Nafs (Soul) The Different States of three Nafs souls... 1- NAFS AL-MUTAMAINNA - the Satisfied Soul. 0 you satisfied soul. Return to your Lord pleased with yourself and pleasing to Him. Enter among My servants. And enter My paradise. ( Al Fajr 89: 27-30) 2- NAFS AL AMMARA BIS SU - the soul that dictates evil. And I do not free myself from blame. Indeed the human self is inclined to evil, except when my Lord bestows His Mercy (upon whom He wills). Indeed my Lord is Forgiving, Merciful. (Yusuf : 53) 3- NAFS AL LAWWAMA - the Self-reproaching soul. I do call to witness the Resurrection Day. And I do call to witness the self-reproaching Soul. (Al Qiyamah: 1-2) The noblest of the souls is the satisfied soul, which at its last moments on earth will receive the glad news from its lord of Enter among My servants and enter into my Paradise. In contrast is the soul, which inspires evil and disobedience. And between these two extreme states is the self-reproaching soul, which checks its actions and blames itself when it commits evil. Most souls hover between these different states depending on the person’s faith and actions. The Different States of each Nafs 1. Nafs Mutmainna The Quran explains how one can achieve the noble state of the satisfied soul. Indeed, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction. (Quran Al-Rad 12: 28) The Quran is the voice of Al-Rahman just as music is the voice of Satan. If the evil-inspiring soul finds solace in music, dance and its paraphernalia, the satisfied soul finds its peace and consolation in the Quran, prayer and the company of the righteous. The satisfied soul has such a deep conviction in Allah and the Last Day that never is it upset by the sorrows or demands of this world. During his return from a Jihad expedition, the Prophet (saws) once sat down to rest under the shade of a tree far from his devout companions. A Makkan called Chawrath bin Al Harith saw his golden chance and came forward with his sword drawn: 0 Muhammad. Who is going to save you from me now? Calm and un-fearing, the Prophet (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam) stood tall and replied simply, Allah!. The man was surprised into confusion by this simple answer and unconsciously dropped his sword. The Prophet (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam) immediately picked up the sword and asked, Tell me who will save you now?. The man quietly answered, There is no god worthy of worship but Allah. Illness, financial worries, loss of property or death of dear ones does not cause the satisfied soul to wail, curse or lament. Whenever it faces any problems it simply say, To Allah we belong and to Him we shall return and faces the misfortune with patience and trust in its Lord. Such are the souls described in the Quran; Be sure, We shall test you with something of fear, hunger, some loss of goods or lives or fruits of your toils. But give glad tidings to those who are patient. Those who say, when afflicted by calamity: To Allah we belong and to Him we shall return. (Quran Al Baqarah 2: 155-156) The satisfied soul believes that all happiness and sorrow is by the decree of Allah. It therefore feels no need to lament at misfortunes or to boast at success. No misfortune can happen on earth or to your soul but it is written in a decree before We bring it into existence. That is truly easy for Allah. In order that you may not despair over matters that pass you by, nor exult in favors bestowed upon you, for Allah loves not the vain boasters. (Quran Al Hadid 57: 22-23) No worldly anxieties upset the satisfied soul. If it fails to acquire something for which it has struggled for many years, it will accept its destiny and remember the following words of the Prophet of Allah (saws): What has reached you was never meant to escape you and what has escaped you was never meant to reach you. (Muwadih by Al-Khateeb Al-Baghdadi) The satisfied soul seeks its nourishment in Dhikr (the remembrance of Allah), prayer, fasting, Zakat and Hajj. It relies heavily for support on the branches of faith, the highest of which is to say and believe in ‘There is no god worthy of worship except Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah’, and the lowliest of which is to remove an obstacle from the path. Angels are present to strengthen this soul and to bless and greet it when it departs this material life, when it is resurrected and when it is admitted into the gardens of paradise. Their greeting to it is the greeting of a Muslim to his fellow Muslim: ‘Peace be unto you’; And those who feared their Lord will be led to the Paradise in crowds; until they arrive there, its gates are opened and its keepers will say: ‘Peace be upon you! Well have you done. Enter here and dwell forever. (Az Zumar 39: 73) 2. Nafs ammara bis su’ In contrast this soul which earns the company of Satan because it ignores the remembrance of Allah. The one who withdraws himself from the remembrance of the Merciful, We appoint for him a Satan to be a companion to him. (Az-Zukhruf 43:36) Satan’s cohorts and tunes surround the evil soul day and night. It drives from one satanic act to other. You will see it lying and cheating, wasting time on leisure and sports, frequenting cinemas and concerts, listening to music and dancing. As one contemporary writer said, The godless society’s motto is ‘work and play, while the motto of the god-conscious society is, ‘work and pray’ ! 3- Nafs Lawwama The self-reproaching soul succumbs to evil inspirations but then regrets its actions and reproaches itself for being weak and vulnerable. These feelings of remorse cause it to turn back to Allah, to repent sincerely, and to receive spiritual solace. It is better for each Nafs to blame itself whenever it commits a wrong. If not, it will find itself being blamed from all those around it. Consider how the self-reproaching soul is mentioned with the Day of Resurrection in the Quran. I do call to witness the Resurrection Day. And I do call to witness the self-reproaching soul. (Al Qiyarnah : 1-2) There is a common factor between these two entities, which is that both are courts of justice. The Nafs al Lawwama is an inner court of justice within each person; when he acts wrongfully. his conscience or soul reprimands him, and it is then up to him to pay heed to it or to ignore it. Besides placing an inner court of justice within each person, the Creator has also prepared a larger Court, which will operate on the Final Day and will mete out justice to all of mankind.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Oct 2013 11:24:27 +0000