Virtues of the Righteous
In the name of Allah, Gracious to all in this world and to believers only on the Day of Judgment! All praise to the Almighty Allah - the Lord of all creations! May Allah bless and welcome Muhammad - the seal of all the prophets and messengers, as well as his family, companions and those who follow his path until Judgment Day. It is no secret that a good moral temperament is a pillar of faith and its indisputable truth. The higher are the people’s moral standards, the more perfect is the ummah (community). But when virtue disappears, woes befall. Accordingly, every reasonable person who wants good for society is obliged to closely monitor his moral foundation and try to improve it.
Today, everyone who carefully looks about him will surely observe those hardships and troubles that alter people's moral attitudes and spread evils that weaken iman (faith) and kill virtue in the heart. The writing of this book was thus necessary to evoke good moral dispositions in people’s hearts, to improve the behavior of Muslims and to purify their nafs (ego).
I ask Almighty Allah that this book be useful and serve to improve people’s morality. For He is the Lord, Knowing, Hearing and Answering our prayers!
All praise be to the Lord of all creation. May Allah bless and welcome our master Muhammad, his family and companions.
NAFS AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO HUMAN MORAL QUALITIES
THE ESSENCE OF NAFS
Truly, the nafs of man (ego) is a divine mystery (latifa rabbaniyya), the essence of which cannot be fully comprehended.
Until the moment of its entering the human body, the nafs is called the spirit, or ruh. When, at the behest of Almighty Allah, the spirit is united with the body, it becomes acquainted with other things [1] and thus becomes distracted from its Lord. A veil is then raised between Allah Almighty and the nafs that prevents it from becoming close to its Creator.
It is known that by its nature the human soul is a noble entity, since the breath of an angel gives it life. In this regard, the Messenger of Allah told us, “Verily, the creation of each one of you takes place in your mother’s womb: for forty days in the form of a drop, then for the same time in the form of a clot of blood, and for the same time again in the form of a piece of flesh. And then an angel is sent to the foetus and breathes the spirit (ruh) into it. At the same time, the angel receives orders to record four predestinations for this creation: his apportionment (rizq), the term of his life, his deeds and his final outcome (whether he will leave this world happy or unhappy) [2].
After the spirit is united with the body, an astonishing creation is formed, called insan (man). Allah made man His caliph (deputy) on earth, so that he might lead a creative way of life. Out of concern for the human nafs, the Almighty sent down the sharia (legal corpus). You see, knowledge and a good moral disposition are the foundations on which the perfecting of the nafs of man is based.
As the proscriptions and decrees of Almighty Allah are addressed to the nafs of man, and especially as it is through the qualities of their nafs that people’s righteousness or wickedness are determined, the improvement of the human nafs is the main purpose of sending down the divine Books, the revelations of prophets and messengers and the establishment of laws.
By its nature, inherent to a person’s nafs are passion, indolence, vulnerability to various life situations - and under the influence of bad friends
- demons among people and jinns
- the nafs constantly commits sins. Consequently, it is necessary to work on one’s nafs, to eradicate its flaws which arise from the commission of sins - and thereby rid oneself of the harm they cause. This is possible only through sincere repentance and return to Almighty Allah [3].
NAFS - THE MAIN ENEMY OF MAN
Bad behaviour is intrinsic to a person’s nafs. Thus he stubbornly opposes observance of the adab (ethical norms) that a slave is ordered to observe. Nafs is an inseparable enemy of mankind. The Prophet said, «Your greatest enemy is your nafs, which is found within you.» Therefore, one who allows his nafs free reign in his pleasures and passions is an accomplice of the nafs in his own ruin. The righteous, realizing this truth, have shown that the root and foundation of every sin, act of carelessness, passion and shirk [4] are contentment with one's nafs. As well as vigilance and abstention from that which is proscribed, the basis of obedience to the Creator is discontent with one's nafs.
A small deed committed with hope in the Grace of Allah is better than a large one committed with hope just in oneself.
A rational person who acknowledges the essence of his nafs and realizes his baseness, need, weakness, frailty and final outcome, and anticipates the death of his nafs, knows such attributes of his Creator as Power, Infinity, Might, Greatness and Pride; because it is the Lord who is the Creator of nafs, who created it from nothing.
When Almighty Allah turned to His awliya (beloved slaves) and called on them to become closer to Him, He showed them the nearest and easiest pathway to do this. This way is to confront the nafs. Almighty Allah turned to one of His favorites in a dream: «Fight with your nafs, for there is no other creation in My kingdom who engages in litigation with Me.» One’s nafs is constantly endeavouring to acquire qualities that are the attributes of the Almighty, such as pride, greatness and power over people. But only the Great Creator can possess these qualities - Allah, He is the Perfector of everything unworthy of Him.
THE LEVELS OF HUMAN NAFS
A person’s nafs is constantly changing. Five levels of a person’s nafs are differentiated according to the proximity or remoteness of its possessor from Allah Almighty.
The first level is аn-nafs al-ammara (nafs that commands evil doing). It constantly pushes his master to sin and makes him negligent. About such nafs, the master and imam of the Sufis, Junaid al-Baghdadi, said: «An- nafs al-ammara (nafs that commands evil doing) encourages spiritual destruction and serves the enemies of man.» By the enemies of man, Junaid al-Baghdadi means the worldly life and Satan, which make sinful acts attractive to the sons of Adam.
The second level is аn-nafs al- lawwama (reproachful nafs). It reproaches his master for committing sin.
The third level is an-nafs al- mulhima (inspirational nafs). The nafs of this level instills goodness in its master and encourages goodness.
The fourth level is an-nafs ar-raziya (pleased nafs). This nafs is contented with the power of Almighty Allah and His decision. He displays complete obedience to the Almighty and accepts everything that Allah chooses for him.
The fifth level is аn-nafs al-marziya (nafs with whom the Almighty is pleased). This is the nafs which has won the favour and contentment of Allah, Perfect and Almighty. Upon attainment of this degree, the murid takes the first step on the path towards the true knowledge of Almighty Allah.
- Everything else in the world besides Almighty Allah.
- If a person dies with iman (faith) in his heart, he will be happy, and if he dies without iman, then he will be unhappy.
- Return to the path indicated by the Almighty.
- There are two types of shirk: major–attribution of equals to Almighty Allah - and minor - committing acts not for the sake of Allah, but for show, for the sake of some sort of selfish end.
SHEIKH AHMAD-HAJI ABDULAEV MUFTI DAGESTAN
