Virtues of the Righteous
The cleansing of nafs. Three ways of cleansing nafs
The cleansing of nafs
Know that nafs is surrounded by veils [1] of nur (light) and darkness. The path of the murid, which leads to the clearing away of these veils, is the call to struggle with the nafs. The principal part of this struggle is restraining the nafs from weaknesses, for which it is necessary to constantly encourage him to resist desires and passions.
Do not think that cleansing nafs is an easy thing and that you can resist it solely by the power of reason, as some philosophers believe. On the contrary, the purification of nafs is similar to the treatmentofaseriouslyillpatient, which should be done under the constant supervision of a skilled physician with extensive experience. Thus the cleansing of nafs is possible only under the supervision of the Prophet or a wali (righteous person), who has knowledge and experience in this matter. There is no hope of bettering one’s nafs until the spiritual heart, which is the ruler of the human body, is cleansed. After all, it is only through the improvement of a ruler’s moral qualities that his subjects also become better.
Truly, the treatment of nafs is a difficult matter. It requires constant repetition. After all, the nafs is like a stubborn animal that will not obey its owner if he does not keep it in check.
Three ways of cleansing nafs
Truly, the conquest of nafs is possiblein three ways.
The first way is to deprive the nafs of all its desires and passions. Just as a stubborn animal becomes compliant if it is fed less, so the nafs becomes obedient, if it is deprived of what it desires.
The second way is to burden it with the load of ibadat (worship) for a time. Truly, with less feed and an increase in the severity of the load, a stubborn animal, losing strength, becomes compliant. The nafs behaves in a similar way.
The third way is to ask for help from the Almighty and Most Great Allah in the struggle against one’s nafs, imploring Him for support, for He created nafs and He knows better its essence and condition.
Know that Almighty Allah told us the path to fight against nafs and has explained the methods of its purification. Thus, if a doctor talks of the dangers of a person’s favorite foods, explaining that their consumption will lead to various types of diseases, the person will refrain from them, thus demonstating will power and opposition to his nafs. Are indeed the words of the prophets endowed with mujizat (miracles) and the speech of Almighty Allah in the Holy Writings less meaningful than the advice of a doctor whose knowledge and reason are limited?
Oh, if a person could know what is worse: suffering due to the withdrawal from addictions or torment in fiery hell!
Confronting nafs
Know that in a person’s struggle against his nafs, there are many benefits. However, in following and pleasing the wishes of the nafs lies the source of all ills. As an argument, it suffices to cite the unanimous opinion of scholars and sages of all time: that opposition to nafs is the key to all blessings, and that the basis of all evil is submissive adherence to the desires of nafs. Theological scholars also consider countering nafs as the basis of the worship of Allah, emphasizing that the slaughter of the nafs with the swords of resistance as one of the most important tasks of the tariqat. They say: «Let the nafs of one who enters our path taste four varieties of death: red, black, white and green.» By red death is meant the confrontation of nafs and its desires, that is, the struggle against the temptations of worldly life, as well as the struggle against Iblis (Satan) and his assistants. The very colour of this death serves to indicate to passions their suppression, that is - death. Black death is the capacity to endure the difficulties and inconveniences caused by other people by showing patience. Moreover, the colour black often symbolizes burden and difficulty, whereas white death, for example - hunger. In this case, the whiteness of death is nur (light), which arouses hunger in a person’s soul - in his inner world. But green death is the wearing of patched old clothes and the rejection of beautiful apparel you may fancy. And life will, as it were, become green due to contentment with few worldly possessions.
Indeed, Almighty Allah preordained the transmission of barakat (grace) from the struggle against nafs to each of his slaves who resists his passions and desires, even if he not be a Muslim. They say that a certain monk became famous in Egypt for his knowledge of that which is innermost. To this, a Muslim scholar said: «He must be killed before he plunges Muslims into error.» And, smearing his knife with poison, he went to him. When the scholar knocked on the monk’s door, he said to him: “Oh, Muslim scholar, drop the knife!” The scholar, throwing away the knife, entered and asked: “How did you do this?” To which the monk replied, “Thanks to opposition to my nafs.” After these words, the scholar proposed, “Would you accept Islam?” And the monk answered: “Yes, I testify that there is nothing worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.” In surprise, the scholar then asked: “What motivated you to accept Islam?” To this the monk replied, “I asked that my nafs accept Islam, but it refused. Then I did the opposite.” So this man received a great benefit precisely from confronting nafs. Opposition to nafs bears fruits– insight, revelation of secret knowledge by the Almighty (fath) and acceptance by Allah. But agreeing with the nafs, indulging in its passions and doing everything it wishes brings only debasement and procrastination on the pathway of knowledge of Allah. May Almighty Allah protect us from this!
It is recounted that Ibrahim ibn Shayban said, “For a long time I wanted to eat lentils to the full, but I was not given such an opportunity. And then one day when I was in Sham, they brought me a bowl of lentils and I ate my fill. Going outside, I saw jugs hanging up with some kind of liquid. I thought that this was vinegar. They asked me, “What are you looking at? These are samples of wine and here are barrels of wine.” Then I went into the cellar and began to destroy the wine barrels and poured out their contents. However, the shop owner thought that I was pouring out the wine on the orders of the Sultan. When he was informed of the true state of affairs, he took me off to the ruler, Ibn Tulun [2], who ordered me to be punished with two hundred lashes and thrown in jail. I sat in prison until my mentor Abu Abdullah al-Maghribi arrived in that city and interceded for me. Afterwards he asked me, “What did you do?” To which I replied, “I wanted to eat my fill of lentils and did so, after which they punished me with two hundred lashes of cane.” To that the sheikh said, “You still got off lightly.”
Once a person who was sitting in
the air without any support was asked how he managed to do this. To which he replied, “I abandoned the desires of my nafs and the air was subjected to me.”
- Barriers to knowing Allah.
- Egyptian ruler of that time.
FROM THE BOOK “VIRTUES OF THE RIGHTEOUS” BY SHEIKH AHMAD-HAJI ABDULAEV, MUFTI DAGESTAN
