently to be taken either to the Garden or the Fire. What you see there as most important and useful to you is precisely what you must now give priority and attachment to; whereas what you find useless, unimportant, frivolous, or simply of no great necessity is what you must neither pursue nor occupy yourself with in this life. Meditate on this matter and reflect well; it is of tremendous benefit to those who have discernment and are concerned about their appointed time, their return to God, their salvation, and their success in the Hereafter, which is better and more enduring (Quran 87:17). Success is in the Hand of God, to whom belong all graces, for He bestows them on whomever He wills; and Gods graces are immense!
- Imam al-Haddad

IF

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son! 

-Rudyard Kipling

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
- William Ernest Henley