The seventh of the maladies of the heart is to follow the appetite (Shahwat) or desires or
pleasures of the soul. Ugliness of these types of actions of the soul is clearly communicated in
the verses of the Qur'an. Furthermore, it is also communicated in the Qur'an that following
desires of the soul causes one to depart from the path of Allahu ta’ala. Because, soul always
wants to deny the existence of Allahu ta’ala and to be obstinate or to rebel against Him.
Following the desires of soul in every matter amounts to worshiping the soul. Anyone who
follows his soul either falls into disbelief or becomes follower of corrupt innovated worships or
beliefs (Ahl al-bidat) or starts to commit forbidden actions. Abu Bakr Tamistani, may Allahu
ta’ala be pleased with him, says, "The fortune of not following desires of the soul is the biggest
treasure of this world. Because, soul is the greatest of all veils between Allahu ta’ala and His
slave". Sahl bin Abdullah Tustari [died in 283 Hijri at Basra], may Allahu ta’ala be pleased with
him, says, "The best of all worships is not to follow the desires of the soul." Islam bin Yusuf
Balhi, may Allahu ta’ala be pleased with him, once gave a gift to Hatam-ul-Esam, may Allahu
ta’ala be pleased with him, and seeing that Hatam accepted his gift, asked him if his acceptance
of the gift would constitute following the desires of his soul. In reply, Hatam told him that by
accepting his gift, he made himself lowly and made him superior. Furthermore, he said, "If I
wouldn't accept his gift, that would make myself superior and him lowly. And, my soul 'nafs'
would've loved that!" Rasulullah, peace be upon him, at the end of a long hadith said, "Three
causes lead a person to disaster: being stingy, following desires of the soul 'nafs', and being
a conceited person." Imam al-Ghazali, may Allahu ta’ala be pleased with him, said that the veil
which stops getting the help of Allahu ta’ala is self love (Ujb). In other words it is one's not
seeing his own imperfections and seeing his worships as worthy. Jesus (Isa), peace be upon him,
said to his companions, "Oh my companions! The wind put out many lights. Similarly, self love
'Ujb' also destroys many worships and annihilates their rewards."
It is reported that once Rasulullah, peace be upon him, said, "I am very much afraid that my
followers will catch two vices. They are: following the desires of the soul and forgetting
about death and running after the world." Following desires of the soul prevents one from
following the orders of Islam. Forgetting the death causes one to follow desires of his soul (nafs).
In another hadith, Rasulullah, peace be upon him, said, "The existence of wisdom in a person
manifests itself by his control over his soul 'nafs' and by his preparation of the things that
will be beneficial after death. The sign of stupidity is one’s following desires of his soul and
then expecting forgiveness and mercy from Allahu ta’ala." According to this hadith,
following the desires of one’s soul (Nafs) and then expecting forgiveness and admittance to the
heaven without repentance amounts to stupidity. Expecting something without doing any action
which would produce that expected result is called wishful thinking (Tamanni). On the other
hand, expecting something after doing actions that would produce the result is called hope or
expectation (Raja). Wishful thinking leads one into laziness. Expectation on the other hand is the
cause of work and production. Desires of the soul are called fancy (Hawa). The soul always
loves and wants harmful things that exist in its nature. The following reflects this truth very
clearly:
Always be on guard against your soul.
Never trust in your soul.
It is an enemy to you,
Greater than seventy devils!
The harm caused by following desires of the soul by committing forbidden actions and disliked
actions (Makruhs) are very obvious. The soul's wishes are all animal desires. But these animal
desires are all related to the necessities of the daily affairs (Dunya). As long as a human being
tries to satisfy these necessities, he will be delayed to prepare necessities of the hereafter. One
important point should be noted by everyone is that the soul never satisfies with permissible
things. As long as man satisfies all of its permissible desires, the soul will ask for more. If man
keeps satisfying its demands in an increasing order, soul will keep asking more! It will never be
satisfied and finally will lead man into forbidden things. Furthermore, utilizing permissible
things in excess causes grief, suffering and diseases. A person who uses permissible things in
excess will become a selfish and base person who always thinks of his animal passions and
pleasures.
[Imam ar-Rabbani, may Allahu ta’ala be well pleased with him, the great saint, comments on the
present subject as follows, "The origin of all existing beings is Adam. Adam means
nonexistence. While there were no existent in the existence besides Allahu ta’ala, He knew their
existence in the nonexistent realm. In other words, things existed in His knowledge. Allahu ta’ala
manifested to these Adams in His knowledge through His attributes thus caused the origin (asl)
of these existent beings to become a reality. He then moved these origins (asl) into the external
realm. Thus existences came into being. Present existence materialized out of nonexistence
through the manifestations of His attributes. It is similar to the case of an apple seed's being the
origin of an apple.
In order to understand the nature of human beings, let's contemplate about the
image of an object in a mirror. The image that appears in the mirror is reflection of the light
come from the object. The mirror is like Adam or nonexistence in the foregoing discussion. The
spirit and spiritual heart of a human being is similar to the light. The mirror is similar to the body
of a human being and brightness of the mirror is similar to the soul. The origin of the soul is
nonexistence or Adam, and it has no relationship to the spirit or spiritual heart." A person who
follows desires of his soul always steps out of the bounds of Islam. Since animals do not possess
wisdom and "Nafs", they always use when they find things they are in need of. They only escape
from things that hurt them physically. Islam neither prohibits utilization of vehicles that provide
a comfortable and peaceful living, nor inhibits enjoying useful worldly pleasures. Islam orders
Muslims to follow the guidelines set out by the religion and wisdom for acquiring and utilizing
these things. The goal of Islam is the comfortable and peaceful living of human beings in this
and in the next world. Accomplishing this goal rests with following the wisdom, and abstaining
from the desires of the soul. If the wisdom was not created, human beings would always follow
desires of the soul and fall into turmoil. If soul did not exist, human beings could not multiply
and live a civilized life. Also, without soul, human beings could not obtain rewards of struggle
(Jihad) against the soul. Furthermore, without a soul, human beings could not rise above the
grades of angels. Our Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "If animals had known the knowledge
you possess about the things that would happen in the life after death, you could not be
able to find any meat to consume!" Animals would not be able to eat or drink, therefore, lose
weight and perish because of their fear of the punishments in the hereafter. If human beings did
not possess soul, similar to animals, they would neither be able to eat nor drink because of the
fear of the punishment, and thus would not be able to live. Continuation of daily lives of human
beings depend on their nafs’ ignorance (Gaflat) and low resistance toward the pleasures of the
world (Dunya). The soul is like a double edge sword or it is like a medicine which possesses
strong poisonous properties. Anyone who uses this medicine according to the prescription given
by the doctor benefits from the useful properties of the medicine. Alternately, anyone who uses
this medicine in an extreme fashion will perish because of the poisonous properties of the
medicine. Islam does not prescribe destruction of the soul. On the contrary, it asks the soul be
tamed so that it could be utilized for doing useful deeds.]
Two types of struggle (Jihad) against the soul is employed in order to prevent soul from
transgressing against the guidelines set by Islam. The first one is called "Riyazat". "Riyazat" is
the resistance of a human being against the temptations of his soul. This is accomplished by
utilizing two means, "Wara" and piety (Taqwa). "Taqwa" means not doing forbidden actions, or
in other words it is a way of living such that one does not commit forbidden actions in his daily
affairs. "Wara" is much more than piety. "Wara" in addition to piety requires that one should
avoid utilizing permissible things beyond the bare necessities of life. The second type of struggle
(Jihad) against the soul requires performing things that soul does not like. This is called
"Mujahada." All the worships are "Mujahada" because soul does not like to perform worships.
These two types of struggles tame the soul and mature human beings and strengthen the spirits
and lead one to the way of the sincere ones (Siddiqs), the martyrs (Shahids) and the pious
(Salih). Allahu ta’ala is not in need of the worships of His creatures. Transgression of His
creatures does not harm Him in any way. He ordered these aforementioned things in order to
tame the soul and in order to make a struggle against the soul.
If human beings did not possess soul, they would not be humans any more and they would
possess the quality of angelhood. But, human beings' body is in need of many things. For
example, it is necessary to eat, drink, sleep, and rest. There is no doubt that a cavalryman cannot
survive without a horse. Therefore, he takes care of his horse. Similarly, a human being cannot
function without a body. Thus, he must also take care of his body. Worships are accomplished
through bodies. Once, someone told our Prophet, peace be upon him, that such and such a person
was performing "Salat" worship continuously throughout the night without sleeping. He replied,
"Most precious worships are the ones which are done on a continuous basis even if they are
not much in quantity." Worships which are done on a continuous basis cause a person to
become a steady worshiper.
Performing worships means intending and following the orders of the divine law. The
commandements and prohibitions given by Allahu ta’ala are called "Shari’at" or "Ahkam alilahiyya"
or divine rules. Commandments are called "Farz" and prohibitions are called "Haram".
It is reported that our Prophet said, "Perform worships as much as you can endure. Worships
performed with joy and pleasure are most valuable." A well rested person can perform
worships with joy and pleasure. Alternately, performing things while body or mind is tired cause
boredom. One should do permissible things once in a while in order to regenerate a cheerful and
restful attitude and get rid of tiredness. Imam al-Ghazali, may Allahu ta’ala be pleased with him,
says, "The body gets tired and does not want to move when one is consumed in excessive
worshiping. At such instances one should comfort the body by either sleeping or reading the life
stories of pious Muslims or by permissible entertainment. Doing these actions is better than
worshiping without real desire." The purpose of worshipping is two folds. The first one is to
make struggle "mujahada" in order to tame the soul. The second one is to comfort the heart and
bring increased desire of love of Allahu ta’ala to the heart. In one hadith, Rasulullah, peace be
upon him, said, "Salat worship protects one from committing lowly and ugly actions." This
protection can only be obtained by performing the "Salat" worship with strong desire and joy.
Obtaining this strong desire and joy requires to satisfy the permissible desires of the soul as
much as necessary. Following these guidelines would be obedience to Islam. Permissible things
that promote other worships to be performed turn out to be worships themselves. For example,
the hadith "The sleep of a scholar is better than the worship of an ignorant" is a good proof
for our argument on this subject. Performing midnight prayer while one is sleepy is "maqruh."
One should pray it with joy after one gets rid of sleepiness. The prayers which are done in a
sleepy condition would be improper.
[One should not be misguided by the above writings to suppose that one could quit performing
worships because one is tired of performing them. That type of meaning is not intended and
cannot be driven from these writings. The intended meaning is such that when one completely
devotes one’s self to worships all the time, at some instance, due to prolonged worshipping, one's
soul might not be able to cope with such loads. Since one's spirit is strong and controls the soul
and still wants to continue worshiping, the soul cannot disobey the spirit and thus performs the
worships without a real desire. Above-mentioned writings refer to such circumstances we have
just described and say that one should not force the soul but instead should give it a break by
postponing these extra supererogatory worships. Nowhere in these writings is there any
indication to the effect that the performance of the worships can be stopped all together. Not
performing obligatory worships without legitimate excuse constitutes grave sin and is forbidden
and their performance at a later time becomes obligatory. Any obligatory worship such as "Five
daily salat prayers" and fasting that is not performed during the prescribed time has to be
performed at a later time. Not performing "Wajib prayers" at their due times also necessitates
performing them at a later time, i.e. it becomes "Wajib" to perform them at a later time. One
who does not perform Sunnats of our prophet will be missing their rewards. If one does not
perform Sunnat of our prophet without any real excuse, he will not obtain the intercession
(Shafa’at) peculiar to those Sunnats. Being tired or not having desire and joy of performing the
worships cannot be legitimate excuses for postponing performance of the obligatory worships
from their usual times. One cannot spare himself from the sin and punishment of not performing
the obligatory worships on their due times. The books which teach tenets of faith states that not
paying attention to the rules of divine law or, not heeding whether things are obligatory (Fard) or
forbidden (Haram) causes disbelief. The enemies of Islam are trying to deceive Muslim youth
and harm Islam from within by saying that one may not perform worships if one wishes to.
Muslim youth, in order not to be deceived by these enemies, have no alternative but study the
books written by "Ahl as-sunnat scholars" and learn the obligatory worships and the forbidden
actions.]
pleasures of the soul. Ugliness of these types of actions of the soul is clearly communicated in
the verses of the Qur'an. Furthermore, it is also communicated in the Qur'an that following
desires of the soul causes one to depart from the path of Allahu ta’ala. Because, soul always
wants to deny the existence of Allahu ta’ala and to be obstinate or to rebel against Him.
Following the desires of soul in every matter amounts to worshiping the soul. Anyone who
follows his soul either falls into disbelief or becomes follower of corrupt innovated worships or
beliefs (Ahl al-bidat) or starts to commit forbidden actions. Abu Bakr Tamistani, may Allahu
ta’ala be pleased with him, says, "The fortune of not following desires of the soul is the biggest
treasure of this world. Because, soul is the greatest of all veils between Allahu ta’ala and His
slave". Sahl bin Abdullah Tustari [died in 283 Hijri at Basra], may Allahu ta’ala be pleased with
him, says, "The best of all worships is not to follow the desires of the soul." Islam bin Yusuf
Balhi, may Allahu ta’ala be pleased with him, once gave a gift to Hatam-ul-Esam, may Allahu
ta’ala be pleased with him, and seeing that Hatam accepted his gift, asked him if his acceptance
of the gift would constitute following the desires of his soul. In reply, Hatam told him that by
accepting his gift, he made himself lowly and made him superior. Furthermore, he said, "If I
wouldn't accept his gift, that would make myself superior and him lowly. And, my soul 'nafs'
would've loved that!" Rasulullah, peace be upon him, at the end of a long hadith said, "Three
causes lead a person to disaster: being stingy, following desires of the soul 'nafs', and being
a conceited person." Imam al-Ghazali, may Allahu ta’ala be pleased with him, said that the veil
which stops getting the help of Allahu ta’ala is self love (Ujb). In other words it is one's not
seeing his own imperfections and seeing his worships as worthy. Jesus (Isa), peace be upon him,
said to his companions, "Oh my companions! The wind put out many lights. Similarly, self love
'Ujb' also destroys many worships and annihilates their rewards."
It is reported that once Rasulullah, peace be upon him, said, "I am very much afraid that my
followers will catch two vices. They are: following the desires of the soul and forgetting
about death and running after the world." Following desires of the soul prevents one from
following the orders of Islam. Forgetting the death causes one to follow desires of his soul (nafs).
In another hadith, Rasulullah, peace be upon him, said, "The existence of wisdom in a person
manifests itself by his control over his soul 'nafs' and by his preparation of the things that
will be beneficial after death. The sign of stupidity is one’s following desires of his soul and
then expecting forgiveness and mercy from Allahu ta’ala." According to this hadith,
following the desires of one’s soul (Nafs) and then expecting forgiveness and admittance to the
heaven without repentance amounts to stupidity. Expecting something without doing any action
which would produce that expected result is called wishful thinking (Tamanni). On the other
hand, expecting something after doing actions that would produce the result is called hope or
expectation (Raja). Wishful thinking leads one into laziness. Expectation on the other hand is the
cause of work and production. Desires of the soul are called fancy (Hawa). The soul always
loves and wants harmful things that exist in its nature. The following reflects this truth very
clearly:
Always be on guard against your soul.
Never trust in your soul.
It is an enemy to you,
Greater than seventy devils!
The harm caused by following desires of the soul by committing forbidden actions and disliked
actions (Makruhs) are very obvious. The soul's wishes are all animal desires. But these animal
desires are all related to the necessities of the daily affairs (Dunya). As long as a human being
tries to satisfy these necessities, he will be delayed to prepare necessities of the hereafter. One
important point should be noted by everyone is that the soul never satisfies with permissible
things. As long as man satisfies all of its permissible desires, the soul will ask for more. If man
keeps satisfying its demands in an increasing order, soul will keep asking more! It will never be
satisfied and finally will lead man into forbidden things. Furthermore, utilizing permissible
things in excess causes grief, suffering and diseases. A person who uses permissible things in
excess will become a selfish and base person who always thinks of his animal passions and
pleasures.
[Imam ar-Rabbani, may Allahu ta’ala be well pleased with him, the great saint, comments on the
present subject as follows, "The origin of all existing beings is Adam. Adam means
nonexistence. While there were no existent in the existence besides Allahu ta’ala, He knew their
existence in the nonexistent realm. In other words, things existed in His knowledge. Allahu ta’ala
manifested to these Adams in His knowledge through His attributes thus caused the origin (asl)
of these existent beings to become a reality. He then moved these origins (asl) into the external
realm. Thus existences came into being. Present existence materialized out of nonexistence
through the manifestations of His attributes. It is similar to the case of an apple seed's being the
origin of an apple.
In order to understand the nature of human beings, let's contemplate about the
image of an object in a mirror. The image that appears in the mirror is reflection of the light
come from the object. The mirror is like Adam or nonexistence in the foregoing discussion. The
spirit and spiritual heart of a human being is similar to the light. The mirror is similar to the body
of a human being and brightness of the mirror is similar to the soul. The origin of the soul is
nonexistence or Adam, and it has no relationship to the spirit or spiritual heart." A person who
follows desires of his soul always steps out of the bounds of Islam. Since animals do not possess
wisdom and "Nafs", they always use when they find things they are in need of. They only escape
from things that hurt them physically. Islam neither prohibits utilization of vehicles that provide
a comfortable and peaceful living, nor inhibits enjoying useful worldly pleasures. Islam orders
Muslims to follow the guidelines set out by the religion and wisdom for acquiring and utilizing
these things. The goal of Islam is the comfortable and peaceful living of human beings in this
and in the next world. Accomplishing this goal rests with following the wisdom, and abstaining
from the desires of the soul. If the wisdom was not created, human beings would always follow
desires of the soul and fall into turmoil. If soul did not exist, human beings could not multiply
and live a civilized life. Also, without soul, human beings could not obtain rewards of struggle
(Jihad) against the soul. Furthermore, without a soul, human beings could not rise above the
grades of angels. Our Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "If animals had known the knowledge
you possess about the things that would happen in the life after death, you could not be
able to find any meat to consume!" Animals would not be able to eat or drink, therefore, lose
weight and perish because of their fear of the punishments in the hereafter. If human beings did
not possess soul, similar to animals, they would neither be able to eat nor drink because of the
fear of the punishment, and thus would not be able to live. Continuation of daily lives of human
beings depend on their nafs’ ignorance (Gaflat) and low resistance toward the pleasures of the
world (Dunya). The soul is like a double edge sword or it is like a medicine which possesses
strong poisonous properties. Anyone who uses this medicine according to the prescription given
by the doctor benefits from the useful properties of the medicine. Alternately, anyone who uses
this medicine in an extreme fashion will perish because of the poisonous properties of the
medicine. Islam does not prescribe destruction of the soul. On the contrary, it asks the soul be
tamed so that it could be utilized for doing useful deeds.]
Two types of struggle (Jihad) against the soul is employed in order to prevent soul from
transgressing against the guidelines set by Islam. The first one is called "Riyazat". "Riyazat" is
the resistance of a human being against the temptations of his soul. This is accomplished by
utilizing two means, "Wara" and piety (Taqwa). "Taqwa" means not doing forbidden actions, or
in other words it is a way of living such that one does not commit forbidden actions in his daily
affairs. "Wara" is much more than piety. "Wara" in addition to piety requires that one should
avoid utilizing permissible things beyond the bare necessities of life. The second type of struggle
(Jihad) against the soul requires performing things that soul does not like. This is called
"Mujahada." All the worships are "Mujahada" because soul does not like to perform worships.
These two types of struggles tame the soul and mature human beings and strengthen the spirits
and lead one to the way of the sincere ones (Siddiqs), the martyrs (Shahids) and the pious
(Salih). Allahu ta’ala is not in need of the worships of His creatures. Transgression of His
creatures does not harm Him in any way. He ordered these aforementioned things in order to
tame the soul and in order to make a struggle against the soul.
If human beings did not possess soul, they would not be humans any more and they would
possess the quality of angelhood. But, human beings' body is in need of many things. For
example, it is necessary to eat, drink, sleep, and rest. There is no doubt that a cavalryman cannot
survive without a horse. Therefore, he takes care of his horse. Similarly, a human being cannot
function without a body. Thus, he must also take care of his body. Worships are accomplished
through bodies. Once, someone told our Prophet, peace be upon him, that such and such a person
was performing "Salat" worship continuously throughout the night without sleeping. He replied,
"Most precious worships are the ones which are done on a continuous basis even if they are
not much in quantity." Worships which are done on a continuous basis cause a person to
become a steady worshiper.
Performing worships means intending and following the orders of the divine law. The
commandements and prohibitions given by Allahu ta’ala are called "Shari’at" or "Ahkam alilahiyya"
or divine rules. Commandments are called "Farz" and prohibitions are called "Haram".
It is reported that our Prophet said, "Perform worships as much as you can endure. Worships
performed with joy and pleasure are most valuable." A well rested person can perform
worships with joy and pleasure. Alternately, performing things while body or mind is tired cause
boredom. One should do permissible things once in a while in order to regenerate a cheerful and
restful attitude and get rid of tiredness. Imam al-Ghazali, may Allahu ta’ala be pleased with him,
says, "The body gets tired and does not want to move when one is consumed in excessive
worshiping. At such instances one should comfort the body by either sleeping or reading the life
stories of pious Muslims or by permissible entertainment. Doing these actions is better than
worshiping without real desire." The purpose of worshipping is two folds. The first one is to
make struggle "mujahada" in order to tame the soul. The second one is to comfort the heart and
bring increased desire of love of Allahu ta’ala to the heart. In one hadith, Rasulullah, peace be
upon him, said, "Salat worship protects one from committing lowly and ugly actions." This
protection can only be obtained by performing the "Salat" worship with strong desire and joy.
Obtaining this strong desire and joy requires to satisfy the permissible desires of the soul as
much as necessary. Following these guidelines would be obedience to Islam. Permissible things
that promote other worships to be performed turn out to be worships themselves. For example,
the hadith "The sleep of a scholar is better than the worship of an ignorant" is a good proof
for our argument on this subject. Performing midnight prayer while one is sleepy is "maqruh."
One should pray it with joy after one gets rid of sleepiness. The prayers which are done in a
sleepy condition would be improper.
[One should not be misguided by the above writings to suppose that one could quit performing
worships because one is tired of performing them. That type of meaning is not intended and
cannot be driven from these writings. The intended meaning is such that when one completely
devotes one’s self to worships all the time, at some instance, due to prolonged worshipping, one's
soul might not be able to cope with such loads. Since one's spirit is strong and controls the soul
and still wants to continue worshiping, the soul cannot disobey the spirit and thus performs the
worships without a real desire. Above-mentioned writings refer to such circumstances we have
just described and say that one should not force the soul but instead should give it a break by
postponing these extra supererogatory worships. Nowhere in these writings is there any
indication to the effect that the performance of the worships can be stopped all together. Not
performing obligatory worships without legitimate excuse constitutes grave sin and is forbidden
and their performance at a later time becomes obligatory. Any obligatory worship such as "Five
daily salat prayers" and fasting that is not performed during the prescribed time has to be
performed at a later time. Not performing "Wajib prayers" at their due times also necessitates
performing them at a later time, i.e. it becomes "Wajib" to perform them at a later time. One
who does not perform Sunnats of our prophet will be missing their rewards. If one does not
perform Sunnat of our prophet without any real excuse, he will not obtain the intercession
(Shafa’at) peculiar to those Sunnats. Being tired or not having desire and joy of performing the
worships cannot be legitimate excuses for postponing performance of the obligatory worships
from their usual times. One cannot spare himself from the sin and punishment of not performing
the obligatory worships on their due times. The books which teach tenets of faith states that not
paying attention to the rules of divine law or, not heeding whether things are obligatory (Fard) or
forbidden (Haram) causes disbelief. The enemies of Islam are trying to deceive Muslim youth
and harm Islam from within by saying that one may not perform worships if one wishes to.
Muslim youth, in order not to be deceived by these enemies, have no alternative but study the
books written by "Ahl as-sunnat scholars" and learn the obligatory worships and the forbidden
actions.]
