Nafs

A few more pearls of wisdom taken from some of the majalis (gatherings for spiritual training) held by  Shaykh Riyadh ul Haq in 1998: •    Hub-e-Jaah (love of name,fame and recognition) is normally the last  thing that leaves a person’s …

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن زَكَّاهَا He who purifies the soul, he is successful. [Surah al Shams 91:9] Just as the body falls ill, the ruh (soul) also falls ill.The illnesses of the ruh include pride, jealousy, malice, hatred, love of dunya …

Sayyiduna Abdur Rahman bin Auf رضى الله عنه repeatedly made the dua ‘Oh Allah! Protect me from the greed of my own soul’. A person who is greedy becomes enslaved to his own nafs and not to Allah سبحانه وتعالى. …

A famous du’a (supplication) of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is: اللَّهُمَّ آتِ نَفْسِي تَقْوَاهَا وَزَكِّهَا أَنْتَ خَيْرُ مَنْ زَكَّاهَا أَنْتَ وَلِيُّهَا وَ مَوْلَاهَا ‘Oh Allah! Grant my soul its taqwa and purify it, for you are the best …

An alim (scholar) was asked ‘How do you learn to control your tongue?’. His reply was amazing. He said ‘My way of controlling my tongue is as follows; whenever my nafs tells me to speak, I remain silent. Whenever my …

One great scholar in a classical piece of writing addresses his nafs (soul) and says ‘Oh Soul! Admit! Isn’t it true that when I recite the Qur’an you feel fatigue, tiredness and you remind me of the need for the …

Why do we still fall victim to desire and continue to sin during Ramadhan? We know that the shayateen (devils) are locked up in Ramadhan so why do we still persist in sin during this blessed month? This is not …

Allah سبحانه وتعالى says in a verse of Surah Furqan: أَرَأَيْتَ مَنِ اتَّخَذَ إِلَهَهُ هَوَاهُ أَفَأَنتَ تَكُونُ عَلَيْهِ وَكِيلًا Have you not seen he who has made his nafs god? [N.B. Partial translation] [Surah al Furqan 25:43] In a hadeeth …

We are not humans because of the physical body but rather due to the soul. We need to focus on the soul on its entire journey from its origin till the final destination that Allah has designated it. By focussing …