Spiritual Health and Purification of the Soul (morals, punishment, reject)

[Cordoba]

The Reality of the Soul

The soul continuously calls its owner to transgression, preference of the world, the desires and love of the delights and pleasures.

But Allah calls His servant to fear of Him, awe of Him and forbids the soul from its whim. He has prepared a mighty reward for the one who follows His command. The Exalted said:

And as for the one fears the standing in front of His Lord and restrains the soul from impure evil desires and lusts, verily, Paradise will be his abode. [79:40-41]

The soul in its essence calls and commands the evil. Allah the Exalted said:

Verily the (human) self is inclined to evil, except when my Lord bestows His Mercy (upon whomsoever He wills). Verily, my Lord is Oft-Forgiving, Most-Merciful. [12:53]

The soul was originally created ignorant and given to transgression. Knowledge, guidance and righteousness are things that befall it due to inspiration from its Lord and then by the struggle against it by its owner and his nurturing it and engaging it in an internal struggle. Allah the Exalted says:

And those who strive in Our way We shall guide them to our paths and verily Allah is with the doers of good. [29:69]

Allah guaranteed the one whom He found trying and striving (against his soul) that He will be with him, will help him and will bring into reality his wish or desire (of domination over his soul). What then can a man desire after that?

And Ibn al-Qayyim (a famous Muslim scholar) said: “The travellers to Allah, in all their different paths and diversity of their ways are agreed that the soul is a barrier between the heart and Allah and that it (the heart) will not come close to Him, the Sublime, or arrive to Him except after killing his soul, abandoning it by opposing it and being victorious over it”

For this reason, it is obligatory upon us to fight and strive against it in order to travel (by this striving) in the straight path and to the clear success which Allah has prescribed for us and which the best of the creation of Allah, Muhammad has explained to us.

Know that striving against the soul does not occur except by four ways. Whoever follows them and applies them to his soul will have fought against it and protected it with the help of Allah. Ibn al-Qayyim has mentioned these ways and they are as follows:

Firstly: By holding the soul to account
Secondly: By opposing it and not following its whims and desires
Thirdly: By making it patient in Allah’s obedience
Fourthly: By making it patient in refraining Allah’s disobedience

http://www.angelfire.com/al/islamicpsychology/tazkiyah/fight_my_soul.html

[Cordoba]

Tazkiyah: Taking Oneself to Account

It is necessary for an individual to pause at the end of each day that has passed, in order to check himself and run through his achievements: What has he done in the course of the day? Why has he done it? What has he omitted? Why has he omitted it?

How excellent it would be if this self-criticism were to take place before one retired to bed.

This period of self-criticism and appraisal should certainly be counted among man's moments of progress; it is a moment when man impartially sits as a judge over himself and reviews his yearnings and inclinations, his instincts and motivations.

It is a moment when the believer appoints, out of his conviction, a policeman to watch over himself, an investigator to probe him, and a judge to condemn or acquit him. In this way he progresses from the state of "the soul that incites to evil" to the state of "the self- reproaching soul" which reproaches its owner whenever he plunges into sin, or falls short of expectation.

http://www.macnet.ca/national/modules/wfsection/article.php?articleid=15

[Cordoba]

Thanking God

Thankfulness should be expressed in three ways: with the heart, with the tongue and with the limbs.

Thankfulness of the heart consists in actually being consciously aware of the immeasurable gifts and blessings of Allah and in attributing them to Him and no one else.

It lies in understanding that existence in all its varied manifestations is a continuous outpouring and overflowing from a compassionate and generous Creator. It is understanding the sixth pillar of Iman, Acknowledgement of the Decree, both its good and its bad, and understanding that, in reality, even its bad is a blessing.

http://muslim-canada.org/thankfulness.htm

[Cordoba]

Hope, by Al-Ghazali

Hope and fear are two wings by means of which those who are brought near fly to every commendable station, and two mounts on which every steep ascent of the paths of the next world is traversed.

And nothing but the reins of hope will lead to the vicinity of the Merciful and the joy of the Gardens the man who is distant from hoping and heavy with burdens, who is encompassed with what the heart abhors and with toils of members and limbs. ...

Hope is a commendable thing, because it is a source of incentive, and despair is reprehensible and is the antithesis of hope, because it distracts from work. Fear is not the antithesis of hope, rather it is a companion to it, as its exposition will bring out. More, it is another source of incentive, impelling along the path of awe just as hope impels along the path of inclination.

Hence the state of hope produces sustained spiritual combat through actions, and perseverance in obedience, however fickle circumstances may be. Among its effects are finding pleasure in unbroken acceptance with God, contentment in private prayer with Him and fondness for deferring to Him.

Source: The Revival of the Religions Sciences, by A.H. Al-Ghazali

http://www.ghazali.org/site/ihya.htm

[Cordoba]

"Take care of your soul!!

Perfect it, give it good qualities.

Give it virtuous qualities of ... learning, of depth, of profundity, of care, of compassion, of seriousness in your life!"

(Sheikh Hamza Yusuf Hansen - California)
Talk Titled "Be Great People"

[Cordoba]

Dangers of the lower self (Nafs)

"The more you give the [lower-self], that's the downhill road; you lose spiritual potential energy.

And that's why... when we give the [lower-self] more of what it wants, it becomes difficult to be patient, it becomes difficult to do good, it becomes difficult to obey Allah.

http://www.meccacentric.com/284.html

[Moses the God Archetype*]

Originally Posted by Cordoba

Dangers of the lower self (Nafs)

"The more you give the [lower-self], that's the downhill road; you lose spiritual potential energy.

And that's why... when we give the [lower-self] more of what it wants, it becomes difficult to be patient, it becomes difficult to do good, it becomes difficult to obey Allah.

http://www.meccacentric.com/284.html

This is very true beloved, it is funny that we call our God by a diffrent name but the beliefs are very much in accord with our own, many blessings to you.

[Cordoba]

Hello Moses, and thank you for your post.

One clear example to illustrate this point is the danger of eating too much when one is hungry, as that leads to too much sleep, thereby loosing time and energy for prayers, reading and reflection.

One of the advantages of fasting (in Ramadan and on other occasions) is that it helps strengthen the "spiritual batteries".

[Moses the God Archetype*]

Originally Posted by Cordoba

Hello Moses, and thank you for your post.

One clear example to illustrate this point is the danger of eating too much when one is hungry, as that leads to too much sleep, thereby loosing time and energy for prayers, reading and reflection.

One of the advantages of fasting (in Ramadan and on other occasions) is that it helps strengthen the "spiritual batteries".

Yes beloved this is also true, for if we eat to much it can cause lazyness and sleep and that in itself strengthens the tamo-guna of materal nature, which does not help in the process of trying to abtain enlightinment and return home, it only binds us to this materal world stuck in the vast ocean of samsara the great wheel, many blessings to you beloved.