Summary
The article explains managing the nafs as a central spiritual duty, highlighting its dual nature, the need for purification, resisting temptation through taqwa, and seeking Allah’s help to attain success.
“Have you not seen the camel and how We created it? And how we have raised the skies? And the mountains, how they are firmly standing? And the earth how it spread out? [Surah Ghashiya: 17-20]
The mountains stand without any pillars and the earth rolls out like a carpet for us to walk upon it. Every astronomical thing we see, and how a human eats, will reflect the power of their Creator. Before a piece of bread reaches your mouth it goes through many phases, from being an ordinary wheat seed until it grows, is harvested, then ground into flour, and finally baked into the bread that you consume. One of the most wonderful and amazing creations of Allah is the Nafs. It can incline towards good or bad, taking the whole body to prosperity or destruction. Taming of the Nafs is very important for every human being, as their hereafter is connected with the behavior of their nafs. This article encourages you to take charge of your nafs and reign the temptations. The first verses of Surah Shams mention certain astronomical creations of Allah upon which He swears and says,“By the sun and its brightness. And [by] the moon when it follows it. And [by] the day when it displays it. And [by] the night when it covers it. And [by] the sky and He who constructed it. And [by] the earth and He who spread it.” [Surah al-Shams, 1-6]
In the above verse, Allah swears not only by the sun but also the heat of its light. He has placed many benefits in the light of the sun. Umar ibn al-Khattab (Allah be pleased with him) used to say, “O people, do not forget that a large chunk of support of our food and health is kept by Allah in the sunlight.” The Nafs is Also Among the Amazing Creations of Allah In the above-mentioned surah, after swearing upon His seven mighty creations, Allah follows it up with a piece of news along with the swearing,“And [by] the nafs and He who proportioned it.” [Surah al-Shams, 7]
The nafs are proportioned by goodness, piety, generosity, and all such good qualities. However, along with them, Allah has placed two more abilities in the nafs, which are confirmed in the next verse,“The temptation to do mischief and the desire to do good.” [Surah al-Shams, 8]
The following verse settles the whole subject,“Successful is he who purifies it.” [Surah al-Shams, 9]
Allah has given the ability to humanity to groom their nafs with goodness and cleanse their nafs from the ability to sin. The Qur’an guides how to tame one’s nafs and prevent it from falling into temptation. Taming of the Nafs is Taqwa“O believers! Be mindful of Allah (Taqwa) and let every nafs look to what ˹deeds˺ it has sent forth for tomorrow. And fear Allah (have Taqwa), certainly Allah is All-Aware of what you do.” [Surah Al- Hashr, 18]
In the above verses, Allah instructs us to monitor our nafs, and links this to Taqwa twice. The taming of the Nafs includes purifying it, as mentioned in the following verse,“Successful is he who purifies his nafs. And doomed is the one who corrupts it.” [Surah As-Shams, 19-20]
The characteristics of the corrupt nafs are deviated beliefs, taking up false gods, inclining toward innovations, the greed for the materialistic world, jealousy, and no fear of standing before the Lord on the Day of Judgement. Submitting to the methods suggested by the Quran will help control the temptation of the Nafs.“Ward off from yourselves and your families a Fire (Hell).” [Surah Tahrim, 6]
Ar-Rabi ibn Anas said, “This verse instructs you to discipline and train yourselves and your families to adhere to the commands of Allah, may He be Glorified and Exalted.”
Sa‘id ibn Jubayr said, “Saving from the Fire is done through establishing proper etiquette and manners.” Then he explained, “Do you not see that your Lord, the Most Generous, is urging you to discipline yourself and your families! Pay heed to Allah and make yourselves adhere to that.” (Adab an-Nuffus, pg 15)
Do Not Pamper Your Nafs Among the obligatory things upon a person is to purify his nafs from the dirt of evil things, such as jealousy, backbiting, obscenity, and all other things which are forbidden. The success of a person is connected to his ability to purify his nafs. Purifying also means to prevent the nafs from getting tempted to do a forbidden act. Allah has given to the nafs the ability to adopt generosity as well as miserliness, but if we pamper our nafs and give up to their sinful inclinations, then wrong emotions and evil acts will prevail in our choice of actions. It leads to a terrible failure. Those Who Did Not Cleanse Their Nafs were Doomed- In Surah al-Shams, as well as in many other places, Allah declares that the people of Aad, Thamud, and Pharaoh were destroyed because of their obedience to their Nafs. The people of Midyan were dishonest and greedy in their financial transactions, and the people of Lut fell into homosexuality due to lust. Allah cautions us by reminding us of the danger of misguidance for losing to the desire of the Nafs.“Have you seen the one who has taken his vain desires as his god? So Allah let him go astray knowingly and He put a seal on his hearing and his heart and He put a veil on his sight. Who then will guide him after Allah?” [Surah Jathiya, 23]
Taming the Nafs Makes You a Strong Believer Nobody among you can be a Muslim until he reigns his nafs under the control of the Shariah that it has come with. The day when one’s nafs is purified and remains under the obedience of the commands of Allah, and he submits his desires to the command of Allah, only then does he become a believer in the true sense. Only Allah Can Protect You From the Mischief of the Nafs When your nafs tries to tempt you to desirous evil and sins, then know that at that point it has become your biggest enemy. Whenever the Prophet delivered a sermon, he would always make a point to seek refuge in Allah from the mischief of his nafs, “We seek refuge from the mischief of the nafs.” If a Prophet of the caliber of Muhammed (ﷺ) sought refuge in Allah from the mischief of his nafs, then it means that we all should be seeking refuge from the mischief of our own nafs. Resist the Temptations of the Nafs To be qualified for being a deserving candidate of Paradise, Allah informs us,“And he has failed who instilled it.” [Surah al-Sham, 10]
One should always resist the temptation offered by the nafs. If you are lying and hear the call for prayer, your nafs will tempt you to delay getting up and going to the mosque. If you resist the temptation and rush to obey Allah, the Most Merciful, then you have reigned your nafs and helped yourself establish control over it. Increase Your Taqwa to Strengthen the Resistance Against the Nafs“But as for him who feared standing before his Lord, and restrained himself from impure evil desires, and lusts.” [Surah Naziyat, 40]
A man who fears being accounted before Allah,“Will be the one who has a place in Jannah.” [Surah Naziyat, 41]
Abdullah ibn Mu‘awiyah reported that a man said, “What is purification of the soul?” The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “That one knows Allah, the Almighty, is with him wherever he is.” (Al-Mu’jam al-Saghiir lil-Tabarani, 555, and sahih (authentic) according to Al-Albani)
Replace Greed with Gratefulness The greed of worldly life gushes through our hearts as an effect of our choices of what we prefer to do. Cheap but glamorous entertainment and highly publicized celebrities will always lead you to enjoy a temporary life. Reading and listening to the simple lifestyle of the Companions and the pious predecessors will increase your own desire for simplicity in life and cut-off much of temptation. Ibn Abbas reported that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said,“Whoever increases his prayers for forgiveness, Allah will grant him relief from every worry, a way out from every hardship, and provide for him in ways he does not expect.” (Musnad Ahmad 2234, sahih (authentic) according to Ahmad Shakir)
Plead to Allah to Help You in Purifying Your NafsUwais Al-Qarni (Rahimuhullah) said, “If you get up, then ask Allah to rectify your heart and intentions. You will not be able to fix anything more difficult for you than these two.” (Sifatus Safu, vol. 2/ 31)
One of the prominent supplication of the Prophet (ﷺ) about seeking refuge in Allah from the mischief of Nafas was,“Allahumma Ati nafsi fi Taqwaha, wa zakiha, anta khairu’man zakkaha, anta waliyuha wa moulaha (O Allah! Grant me the sense of piety and purify my soul as You are the Best to purify it. You are its Guardian and its Protecting Friend).” (Sahih Muslim)
Allah says,“Successful indeed is the one who purifies his nafs and destroyed is indeed he who submitted to the mischief of his nafs.” [Surah al-Shams, 9]
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