Man
gives directions to his life depending on the exact nature of the
battle taking place in his inner dimension between the animal and lordly
souls. When the lordly soul wins the battle, man becomes inclined
towards good deeds and morality. But when the animal soul takes the
control, man becomes inclined towards all kinds of sin and immorality.
Man’s responsibility for his actions is based on his preferences and
decisions between good and evil deeds. Since man is given a capacity to
perform his actions in accordance with his free will, and thereby take
his animal soul under control to a certain extent, he is liable for what
he does and eligible for both reward and punishment.1. THE REALITY OF THE NAFS
اَلْمُجَاهِدُ مَنْ جَاهَدَ نَفْسَهُ
The
Almighty created Adam -upon him blessings and peace-, the father of all
human kind, in Paradise and through him, made man the most honored
created being. As a result of this heavenly privilege, however, the
Almighty willed that mankind toil to deserve an eternal and blissful
life in Paradise. As desired by the Almighty’s design in past eternity,
Adam -upon him blessings and peace- committed that well-known blunder in
paradise, as a result of which he was sent out from Paradise to this
world; though paradise remained his original homeland, while this world a
land of exile and trial. Man’s subsequent return to Paradise has thus
become a matter of reward and merit, for which he has to successfully
undergo a variety of tests.
For
such reasons, among all creation, the Almighty has given human beings
unique characteristics. The Almighty willed to design mankind in
accordance with the quality of their praiseworthy and blameworthy deeds,
ranging from “the lowest of the low (asfal al-safilin)” to “the highest of the high (a‘la al-‘illiyin).”
In other words, being the pearl of all creation, man possesses an
inborn capacity towards good and evil; and thus his high or low position
among creation depends on the way he uses his will. The success of man
in this undertaking is proportional to his personal success in enhancing
his good qualities and, at the same time, curbing his evil aspects. The
merit of a human being becomes evident in this battle ground where the
good and evil features stake conflicting claims over the control of the
person.
According to masters of Sufism,
the negative and positive inclinations that exist in man have two
locale or focal points in “the animal soul” and “the lordly soul”.
The
animal soul is a subtle faculty that enables man to stay alive in this
world and to keep his biological existence under control. It is also
called “life” or “self”. Since the animal soul keeps running its basic
operations in the human body even while a person is asleep, most of the
biological functions in the body are involuntarily carried on during
sleep. But the lordly soul leaves the body during sleep, to return to it
once again the moment a person wakes up. The animal soul sets the body
in motion, makes it speak, and enables it to operate all the other basic
bodily functions. The animal soul leaves the body by death. Its
location is between the brain and the heart, from where it spreads out
to the whole body and undertakes its main operations through the
circulating blood. This soul is related to “the temporal and created
world (alamu’l-khalq)”[1] and
constitutes the starting point of human actions. If untrained, this
soul may exercise negative influences over a human being.
The
lordly soul refers to the human soul which the Almighty had breathed of
His spirit. It is this quality that differentiates a human being from
the rest of creation. The lordly soul belongs to “the world of
unconditioned existence (alamu’l-amr)”[2] and
accompanies the human body so that man may perform good deeds. By way
of, and thanks to, this soul which the human body dresses, man leads a
decent and observant lifestyle in servanthood and obedience. The lordly
soul does not perish or disappear with the death of the body; though by
death the effect of the lordly soul over the body comes to an end.
Man
gives directions to his life depending on the exact nature of the
battle taking place in his inner dimension between the animal and lordly
souls. When the lordly soul wins the battle, man becomes inclined
towards good deeds and morality. But when the animal soul takes the
control, man becomes inclined towards all kinds of sin and immorality.
Man’s responsibility for his actions is based on his preferences and
decisions between good and evil deeds. Since man is given a capacity to
perform his actions in accordance with his free will, and thereby take
his animal soul under control to a certain extent, he is liable for what
he does and eligible for both reward and punishment.
The
human ego constitutes one of the biggest obstacles that stand in front
of man in this world of tests and trial. For this reason, in general,
we think of the human self, or nafs, as a negative concept. In reality,
however, the self has positive qualities embedded in its essence. To
make this essence appear in all its glory, man must instead polish the
nafs from all kinds of dirt through spiritual purification. Man should
continually keep himself busy with striving for good causes in this
world so that he could reach a blissful life in the world to come, as
every man shapes his own eternal life in this world and reaps whatever
he sows. Depending on the quality of his deeds, each person will attain a
pleasant or an unpleasant life in the Hereafter. In one respect, we
might even say that it is man himself who writes his own destiny in this
life.
One
of the essential conditions of eternal happiness and salvation for man
is to mature the lower self or the ego to a proper degree of ripeness,
so as to accustom it to offering good deeds. A self that lacks this
ripeness is similar to an aggressive and untamed horse, which takes its
rider to destruction, rather than to his intended destination. A saddled
horse, on the other hand, properly trained and bridled, takes its rider
peacefully to the destination, however dangerous the road might be.
Likewise, an untamed and uncontrolled self cannot take its possessor to
the sublime and celestial aims of life.
In
fact, the self, or nafs, functions as a two dimensional vehicle. While
it has a potential to elevate man’s value to the peaks of maturity and
make him the pearl of all creation, it might also degrade his value to
the lowest of the low. The self, therefore, has a potential to head
towards both directions, like a two-edged knife. When properly trained
it heads towards the good; though if not, it recklessly heads towards
evil.
Every
human soul that remains deprived of spiritual guidance and control,
functions like a dark curtain of ignorance that covers the surface of
realities. But as mentioned above, despite the obstacle of the ego, if a
person purifies himself by salvaging his soul from the hands of immoral
characteristics, he can reach advanced points even higher than that of
angels. For the merit of every end is proportionate to the level of
difficulty experienced and of the obstacles overcome for the sake of
reaching this end.
Immoral
characteristics in the soul interfere with the communication between
the Almighty and the servant. Only through the practice of the required
spiritual methods can one remain firm against these relentless
interferences; and this means an equally relentless struggle against the
ego’s lowly temptations and desires. Such a course of action requires a
persistent and determinate toil. In this context, the Blessed Prophet
–upon him blessings and peace- says,
“[The real] struggler (mujahid) is the one who struggles against his own self.” (Tirmidhi, Fadailu’l-Jihad, 2; Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, VI, 20)
Although
the struggle against the lower self, or the ego, does not kill it, it
nonetheless takes it under control. In fact, Sufism does not so much aim
at utterly destroying the self, as withholding it from transgressing
and immunizing it against lowly desires and inclinations. The Sufi way
undertakes this operation in accordance with Divine instructions. In
this regard, Ghazzali compares man’s position with a rider and says,
“The nafs is the spirit’s saddled beast. If a person lets go of the
bridles of the nafs and follows its direction, his destruction becomes
unavoidable. If he tries to destroy the self (as it is in the case of
certain Hindu religions and mystical philosophies), then he is bound to
remain behind on the path of reality, without any saddled beast. Better
you hold on tight to the bridles of the beast and make use of it.”
Following
this course of action in dealing with the self is a requirement, and
moreover, an essential part of the prophetic method in human education.
The Blessed Prophet -upon him blessings and peace- did not approve of
the attitude of refraining totally from eating, drinking and living a
family life for the sake of devoting the entire energy to worship. He
repeatedly underlined the fact that such a monastic practice of complete
self-isolation was not a part of Islam. The Blessed Prophet -upon him
blessings and peace- hence showed the possibility and methods of
accomplishing spiritual progress whilst leading a life in society.
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