Post by Tasleem on Feb 5, 2005 0:28:32 GMT
Along with our souls, Allah has placed within us something called the ‘Nafs’ or ‘Self’, which encourages our evil passions, our relish for food and other sensual gratification. The Nafs was created along with the soul so that it would serve as a transportation vehicle to the soul. In other words, the Nafs is like the engine of a car and Ruh is the driver if the car. Mechanical knowledge of the body is only given to the Nafs. The Nafs was created to acquire knowledge of the world’s physical, chemical and biological mechanisms so that they would serve their worldly purpose.
The Nafs is very much self-centred. It keeps us occupied with worldly affairs thus preventing us from following the orders of Allah. The soul however is always self-sacrificing. It is the duty of the soul to obey Allah, to obtain the love of Allah and His affection. This is the ‘food’ of the soul. Unless we find the origin of the Nafs, and understand its orientations, it is impossible to keep it under control, and thus once the Nafs is no longer under the control of the soul, the soul will find itself in the control of the evil. Nafs or evil passions are providing a destructive weapon for the devil against humans. These evil passions are implanted in the Nafs at the time of birth and grow in magnitude over time. For example, the evil Nafs will draw human beings towards idol worship and will inspire them to take part in corruptive dealings. In other words, it could be stated that evil Nafs and passions represent the devil’s workshop.
The soul is given to human beings and contains intellect, power over planning and talking, reciting the holy words and gradually putting them into action. But the real meaning of the soul is to obey Allah – the Quran says, “And they ask you about the soul, say the soul is the order of Allah”. The soul is an immortal thing that never dies, but “all nafs will taste death”. So, in theory the soul is among the Makluq (created) with the peculiar characteristics of being immeasurable, invisible and indescribable; yet we know it is simply the order of Allah.
“Verily I created man from clay – soon when I fashioned him and installed in him from my spirit”.
The object of the soul is to discover its original source (Allah) and obey His orders and receive His love and affections. The body of a man is a vehicle for the soul. As long as the soul remains in the temporary station world, the soul’s duty is to give an account each day to its Creator, of its words and deeds. It performs this obligation while performing duties such as prayers and zakat. In performing these duties, man’s body and soul become engaged in the remembrance of his Creator. If the soul fails to engage in these activities, it is the fault of the soul itself. The obedient souls report to the Creator several thousand times a day. The Nafs is not given the power to order the body, so in order to gain control of the body; the Nafs will have to take control of the soul first.
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The Nafs is very much self-centred. It keeps us occupied with worldly affairs thus preventing us from following the orders of Allah. The soul however is always self-sacrificing. It is the duty of the soul to obey Allah, to obtain the love of Allah and His affection. This is the ‘food’ of the soul. Unless we find the origin of the Nafs, and understand its orientations, it is impossible to keep it under control, and thus once the Nafs is no longer under the control of the soul, the soul will find itself in the control of the evil. Nafs or evil passions are providing a destructive weapon for the devil against humans. These evil passions are implanted in the Nafs at the time of birth and grow in magnitude over time. For example, the evil Nafs will draw human beings towards idol worship and will inspire them to take part in corruptive dealings. In other words, it could be stated that evil Nafs and passions represent the devil’s workshop.
The soul is given to human beings and contains intellect, power over planning and talking, reciting the holy words and gradually putting them into action. But the real meaning of the soul is to obey Allah – the Quran says, “And they ask you about the soul, say the soul is the order of Allah”. The soul is an immortal thing that never dies, but “all nafs will taste death”. So, in theory the soul is among the Makluq (created) with the peculiar characteristics of being immeasurable, invisible and indescribable; yet we know it is simply the order of Allah.
“Verily I created man from clay – soon when I fashioned him and installed in him from my spirit”.
The object of the soul is to discover its original source (Allah) and obey His orders and receive His love and affections. The body of a man is a vehicle for the soul. As long as the soul remains in the temporary station world, the soul’s duty is to give an account each day to its Creator, of its words and deeds. It performs this obligation while performing duties such as prayers and zakat. In performing these duties, man’s body and soul become engaged in the remembrance of his Creator. If the soul fails to engage in these activities, it is the fault of the soul itself. The obedient souls report to the Creator several thousand times a day. The Nafs is not given the power to order the body, so in order to gain control of the body; the Nafs will have to take control of the soul first.
[Continued...]