Spiritual Health and Purification of the Soul

[Cordoba]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Diseases of the soul are of two kinds: The first kind contradicts the normal stations of the heart which we shall deal with. Showing off and idolatry contradict Tawhid and servitude to Him. [/FONT]Love of authority and power contradict asceticism.

The second kind of disease contradicts adopting Allah's Attributes and emulating the Messenger of Allah. For example, anger for an unjust cause contradicts magnanimity ...

The First Subject: Disbelief, Hypocracy, Wickedness and Innovation

The first thing man should concentrate on is purifying his soul from disbelieving in Allah and His Messenger, peace be upon him. ... Disbelief is a form of darkness with which no deed is meritorious.

Then one should purify his soul from theoretical and practical hypocracy. Theoretical hypocracy entails believing in the reality of Islam in a way that is contrary to what it has clearly proclaimed. ...

Then the servant should purify his soul from rebellion against the commandments of Allah and acts of disobedience. He should not violate prohibitions nor should he shun commandments. He should further eschew the vices that are both manifest and concealed.

( ... to be continued In-Shaa-Allah ... )

 

[Cordoba]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]The Second Subject: Idolatry and Showing Off[/FONT]

Idolatry is one of the most henious diseases with which humanity has been afflicted, as it gives lordship to that which does not deserve it.

It disperses the heart in many directions so that it does not offer the acts of worship nor does it receive guidance or light from its due source. ...

The Muslim who believes in Tawhid has freed his soul from all this, but he is, nevertheless, vulnerable to the hidden idolatry, i.e. hypocracy. You may see such a person behaving as if he worships another individual. This is the source of hypocracy that has injurious effects on its owner and the society as a whole as it is a form of deception and is fatal to the soul in this life and in the life to come.

The Remedy of Showing Off and the Way to Cure the Heart

In order to liberate one's soul from showing off, one must first uproot it from one's heart, and then repel it if it emerges at a later time. This can be achieved through two means:

The First Means: Love of authority and love of fame are both sources of showing off. This can be attributed to three causes: a love of [other] people's praise, a hatred of their criticism and a covetous desire for the possessions of others. ...

The Second Means: The servant should repel the passing temptations of Satan while performing acts of worship. Satan does not despair of misleading the one who struggles against his soul, and has uprooted all forms of showing off from his heart. ...

The effective remedy lies in repelling the idea before the desire to follow through strengthens it. ...

( ... to be continued In-Shaa-Allah ... )

 

[Cordoba]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]The Third Subject: Love of Authority[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]When someone initiates a deed for the sake of authority or fame, the result will be full of flaws. Authority and fame lead, most often, to unlawful measures.[/FONT]

Man's impetuous nature in this affair causes him to fall short from doing good deeds when he cannot achieve what he wants.

Competing with others for authority and fame leads to conflict - besides defiling one's intention - thereby spoiling the reward for the deed. For this reason, this disease is considered dangerous and must be cured

Remedy for Love of Authority

Know that he whose heart is bent on love for authority is keen to please the people. He treats them in an extremely courteous way; he continually seeks to raise his status among them with every act and utterance. This is the seed of showing off and the essence of corruption.

This necesarily leads to neglecting acts of worship and showing off in order to reach a firm place in people's hearts. For this reason, the Messenger of Allah likened their love to two wolves that corrupt one's religion. Love of authority plants the seed of showing off. Showing off is to utter or do what contradicts one's convictions. ...

Thus, love of authority is destructive: one should extirpate it from the heart. This is an instinct from man's nature just as the love of wealth. ...

Thus, he who is keen for this passing life should cure his soul from the love of authority by realizing the defects of the ephemeral world. One way to achieve this is to reflect on the dangers that face the dignitaries and celebrities. Each dignitary is an object of envy that people desire to harm. He is ever fearful lest he should lose his authority or lest his public opinion drops ...

As for practice, one should forget about people's praise. One way to acquire this state is to perform blameworthy deeds. Although this may degrade him in the eyes of people, Allah would accept them.

( ... to be continued In-Shaa-Allah ...)

 

[Cordoba]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]The Fourth Subject: Envy[/FONT]

The envious person is he that becomes pleased when the person blessed with the object of their envy loses this blessing. Some forms of envy are considered forms of sins.

Immagine the case where envy has prevailed, and each envier has plotted against the one they envy: in this case plots and machinations abound. No one is safe as all are plotting against all. Imagine how life would be ...

Envy has proven to be desctructive to humanity: any society is vulnerable to decay because of it. This is the very case of the ruin of those of old. ...

Causes of Envy and Competition That Incite Hatred

1- Enmity and Hatred
2- Dislike of Good for Others
3- Arrogant Pride
4- Fear of Missing an Object or an Aim
5- Greed for Fame and Authority
6- Miserliness of the Human Self

Remedy for Envy

Envy is one of the most serious diseases of the heart. It cannot be cured without knowledge and action. ...

Envy harms your faith because it is a sign that you object to divine preordainment (Qadar), that you dislike the favors people have received from Allah, and that you denied Allah's Justice and Mercy which are part of His wisdom
Denying Allah's blessing on others is a major sin and it negates the core of your true belief in Allah. ...

The effective remedy to purify the soul from envy is to force yourself to behave in a way that contradicts the behavior associated with envy ... If your soul is incited not to offer goodness to the envied one, you should compel it to do more goodness to him. In this way, envy will be severed and uprooted from the heart

( ... to be continued In-Shaa-Allah ... )

 

[Cordoba]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]The Fifth Subject: Self-Admiration[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said:[/FONT]

"When you see people responding to niggardliness, following whims, prefering life [to the Hereafter], and each one is deluded by his opinion, care only for your business."

(Hadith Related by Al-tirmidhi)

The vices mentioned in this hadith are diseases and whenever these diseases exist, life and the loving spirit that prevails in teamwork is impossible to attain...

From this point we realize the dangerous effects of pride and miserliness, following one's whims, love of the worldly pleasures, and niggardliness towards humanity in general and the Muslim community in particular. Self-admiration results in feelings of self-satisfaction that leads to many shortcomings and diseases such as vain pride, contempt for others, claiming to have high status and so on. ...

Self-admiration can be cured through committing oneself to consultation, following whims can be cured through conforming to the commandments in the Qur'an and the Prophetic Sunnah; being niggardly can be cured through generosity; and love of life can be cured through remembering the Hereafter and exerting every effort to succeed in it....

Remedy for Self-Admiration

The remedy for each malady is to act in contradiction to its prime cause. The cause of self-admiration is utter ignorance. Thus its remedy is perfect knowledge, which is the opposite of ignorance.

Self-admiration of an action which is practiced of his own accord, [such as acts of worship, giving Zakah, good manners, ... etc] is more recurrent and visible than self-admiration concerning natural gifts, such as beauty, strength, ... etc.

Here we should say that the reason why one is disillusioned and admires his piety, chastity, worship and action is because he is the means through which they took place, or because they are being performed by means of his power and strength ...

When you look highly at your acts of worship and say, "Allah has guided me to the acts of worship for my love for Him ...", it should be said: "Who has created that love in your heart?" You would answer, "He [Allah]." It should be said: "Love and performing acts of worship are two favors from Him. He has provided you with them without any right owed to you. Thus one should wonder at His generosity due to the fact that He has granted you life, ability to act, and the causes which enable you to act.

Thus, admiring the worshipper for his acts of worship, the scholar for his knowledge, the beautiful person for his beauty, or a wealthy person for his wealth is nonesense, because it is Allah's bounty that chose him to be the means of carrying out such deeds. ....

( ... to be continued In-Shaa-Allah ... )

 

[Cordoba]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Categories of Self-Admiration and its Cure[/FONT]

Self-admiration arises from some characteristics by which man feels proud. It sometimes arises from other things such as admiration of his wrong opinion, which he thinks to be right.
There are 8 categories of self-admiration:

1- To be conceited with his beauty, strength, good form, good voice, etc. He is conceited about his physical constitution and forgets that it is a favor from Allah and is liable to be taken from him. The remedy for this category is to remember the origin of his creation, and its end. One should also remember how these physical constitutions scatter and become mere dust inside the grave

2- To be conceited with power and ability. Self-admiration concerning strength causes wars and leads people to destruction. The remedy for this category is to remember that a fever may afflict him and weaken his strengh. He should also remember that Allah might take it away

3- To be conceited with one's intelligence, shrewdness and knowing all the affairs of life and the Hereafter. This leads to obstinacy, abandonment of consultation, contempt for his oponent's opinions and turning away from listening to the scholars while depending on his own opinion. The remedy for this category is to thank Allah for this favor, and to know that he has little knowledge ...

4- To be conceited because of one's noble predecessors and lineage. The remedy for this category is to recognize that if he does not follow the way of his forefathers and thought that he would join them he is ignorant. If he was to follow them, he should remember that pride was not part of their character. Rather, they used to feel contempt for their souls. They adhered to acts of obedience, knowledge and every noble character ...

5- To be conceited because of being a follower of unjust rulers and their supporters and leaving out the people of knowledge and religion. This is utter ignorance. The remedy for this category is to remember their evil deeds and defective behavior such as oppressing people and corrupting the religion of Allah.

6- To be conceited because of the multitude of offspring, relatives, supporters and followers is also dangerous. The remedy is to remember that nothing benefits you except your good deeds and Allah's Bounty. How can your rely upon he who does not benefit or harm you, and forget Him Who is able to benefit you, harm you, give you life and cause you death?

7- Admiration of one's wealth is also dangerous. ... The remedy of this category is remembering the plight that may afflict wealth, its duties and what wastes it.

8- Admiration of one's opinion. The remedy for this category is accusing his opinion all the time except if it is a sound ruling from the Book of Allah, the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him) or a rational proof

( ... to be continued In-Shaa-Allah ... )

 

[Cordoba]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]The Sixth Subject: Haughtiness[/FONT]

Haughtiness is a part of self-admiration. ...

The Prophet, peace be upon him, defined it as saying:

"It is contempt of people and a way to degrade truth."

The Facts and Harms of Haughtiness

Haughtiness is divided into two parts: internal and external. The internal part is characteristic of the heart. The external is the apparent deeds of the body.

Haughtiness comes under the first category. Acts are the result of that characterstic. Haughtiness affects deeds hence, when it becomes apparent on the body, one is described as haughty. If it does not appear, it is said that one has haughtiness in the heart.

Originally, haughtiness is implanted in the soul. It stems from seeing oneself as higher than others. Thus, haughtiness is shown towards people and in this way we distinguish haughtiness from self-admiration, for the latter only affects the individual himself. ...

The evil of haughtiness is great and its harm is severe. ....

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said:

"He that has an atom's weight of haughtiness in his heart will never enter Paradise" ...

It is impossible for a person to treat people kindly and sincerely, which are noble virtues of the pious people, as long as he has haughtiness or arrogance in his heart. ...
What Causes Haughtiness?

1- Knowledge
2- Practice and Worship
3- Haughtiness due to Lineage
4- Haughtiness due to Beauty
5- Haughtiness due to Wealth
6- Haughtiness due to Strength
7- Haughtiness because of a Multitude of Supporters, Students, Relatives and Sons

(Cure of Haughtiness ... to be continued In-Shaa-Allah ... )

 

[Cordoba]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]The Remedy of Haughtiness and Modes of Acquiring Modesty[/FONT]

Know that haughtiness is one of the destructive evils. No one is free from having a slight portion of haughtiness. Realising that a slight portion is an individual duty, it does not vanish by a mere wish; rather it requires struggle and the use of effective remedies.

Curing it entails two degrees:

The first is to uproot it completeley from the heart while the second is to repel the causes which lead to haughtiness.

The first step is to uproot its origin. The remedy for this has two forms: a scientific and a practical form. Curing occurs by combining the two forms.

- The scientific remedy: man should know himself and his Lord. This is sufficient to eliminate haughtiness, for if man knows his real origin, he will know he is most henious ... When he knows his Lord, he understands that nobody has the right to feel pride except Allah.

- The practical remedy; The cure for pride based on action is to conduct oneself very humbly before the people and to follow the example of the humble and the modest people, and by studying and pondering over the biography of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and the righteous people. The Messenger of Allah used to eat on the floor saying: "I am but a slave, so I should eat as a slave eats." ...

Modesty does not achieve perfection unless it is put into action. For this reason, those who take pride are ordered to have faith and to pray, as prayer is the pillar of religion, and therein are secret talks with the Creator based on humility and modesty.

There is humility in prayer ...

( ... to be continued In-Shaa-Allah: The Seventh Subject: Niggardiness ...)

 

[Cordoba]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]The Seventh Subject: Niggardiness[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]If goodness was to disappear from the hearts and niggardness was to prevail, who would then be motivated to share in charitable works and services for people? ...[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]How many people (more) would die from hunger and thirst?[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Who would look after the disabled?[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Who would sustain the helpless child?[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Who would care for the elderly?[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]When stiginess prevails, both men and women are reluctant to perform their obligations, women with their nurturing duties and men with their financial burdens[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]What would life be like? Whenever man overcomes his stinginess an area of goodness must prevail. And the more generosity is spread, the more goodness prevails. That is why it is commonly urged in the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet, peace be upon him to spend sincerely in the cause of Allah. The Qur'an in many places combines spending and purifying the soul[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Allah (SWT) says:[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]"He who spends his wealth for increase in self-purification" (92:18)[/FONT]

( ... to be continued In-Shaa-Allah: The Cure for Stinginess ...)

 

[.lava]

Muslim or non-Muslim, people who don't want to reach Allah earn hell. only if you want to deliver trust of Allah back to Allah, then purification of Nafs/ego/soul would begin. when you want to reach Allah, Allah hears it and guides you to your Mushida. if one denies necessity of Murshid then he could never purify his ego and goes hell.

International MIHR Foundation International Mihr Foundation




.

 

[Cordoba]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]The Cure for Stinginess[/FONT]

We should bear in mind that stinginess originates from the love of wealth. There are two causes for the love of wealth:

- The first cause: Love of desires and lusts that are not attained except through money and prolonged hope, for if man knows that he will die the next day, he would not withhold his wealth because he would need little money to sustain himself for such a short period ...

- The second cause: Love for money itself. One may find a person who has a lot of money that suffices his normal needs and even exceeds his normal expenditures for the rest of his life. He may be an old man without children, yet it causes his soul a lot of pain to spend money for Zakah, or to buy medicine to treat himself when he is sick. He has fallen in love with money, adores it, enjoys counting it and feeling it in his hands and he enjoys being in control over spending it ...

Each cause can be cured by that which contradicts it.

- The cause of love and desires of lusts is cured by feeling content with little provision and with patience

- Hope in a prolonged life is cured by continually remembering death; ponderiong over the death of one's peers. They used to accumulate money but could not take a penny with them after their death. Its destiny is loss

- One's concern about the provision of one's children is cured by remembering the fact that Allah (SWT), his Creator has
foreordained his provision. ...

- One could also cure his heart from miserliness through continuous contemplation and pondering over the incidents and wise sayings that dispraise miserliness, praise benevolence and remind one of the fatal punishment that Allah promises to inflict on miserly people....

- Another effective remedy is pondering over the functions and goals of money. We should think why money was created in the first place. We should know that we should keep a certain amount of money that is satisfactory for our needs only, and any additional amount should be invested in the Hereafter through spending it for the sake of Allah and harvesting the reward at the time of need in the Afterlife. ..

- Curing miserliness is done through knowledge and practice. Knowledge is attained though styudying the evils of miserliness and the benefits of benevolence. Change through practice is attained through striving to be generous, and spending

( ... to be conitued In-Shaa-Allah with The Eight Subject: Conceit ... )

 

[Cordoba]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]The Eighth Subject: Conceit[/FONT]

The first consequence of conceit is wasting one's life following misleading illusions. Since the majority of people are afflicted with this, they are frequently like the ones who chase after a mirage ...

Condemnation of Conceit - its Nature and Forms

The words of Allah condemning conceit are sufficient. Allah (SWT) says:

(... Let not then this [worldly] present life deceive you, nor let the chief deceiver [Satan] deceive you about Allah) (31:33)

( ... But you lead yourselves into temptation; you looked forward for our destruction; you doubted [in Faith]; and you were deceived by false desires ... ) (57:14)

The words praising knowledge and dispraising ignorance prove that conceit is condemned because it is a form of ignorance. Ignorance is to perceive a thing differently from its reality and conceit is part of ignorance. ...

Conceit is a feeling of being satisfied with the choice that coincides with one's false passions, and which coincides with one's [undisciplined] nature that is [motivated] by the tricks and intrigues of Satan. The person who thinks that he is on the rightly guided path, whether in this life or the next, on a foundation of delusion, is conceited. ...

It was said: 'People are ruined except those who work. And those who work are ruiined except those who have knowledge. The knowledgeable people and ruined except those who are sincere. And the sincere are in great danger. Thus the conceipted person is ruined, and the sincere person who flees from conmceipt is also in great danger. For this reason, fear and dread should never leave the hearts of Allah's devotees.

So we ask Allah (SWT) for support, guidance and a good end, for the affairs of man are judged according to their final deeds.

(... to be continued In-Shaa-Allah: The Ninth Subject: Unfair Anger ... )

 

[Cordoba]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]The Ninth Subject: Unfair Anger[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]No human being is free from anger. Allah (SWT) gets angry, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) got angry. Getting angry is neither a defect nor a disease of human behavior. But the condemned kind of anger is that which is destructive rash anger and which leaves one reluctant to confess one's mistakes and return to the right behavior.[/FONT]

There are words and actions that are refused by the law while one is angry. Such acts and utterances which come from the angry man are totally rejected by religious rules and codes of ethics. ...

The Nature of Anger

Know that Allah (SWT) has created man prone to be corrupted and exposed to death due to internal and external causes. He has created within him that which protects him from corruption and that which repels ruin from him till an appointed term in the Preserved Tablet.

As for the internal causes, Allah has created suitable food for him and created the innate desire in him to eat, as if satisfying what is missing and hence is protected from destruction.

The external causes that stir anger are: weapons such as swords and so on. Man needs a certain amount of power and strength to protect himself from being attacked. That is why Allah created anger in man. It is imbedded in his body and soul. ...

... Anger is originated from the boiling of the heart's blood demanding revenge. It also exists to protect one from harm and to take revenge after a matter occurs. Revenge is the food of lust that is not alleviated except after taking revenge. In this regard people are divided into three categories: negligence, extremism and moderation. ...

Excessive anger occurs when it dominates habits till it becomes
uncontrollable and cannot be famed by the constraints of the intellect and religious rules. One would thus lose insight, logic, intellect, and the proper choice in decision-making, and would become entangled to behave in a certain way. That is due to the control of these instinctive and habitual powers over the individual. ...

( ... to be continued In-Shaa-Allah: The Causes That Ignite Anger & The
Cure for Anger ...)

 

[Cordoba]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]The Causes that Ignite Anger[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]The cure for each malady depends on uprooting its essence and causes. Thus, we should know the causes that stir anger. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]These are self-conceit, self-admiration, disdaining others, argument, haughtiness, jesting, abusing, defaming, stinginess, treachery, greed for wealth, name and fame, witholding one's money, and seeking authority.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]These are characteristics that are condemned by religious law. Unless these causes are removed, anger will remain. These causes can be removed by applying their opposites.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]- Pride can be eliminated by modesty, haughtiness can be removed by knowing one's weaknesses. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]- Desdaining others can be removed by remembering the origin of man because humanity is the offsrping of one man, and can only excel each other by virtues, not by lineage.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]- Self-conceit, self-praise and arrogance are the major vices and the origin of all evil. Unless one gets rid of these completely, he will never be able to surpass and excel in piety and nearness to Allah. ...[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]The Cure for Anger[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]What we have mentioned severs the causes that lead to anger so that it will not be stirred. Thus, if one of its causes emerges, one should keep quiet lest one behaves in a dispraised manner. When anger arises, it should be cured with a mixture of knowledge and practice. Curing anger by knowledge has six elements:[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]1- To ponder over the narratives about the merits of supressing anger, forgiving others, adhering to patience, and steadfastness as motivation to gain its reward. One's hope top obtain the reward of appeasing anger will restrain the desire for revenge and will work to extinguish anger ...[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]2- To fear the punishment of Allah by remembering that Allah's punishment is more severe and His power is the greatest. Remember that if you release your anger on him, Allah would release His wrath on you on the Day of Judgement when you will be in dire need of forgiveness[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]3- One should be aware of the evil consequences of enmity ... If fear of one's place in the Hereafter is not enough constraint, then one should remember the fatal end of anger in this life[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]4- He should remember his ugly face when he gets angry and remember the state of others when they get angry, as an example. He should also consider the ugliness of anger ...[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]5- One should ponder over the reason that makes him persist in seeking revenge and makes him refrain from suppressing his anger. ...[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]6- He should know that his anger signifies an inner dissatisfaction with Allah's will. ...[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Curing Anger by Practice: [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]When you get angry say, "I seek refuge in Allah from the cursed devil"[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]In a hadith, the prophet, peace be upon him, said:[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]"When anyone of you gets angry, let him perform ablution, because anger arises from fire."[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]( ... to be continued In-Shaa-Allah: Next topic: Love of this Transient Life ...)[/FONT]

 

[Cordoba]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]The Tenth Subject: Love of this Transient Life[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Attachment to the world, trusting it, and forgeting about the Afterlife results in deeds which leads its doer to Hellfire. ...[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Allah (SWT) says:[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]"Know that the life of this world is only play and amusement, pomp and mutual boasting among you, and rivalry in respect of wealth and children ..." (57:20)[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Allah (SWT) has ordered that the Hereafter should be one's goal while one should be careful regarding this life. He should not concentrate most of his concerns and attention on life and its pleasures. He should carefully define his position regarding each pleasure, in the light of the obligations all mankind owe to Allah. ...[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]People's excessive concern with worldly activities and labor arises from their need for food and clothing. This kind of indulgence has caused them to drift into oblivion within their souls and thus affects their destiny; their ultimate goal, and their final abode: the Hereafter. They went astray because their intellect was infected by worldly falsifications. ...[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]One group thinks that happiness lies in accumulating wealth. They exert enormous efforts and sleepless nights working to gather it.... This is their means of happiness until they are striken by death ...[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]The Right Balance between this life and the Hereafter[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Take from the worldly pleasures what suffices your needs. They fulfill their instinctive desires lawfully and avoid the forbidden by means of religion and intellect. They neither leave every desire, nor follow every desire, but rather follow a balanced way that is the middle between the two extremes. At the same time, they fully understand the aims and goals of the life of this world and they strive to put every worldly matter in the proper place Allah created it for. ...[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Their hearts are in a continuous introspective watchful state over their desires let they violate the limits of the restrictions of piety.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]( ... to be continued In-Shaa-Allah ... Next Topic: Following One's Desires ...)[/FONT]

 

[Cordoba]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]The Eleventh Subject: Following One's Desires[/FONT]

If you examine all the diseases of human life [of the heart], i.e. haughtiness, self-admiration, envy, love of honor, adultery, back-bitting, slandering and all the other diseases one can imagine, you will find that they originate from one root: following whims and passions.

The passions whims and passions of the soul are defined as: one's inclination towards something wrong: following whims is very dangerous, and that is why Allah (SWT) said:

"And if the truth had been in accordance with their desires, verily the heavens and the earth, and whosoever is therin would have been corrupted .." (23:71)

Because it is the soul that tempts man to follow his whims, it is said that "Your most dangerous enemy is your own soul which dwells in your body".

Following whims is the most dangerous enemy to human life. If salvation lies in purifying the soul in accordance with the commandments of the Book of Allah (SWT) and the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and struggling to conform to their rules, then man commits a heinous crime against himself and humanity when he refuses to believe in Allah's revelation, avoids applying it, or debars others from applying it

( ... to be continued In-Shaa-Allah ... )

 

[Cordoba]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]How to Attain the Highest Ranks of Righteousness?[/FONT]

1- Monotheism, Servitude to Allah and Worshipping Him

2- Sincerity

3- Truthfulness with Allah

4- Asceticism

5- Trust in Allah

6- Love for Allah

7- Fear and Hope

8- Piety and Devotion

9- Thankfulness

10- Patience, Submission and Contentment

11- Al-Ihsan (Seeking Perfection)

12- Continuos Repentance

 

[Cordoba]

Two Main Types of Spiritual Heart Diseases

In Islamic tradition, these diseases of the heart fall under two categories.

1- The first is known as shubuhat or obfuscations, diseases that relate to impaired understanding. If somebody is fearful that God will not provide for him or her, this is considered a disease of the heart because a sound heart has knowledge and trust, not doubt and anxiety. Shubuhat alludes to aspects closely connected to the heart, the soul, the ego, Satan's whisperings and instigations, caprice and the ardent love of this ephemeral world. The heart is an organ designed to be in a state of calm, which is achieved with the remembrance of God:

(Most surely, in the remembrance of God do hearts find calm) (Qur'an, 13:28)

This calm is what the heart seks out and gravitates to. It yearns always to remember God the Exalted. But when God is not remembered, when human beings forget God, then the heart falls into a state of agitation and turmoil. In this state it become vulnerable to diseases because it is undernourished and cut off. Cells require oxygen, so we breathe. If we stop breathing we die. The heart also needs to breathe, and the breath of the heart is none other than the remembrance of God. Without it, the spiritual heart dies. The very purpose of revelation and of scripture is to remind us that our hearts need to be nourished. ...

2- The second category of diseases concerns the base desires of the self and is called shahawat. This relates to our desires exceeding their natural state, as when people live merely to satisfy these urges and are led by them. Islam provides the method by which our hearts can become sound and safe again. This method has been the subject of brilliant and insightful scholarship for centuries in the Islamic tradition. One can say that in essence Islam is a program to restore purity and calm to the heart through the remembrance of God. ...

(Source: Book titled "Purification of the Heart", by Hamza Yusuf)

 

[Cordoba]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Freedom and Purification[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]... freedom is achieved when one realizes the qualities of shame and humility, and empties oneself of their opposites (shamelessness and arrogance). With these qualities come true freedom, wealth and dignity, which require manumission from the bonds of one's whims.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]People may claim to be "free", yet cannot control themselves from gluttony in the presence of food or from illicit sexual relations when the opportunity presents itself. Such a notion of freedom is devoid of content.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Freedom has real meaning, for example, when a situation of temptation arises and one remains God-fearing, steadfast, and in control of one's actions. This holds true even when the temptation produces flickers of desire in a person who nonetheless refrains from indulging.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]Imam Al-Ghazali speaks at length about the stomach and the genitals as the two "dominant ones"; if they are under control all other aspects of desire are kept in check.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]One may also indulge in this the toungue, which can be a formidable obstacle. There are people, for example, who appear incapable of refraining from backbiting and speaking ill of others, and they often do so without realizing it.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]It is common for people to dislike impoverishment or humility because they perceive these in qualities abjectness. Yet the Prophet, peace be upon him, chose poverty over wealth: he did not have money in his home, and he slept on the floor upon a bed made out of leather stuffed with palm fibers: he did not have jewelry; he had two pillows in his room for guests. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Sans-Serif]In much of today's culture, living this way would be considered extreme poverty ... but dignity with God comes to those who are humble before Him, who place prime value on how they are perceived by their Maker and not by how they will be judged by the ephermeral norms of people. ...[/FONT]

(Source: Book titled "Purification of the Heart", by Hamza Yusuf)

 

[Gharib]

as-salamu alaykum we rahmatullah we barakatuhu
thaks alot for sharing this cordoba. may Allah guide you and may the Almighty Creator be pleased with you inshallah