Tazkia E Nafs

Started by Aabiss_Shakari, April 29, 2012

11 posts in this topic

Aabiss_Shakari

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Posted April 29, 2012 Report post

(salam)

(bismillah)

1. What is Tazkia e Nafs?

2. How one can do Tazkia e Nafs?

3. Share Quranic verses and hadiths of Masoomeen a.s about Tazkia e Nafs.

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Chaotic Muslem

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Posted April 29, 2012 Report post

it is the white dot in your heart , the more you sin the less white it gets till it is totally black

to do tazkeya for yourself , is to try to keep that dot as white as possible ! abstain from doing the
haram when you know it

struggle with desires and life pressures that takes you the other way

try as much as you can to take a chance to do good thing whenever you have this counciouse
awakening ?
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~By God remembrance, hearts rejoice~

ali313

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Posted May 4, 2012 (edited) Report post

(bismillah)

soul_painting_3_400x300.jpg

Struggle against the Self (jihad al-nafs)

... By the soul and (by) Him who made it perfect, and then inspired it to understand what is wrong
and what is right for it. Truly is successful the one who purifies (his soul). (Holy Qur'an, 91: 7-9)

Imam Jafar al-Sadiq (a) said:

The Prophet (s) of God dispatched a contingent of the army (to the battlefront). Upon their
(successful) return, he (s) said: Blessed are those who have performed the minor jihad and have
yet to perform the major jihad. When asked, What is the major jihad? the Prophet (s) replied:
The jihad of the self (struggle against self).

[Al-Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 19, p. 182, hadith no. 31]

A humans soul is the scene of a struggle of two competing powers. Divine power attracts him
towards heavenly spheres, and inspires him to acts of goodness. Satanic power tempts him
towards realms of darkness and shame, and invites him to acts of evil. When the divine forces
are victorious, a person emerges as a virtuous and blessed being, in the company of prophets,
saints, and the pious. When, however, the satanic forces dominate, the person becomes
rebellious and vicious and is grouped with infidels, oppressors, wrongdoers and those who are
cursed.

What is the struggle against the self?

Jihad al-nafs is the struggle against evil ideas, desires and powers of lust, anger, and insatiable
imagination, placing all of them under the dictates of reason and faith in obedience to God's
commands, and finally, purging all satanic ideas and influences from ones soul.

This struggle is considered as the major struggle (al-jihad al-akbar) as it is much more difficult
than fighting in the battlefield, for in the struggle against the self, one has to constantly battle
enemies that are hosted inside his own existence.

Islamic ethical teachings indicate that the one who succeeds in this struggle can rise above and
beyond the level of angels, and one who fails in this struggle will descend to a level lower than
the level of animals, and may even be grouped among the legions of the devil.

The steps of struggle against the self

Step 1: Reflection:

One must devote some time every day to contemplate about his duties towards God, Who
brought him into this world, bestowed him with a sound body and brain, and equipped him with
intellect and capabilities, all of which are sources of pleasure and joy in his life. God also sent
prophets and His Holy Book as a means of guidance and salvation. The aim of this life and
purpose of all these blessings is more noble than to follow mundane desires and evil tendencies
that are short lived and temporary.

Death may come knocking at any time. This world is a place of doing good actions that result in
permanent joy and take one into a higher sphere of existence. A person should therefore reflect
on his destiny and his helplessness at the hands of time and age that are passing. He should feel
regret before God for the loss of precious years of life and for past deeds that will bring him
shame on the day of judgement. He should then begin his struggle to rise above this state of
wretchedness and ask God for help to bless him with hope, sincerity, and strength to fight against
satanic tendencies and evil traits of character, and to rise beyond material pleasures and worldly
gains.

Step 2: Will and resolve:

Firm resolve is the essence of humanity and basic requirement to attain freedom from the
domination of evil desires. The will that is required at this stage is synonymous with laying the
foundation of a good life. The warrior in this battle of the self should purge himself from sins,
perform all obligatory (wajib) acts, make an intention to compensate for the days lost (in
sinfulness), and finally, resolve to behave as a rational religious person and a real human being.
His manners should be an imitation of the Prophet's life, and he should follow the Prophet (s) in
all his abstinences and choices. All this cannot be achieved unless he learns the laws of Shari`ah
and follows them faithfully.

Step 3: Self-examination, evaluation and criticism:

After making a vow to be a person of strong will-power and resolution, he must understand that
the hereafter is the place where his secrets will be exposed. Thus he should evaluate himself on
a daily basis to get rid of evil habits and desires, to acquire more noble human character, and to
perform better actions than before. He must realize that committing sin takes away from him
noble essence of humanity and he must pray to God for His assistance and for the intercession of
the Prophet (s) and the members of his Household .

Step 4: Self-conditioning:

The resolve and self-evaluation from the previous steps should form themselves into specific
commitments to self-conditioning. For example, one who has an evil habit of lustful eyes,
backbiting tongue, or inflated ego should say to himself, I will not violate the Law of God today
and consciously avoid such habits for one day. By performing such an experiment with sincerity
and resolve, he will realize how easy this task is. He should ignore Satan and the evil ideas that
will magnify this small task as being difficult or even impossible. Thus, gradually, he can extend
this period by experiment and see how easy it is to get rid of an evil habit or to acquire a positive
merit.

Step 5: Guarding against evil:

A personstruggling against his own self should constantly concentrate upon his intentions. If any
time the idea of violating divine commands occurs to him, he should know that this idea has been
instilled into his mind by Satan and his allies, who want to deter him from his good resolution. He
ought to curse them, seek God's compassionate protection, and banish those evil ideas from the
realm of his heart. He should reply to Satan that this day also he has to abide by the condition
imposed upon his own self that he will not go against God's commands. Thus with the help of
God, Satan will be driven away.

One must remain in this same state of mind until night - the time for self-examination and
evaluation of his deeds of the whole day. This is the time to see whether he has been honest to
his Creator. If he has been faithful to God, he should be thankful to Him. Such a person has gone
a step forward in His direction and became an object of His attention. God will thus continue to
help him in performing all worldly and religious duties, and will diminish his pains of struggle in the
next day.

And if he repeats this exercise many times, he will be accustomed to acts of piety and the
eradication of evil traits. He will observe that it does not require overly cumbersome efforts and
obedience to God will give him abundant spiritual pleasure. God forbid, if there are any lapses on
his part, he must ask God's forgiveness, and sincerely implore Him that he will be more careful in
future. The Merciful God will throw open the doors of grace and compassion to him, and will guide
him to the straight path.

Step 6: Remembrance:

During the whole journey of struggle against self, one should constantly remember God and the
graces bestowed by Him. He must at each step, thank Him constantly for His help, mercy, and
guidance in fulfilling his intentions. The degree of gratitude to God should increase as he attains a
higher stage in his struggle against self. He must realize that it was because of Gods help and
response to sincere prayers that he was able to get rid of Satan and his allies from the domain of
his heart and attain sublime human attributes loved by God.

[adapted from Al-Khomeini, Forty Hadith, ch. 1, Jihad al- Nafs]

Advice to awaken for the struggle against the self

It is human nature to thank one who has been gracious. Reflect and estimate the seen and
unseen favours bestowed on us by the Almighty. All of the creations of God could not even
provide a fraction of such bounty.

Look at the air we breathe day and night, and upon which our existence as well as that of other
living beings is dependent. Nothing can remain alive if it is deprived of such air for even a few
minutes. What a marvelous gift of God it is! If all men of the world laboured together to create
such a gift, they could not do so. In the same way, reflect on other gifts of God such as the
external bodily senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch, and inner faculties such as
thinking, imagination, and reason, each one of which carries unlimited benefits and which is
granted to us by Our Lord.

He is the Creator and King of this vast universe. Human being, a creature crawling on one of the
smallest planets miserably fails to grasp the extent of his own small world, whose sun cannot
even be compared with far greater suns of innumerable galaxies. Our solar system is nothing
compared to several other solar systems, which still elude the powerful telescopes of great
explorers and investigators. Look at the human brainwhat a fascinating creation it is! Can the
combined efforts of all human beings make even a single living neuron (brain cell) that Almighty
God has created and creates all the time! Surely this God-given brain deserves to be solely the
seat of divinely inspired good ideas and not evil thoughts!

Every living being in this Universe is within the range of His divine vision, so remember God and
all His favours, and dont disobey Him. He fulfils all our needs without having any need of our
adoration. Whether you observe His commands or transgress them makes no difference to Him.
It is for the sake of our own benefit that He has enjoined good and forbidden indecency.
Overpower satanic ideas and convert the spheres of your mind into divine realm by driving out
the evil forces and inviting the divine hosts, so that God may help and protect you in the dangers
threatening to befall you in this battle. Do not have any expectations from anyone but God. With
all humility and all the tears your eyes can offer, pray to God and seek His assistance to emerge
victorious in this crucial battle against the self.

Conclusion

Imam Ali (a) said: One who struggles against himself so as to obey God, in the eyes of God, his
station is that of a pious martyr.

[Al-Amidi, Ghurar ul Hikam wa Durar ul Kalim, hadith # 3546]

Source

Edited May 4, 2012 by ali313

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1:6 Keep us on the right path.

1:7 The path of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed favors.

Not (the path) of those upon whom Thy wrath is brought down, nor of those who go astray.

Surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.

Batool M. Rizvi

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Posted May 30, 2012 Report post

tazkiya-e-nafs is analysing oneself as a third persons point of view who is not at all in favour of
the person. in fact wants to filter out the smallest mistake... it is a process to uplift and not stoop
lower...
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Darth Vader

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Posted June 5, 2012 Report post

I wish I could afford this war and keep it up long enough to win. :(

I sure hope that not giving up the fight is also worth something.
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Chaotic Muslem

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Posted June 6, 2012 Report post

And whoso desireth the Hereafter and striveth for it with the effort necessary, being a believer; for
such, their effort findeth favour (with their Lord).

-------------------------------------------

And that man hath only that for which he maketh effort
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~By God remembrance, hearts rejoice~

Batool M. Rizvi

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Posted June 9, 2012 Report post

Allah has created human beings much stronger than shaitan and a human beings will power even
more stronger than any of the temptations in this world.... believe in yr self bro... n have faith in
Allah dat if u take 1 step he'll take u 10 steps further,,, inshallah yl reach perfection one day... may
Allah help all the mo'mineen...
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Laayla

matal wa3id ya sahib al zaman?

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Posted June 25, 2012 Report post

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Posted July 1, 2012 Report post

so very true... thanks for the post... very helpful..

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Posted January 4, 2016 (edited) Report post

On 6/5/2012 at 8:15 PM, Darth Vader said:

I wish I could afford this war and keep it up long enough to win. :(

I sure hope that not giving up the fight is also worth something.

Salam Alaikom, dear brother let us say you win, but you should continue fighting; it is not finished
until you do not get martyred, so you have to struggle to keep yourself in best form until you get
martyred. And simple, you need to be in best form to continue fighting. Most important is you see
where you are fighting, what level, basic PURIFICATION OR ADVANCED SO YOU LEARN
NECESSARY KNOWLEDGE TO CONTINUE. So studying and reflection on it will help you to act
properly and fight with up right tactics and strategy to win. And one can do this zikr to continue
being onpeak.
%D8%AF%D8%B9%D8%A7%DB%8C_%D8%BA%D8%B1%DB
1305 913 - poster20.mihanblog.com

On 4/29/2012 at 2:28 AM, Aabiss_Shakari said:

(salam)

(bismillah)

1. What is Tazkia e Nafs?

2. How one can do Tazkia e Nafs?

3. Share Quranic verses and hadiths of Masoomeen a.s about Tazkia e Nafs.

Alaikom as Salam, the important in tazkiya is to have the necessary tools-knowledge - in the bag
for each station or step and not less or more to make injustice-zulm - to ourselves and consume
when necessary. The important part of religion is aqaed and one need to read properly about it
and than believe in it. If the belief is not okay the other parts of our religion will never ever, be
okay and develop. The first thing is to have knowledge of one self, to have marifah-recognition -
of one self/psyche/nafs/ego.

Of course aqaed plays important role here, because to recognize yourself start recognizing the
creation around you, and than yourself. Wait, my self is not a healthy self, human self is healthy
and tamed like the soul of the Imam of our time so we should recognize his nafs, a human beings
nafs not ours, because honestly can we call ourselves in true sense humans than what is the
point of the missing Imam. But wait again, he is the Imam, it would be difficult so we must start
knowing how low rank scholars think, in our communities, how is their mindset by hearing their
speech, at what level, than recognize martyrs, read about them and gaining knowledge the first
step. Than high rank scholars that are not marja, but could be, how is their mindset, by reading
not just only about them, but reading their books, too much to read books, than read articles they
write, because writing is somehow talking, and if a person talks you can recognize how, who he is
really and so on. Than try to recognize and be best friend with your marja, having knowledge of
personality of your marja, of some habits of your marja, follow him the same way some non-
mulims follow their singers, they are all over them imagine. If your not close to your marja how
can you consider yourself to be close to the Imam of your time. And lastly knowing your Wali
Faqih. You have to work up not just jump on marja and Wali Faqih, this is not a movie, you pay it
later! And all this helps one to understand Aqaed to lastly understand the 'concept' of infallibility of
Ahl al-Bait Peace upon Them, to than in good way understand hadith, Sira, and tafsir of Holy
Quran. Tazkiya Nafs is to recognize your Aqaed. IS IT NOT SO, YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT;
YOUR AQAED IS WHAT YOU ARE.

Extra: Knowledge-ilm -, understanding-fahm -, marifah-recognition/inner understanding, yaqin-

certainty/certitude -, basirah-insight -. When you consume knowledge you must reflect-fekr - to
digest the knowledge and transform it to fahm, and if you want to have marifah you have to
further do fekr to develop the necessary requirements for other kind of digestion so your fahm can
turn into marifah and so on.

Hadith about soul-nafs - http://www.hadithdatabank.com/tree.php

http://www.noorhadith.ir/hadith.aspx?
LanguageID=1&SourceID=0&TocID=0&Order=HadithVerID&ListType=Custom&PageType=Hadith
List&Erab=1&PageNo=1&PageNo2=1&Fields=000111&SizeID=0&QaelID=0&CenturyID=0&Tran
Status=0&HasDoc=0&SearchPhrase=%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D9%91%D9%8E
%D9%81%D8%B3%D9%8F&ShelfID=0&RowNum=0&TagID=0&TagTitle=&MyHadithInfo=Visit&
HadithID=0&HadithVerID=0&HadithMode=Independent&GroupMode=All&FilterGroupID=0
Edited January 4, 2016 by Ali.Isa

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Every word 'ritten; put a 'MAYBE' before it and read it except Holy Quran Verses and ahsan
Ahadith and WaliFaqih and marja word. PLUS; if no Islamic reference than consider it as you like!

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SAHIBAZ ZAMAN
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Posted November 1, 2016 Report post

Our Lord, and raise up among them a messenger, of themselves, who will recite to them Your
revelations, and teach them the Book and wisdom, and purify them. You are the Almighty, the
Wise. (Al-Baqra)

Read Surah Shams to find about tazkiya nafs

sorry for roman arabic but you can read from Quran. these verses are about tazkiya nafs

wa nufsiinw wa ma sawaha

Qad Aflaha Man Zakaha

wa Qad khaaba man dasaha

And the soul and He who proportioned it.

And inspired it with its wickedness and its righteousness.

Successful is he who purifies it.

Failing is he who corrupts it.