The Reality of Nafs and The Journey of Tazkiyah in Light of Quran and Sunnah
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The Reality of Nafs and The Journey of
Tazkiyah in Light of Quran and Sunnah
THE SELF (NAFS) AND ITS PURIFICATION (TAZKIYA)
Human life is shaped by an unseen struggle that never stops. This struggle does not take place on a battlefield outside, but inside the human heart. It is the struggle between two forces that Allah has placed within man.
On one side is the force that pulls him towards the earth, towards desires, comfort and disobedience. On the other side is the force that calls him towards the heavens, towards his Lord, towards light and obedience.
The direction of a person’s entire life depends on which of these two forces wins. If the heavenly force dominates, man rises in character and becomes a source of mercy for others.
If the earthly force dominates, man falls, even if he has knowledge, wealth and status. This is why understanding the Nafs is not an extra subject in Islam. It is the foundation of our Deen.
1. WHAT IS THE REALITY OF NAFS?
Allah, the Most High, created man in the best form. He honored him above many of His creations and breathed into him from His Ruh. But He also created this world as a place of test, not as a place of permanent rest. The first man, Adam (Alayhis Salam), was created in Jannah.
Then, by the wisdom of Allah, he was sent to this world. Jannah became his original home, and this world became the path of return. Return is only possible by passing the tests of this world.
For this great test, Allah gave man a special combination. He gave him a body from the earth and a soul from the command of Allah.
The scholars of Tazkiyah explain this with two terms:
*a) An-Nafs Al-Hayawaniyyah (The Animal Soul):*
This is the soul that gives life to the body. It is responsible for our biological needs - eating, drinking, sleeping, anger, and desire. It works even when we are asleep. Our heart beats, our blood circulates, our breathing continues because of it.
Its center is considered to be between the heart and the brain, and it spreads through the blood to the whole body. This soul belongs to Alam al-Khalq, the world of creation. If this soul is left without training and discipline, it commands only its own comfort. It does not know what is Halal and what is Haram.
*b) An-Nafs Ar-Rabbaniyyah or Ar-Ruh (The Lordly Soul):*
This is the noble soul that Allah breathed into man. Allah says:
*"And I breathed into him of My spirit." (Quran 15:29).
This is what separates a human from an animal. An animal also eats and sleeps, but it does not know its Lord. The lordly soul knows Allah. It wants to worship, to prostrate, to remember.
It belongs to Alam al-Amr, the world of Allah's command. This soul does not die with the body. When the body dies, the animal soul leaves permanently, but the lordly soul returns to its Lord to be questioned.
The entire life of a believer is the management of these two souls. The animal soul is like a horse and the lordly soul is like the rider. If the rider is strong and holds the reins tightly, the horse takes him to his destination safely.
If the rider is weak and leaves the reins loose, the horse takes him wherever it wants and throws him into a ditch.
The Quran points to this when it says:
*"And as for him who feared standing before his Lord and restrained his soul from desire, then indeed Paradise will be his refuge." (Quran 79:40-41)*[its]
2. WHY IS THE NAFS CONSIDERED THE GREATEST
OBSTACLE?
Many people think that Shaitan is their biggest enemy. But the scholars say Shaitan is an external enemy. He can only whisper. The Nafs is an internal enemy. It lives inside you. It knows your weak points better than anyone.
Imam Ibn al-Qayyim (Rahimahullah) said: Shaitan enters the heart through the door of the Nafs and its desires. If the Nafs is strong and undisciplined, it opens the door for Shaitan. If the Nafs is disciplined, the door remains closed.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
*"The strong one is not the one who can wrestle, but the strong one is the one who controls himself in anger." (Bukhari and Muslim)*
He also said in another Hadith:
*"The Mujahid is the one who makes Jihad against his own Nafs for the sake of Allah." (Tirmidhi)*
This Hadith is very important. It tells us that real courage is not fighting outside, but fighting inside. To stop your tongue from backbiting when you have a chance, to lower your gaze when no one is watching you, to give charity when your Nafs tells you to save money - this is the greater Jihad.
After the Battle of Tabuk, which was one of the most difficult battles in the history of Islam, the Companions were returning tired and wounded.
The Prophet (PBUH) told them:
*"We have returned from the lesser Jihad to the greater Jihad."*
The Companions were surprised and asked, "What is greater than this battle?" He replied, "The Jihad against the Nafs."
If missing the lesser Jihad had consequences for the three Companions who stayed behind, then what will be the consequence of a person who abandons the greater Jihad for his whole life?
3. THE STAGES OF THE NAFS IN THE QURAN
The Quran does not describe the Nafs as one single state. It describes its journey. This journey has stages:
*Stage 1: An-Nafs Al-Ammarah Bis-Su (The Soul That Commands Evil)
*"Indeed, the soul is a persistent enjoiner of evil..." (Quran 12:53).
This is the starting point of every human. This Nafs loves sins and hates to be controlled. It is impatient, ungrateful, and arrogant.
*Stage 2: An-Nafs Al-Lawwamah (The Self-Reproaching Soul)
*"And I swear by the self-reproaching soul." (Quran 75:2).
This is the Nafs that wakes up. When it commits a sin, it feels regret. When it misses Fajr, it feels pain. This feeling of guilt is a sign of Iman. A dead heart feels nothing.
*Stage 3: An-Nafs Al-Mulhamah (The Inspired Soul)
*"And the soul and He who proportioned it, and inspired it [with discernment of] its wickedness and its righteousness." (Quran 91:7-8).
At this stage, Allah inspires the soul to understand what is good and what is bad for it.[by]
*Stage 4: An-Nafs Al-Mutmainnah (The Tranquil Soul)
*"O tranquil soul, return to your Lord, well-pleased and pleasing [to Him], and enter among My servants, and enter My Paradise." (Quran 89:27-30).
This is the final stage. This soul is calm because it remembers Allah. It is pleased with Allah's decree. This is the goal of Tazkiyah.
4. HOW TO ACHIEVE TAZKIYAH? THE THREE PRINCIPLES
The word Tazkiyah means to purify, to cleanse, and to increase in goodness. It is not just removing dirt, but also planting flowers. The early Sufis and scholars of Islam summarized the whole method of Tazkiyah in three principles. If a believer follows them, his heart will become sound (Qalb-e-Saleem).
*Principle 1: Qillatut Ta'am (Eating Less)
The Nafs becomes strong with excessive food. Excessive eating makes the body lazy for worship, makes the heart hard, and increases desires. Islam does not order us to stop eating, but to eat in moderation. The Prophet (PBUH) said:
*"No man fills a vessel worse than his stomach." (Tirmidhi).
A believer should eat to live, not live to eat. One third for food, one third for water, and one third for air.
*Principle 2: Qillatul Manam (Sleeping Less)
Excessive sleep is the brother of death. It wastes the most valuable time - the time of Tahajjud, the time of Fajr. The friends of Allah would sleep little at night and stand before their Lord. Allah describes them:
"They used to sleep but little of the night." (Quran 51:17).
This does not mean we should not sleep. It means we should have a disciplined sleep, sleeping early and waking up early, not wasting nights in useless entertainment.
*Principle 3: Qillatul Kalam (Speaking Less)
The tongue is the biggest mirror of the Nafs. Most sins - lying, backbiting, slander, arguing - come from excessive speech. The Prophet (PBUH) said:
*"Whoever can guarantee me what is between his two jaws (his tongue) and what is between his two legs, I will guarantee him Paradise." (Bukhari).
Silence is wisdom. A person doing Tazkiyah should remain silent except when speaking good or remembering Allah.
These three principles weaken the animal soul and give strength to the lordly soul.
5. THE LEVELS OF PURIFICATION MENTIONED IN THE QURAN
The Quran mentions Tazkiyah in three contexts, which shows its complete system:
*First, Tazkiyah from Allah:
"Had it not been for the favor of Allah upon you and His mercy, not one of you would have been pure, ever, but Allah purifies whom He wills." (Quran 24:21).
* This teaches us humility. We cannot purify ourselves alone. We need Allah's help and mercy. So we must constantly make dua: "O Allah, purify my heart."
*Second, Tazkiyah by the Messenger:*
"Just as We have sent among you a Messenger from yourselves, reciting to you Our verses and purifying you and teaching you the Book and wisdom." (Quran 2:151).
The job of the Prophet was not just to give information, but to purify hearts. Today, this job is done by the Quran, the Sunnah, and by staying in the company of righteous scholars.
*Third, Tazkiyah by the Slave himself:
"Successful is the one who purifies it, and ruined is the one who corrupts it." (Quran 91:9-10).
This is our responsibility. We must struggle. We must do Mujahada. Allah has promised that if we take one step towards Him, He will come running towards us.
The Nafs is like a two-edged sword. If you train it, it will take you to the highest levels, even higher than angels, because angels have no Nafs to struggle against. Your struggle gives you value. If you leave it untrained, it will bring you down to Asfal as-Safileen, the lowest of the low.
The goal is not to kill the Nafs. Some people think becoming pious means leaving family, wealth, and world. This is not Islam. Islam teaches us to live in this world but not let this world live inside our hearts.
The goal is to make the Nafs like a well-trained horse that listens to its rider. When your Nafs desires something Haram, you stop it. When Allah calls you for Fajr, your Nafs may feel heavy, but you command it to get up.
On the Day of Judgment, wealth and children will not help. Allah says:
The Day when there will not benefit wealth or children, but only one who comes to Allah with a sound heart." (Quran 26:88-89).*[anyone]
A sound heart is a purified Nafs. May Allah make us among those who purify their souls and return to Him with Qalb-e-Mutmainnah.
The Quiet Battle Between Me and My Own Nafs
There are some things about myself I don't like admitting.
I can be stubborn when I know deep down I should let something go. I can become irritated over a very small comment and then spend the next six hours replaying it in my head, creating arguments that never happened. Sometimes I know exactly what the better, more pleasing choice to Allah is, but I still find myself searching for a clever reason not to make it.
And strangely, nobody has to tell me to do these things. The argument is already happening inside my own head. There is a courtroom in there, and I am both the lawyer and the accused.
For a very long time, I thought of the nafs as something connected only with obvious sins and big temptations. I imagined that controlling the nafs meant resisting alcohol, zina, or stealing. I thought it was a battle for very bad people.
But I have started noticing it in much smaller, much more dangerous places.
It appears when I do something sincerely for Allah, like giving charity or helping someone, and then a small, whispering part of me waits for someone to praise me.
It appears when I know I should apologize to my wife, my mother, or my friend, but a voice inside me says with full pride, "Why should you be the one to do it? Let them come first."
It appears when someone hurts me and I don't just want justice - I want them to feel exactly what I felt. I want them to stay awake at night like I did.
Sometimes it even appears in something as ordinary and silly as wanting to be right in a WhatsApp group argument.
And that's probably what makes the nafs so difficult to deal with. It doesn't always come to us looking like a bad decision. Sometimes it comes disguised as a perfectly reasonable, logical, and even righteous one.
What is Nafs Really? It’s Not Just Your Ego
In Islam, Nafs is not just ego. It is your self, your desires, your appetites, and your inner state. The scholars, especially Imam Al-Ghazali in his book Ihya Ulum al-Din, explained that our Nafs has 3 stages. And when I learned this, my whole life made sense.
*1. An-Nafs Al-Ammarah (The Commanding Self):
This is the lowest stage. This Nafs commands you to do evil without thinking. Allah says about it in the Quran:
*"Indeed, the soul is a persistent enjoiner of evil, except those upon which my Lord has mercy." (Quran 12:53 - Surah Yusuf)*
This is the Nafs that says, "Just do it, no one will see." This is where anger, jealousy, greed, and lust live.
*2. An-Nafs Al-Lawwamah (The Self-Reproaching Self):*
This is the awakening Nafs. This is where most of us are. You do something wrong, and then your heart feels guilty. You feel that pinch in your chest after backbiting or after missing Fajr.
Allah swears by this Nafs in the Quran:
*"And I swear by the self-reproaching soul." (Quran 75:2)*
This guilt is not a weakness. It is a gift from Allah. It means your heart is still alive.
*3. An-Nafs Al-Mutmainnah (The Tranquil Soul):*
This is the final destination. A soul that is at peace with Allah's commands. A soul that finds joy in Salah, not pain. Allah calls to this soul:
*"O tranquil soul, return to your Lord, well-pleased and pleasing [to Him]." (Quran 89:27-28)*
Our entire life's purpose is to take our Nafs from Ammarah to Mutmainnah.
My battle is mostly between Lawwamah and Ammarah. Every day I slip, and every day my Lawwamah pulls me back.
The 7 Hidden Faces of My Nafs I Discovered
I started writing down where my Nafs tricks me. These are not big sins, but they are the small holes that sink the ship.
*1. The Need to Be Seen (Riya):
I would pray a little longer if someone was watching. I would write an Islamic post and then keep checking how many people liked it. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) called this minor shirk. He said, "The thing I fear most for you is minor shirk - showing off." (Musnad Ahmad).
*2. The Need to Be Right:
Even when I knew I was wrong, my Nafs would not let me say "You are right, I am sorry." It would give me 10 logical reasons to prove why my wrong was actually right. This is pride (Kibr) in its most polite form.
*3. The Victim Story:
My Nafs loves to play the victim. "I am like this because my parents treated me like this. I am angry because they started it." The Nafs uses past pain as a license to commit present sins.
*4. The Comparison Trap:
Scrolling on Instagram, seeing someone with a better business, a better marriage, a better life. My Nafs would whisper, "Why not you? Allah gave him more than you." This is Hasad (jealousy) that eats good deeds like fire eats wood.
*5. The Tomorrow Excuse:
"You can start praying Tahajjud tomorrow. You can forgive him tomorrow. You can quit this bad habit from Monday." This is the most effective weapon of the Nafs. It never says you should never do good. It just says, "Not today."
*6. The Anger Justification:
"I am angry because I care about the truth." No, I was angry because my ego was hurt. I was calling my ego "principles" to make it sound Islamic.
*7. The Private Sin Justification:
"Allah is Most Merciful, He will forgive this small thing. Everyone does it." The Nafs uses Allah's mercy as an excuse to disobey Him.
When I started seeing these 7 faces clearly, I realized I was not fighting the world. I was fighting myself.
Why Is The Nafs So Hard to Defeat? Science Meets Quran
Modern psychology now confirms what the Quran said 1400 years ago. We have something called "Cognitive Dissonance." Our brain hates to admit it is wrong. So when we do something wrong, our brain instantly creates a beautiful story to make us feel right.
This is exactly what Allah described:
*"Have you seen the one who takes his own desires as his god?" (Quran 45:23)*
The Nafs doesn't shout. It doesn't say "I am evil, follow me." It speaks very calmly and logically.
It says:
- You can pray later, you are tired right now.
- It's not really backbiting, you are just informing.
- It's not jealousy, you are just being realistic about his flaws.
- If you forgive him, he will think you are weak.
That calm, logical voice is the most dangerous one.
My 5-Step Sunnah Plan to Control My Nafs (That Actually Works)
I tried willpower alone. It failed. Then I tried the Prophetic method, and it started working. This is not theory. This is what I do daily.
*Step 1: The Power of Silence and Wudu*
The Prophet (PBUH) said,
"Anger is from Shaitan, and Shaitan was created from fire. Fire is extinguished with water, so when one of you becomes angry, let him perform Wudu."
Now, whenever I feel that surge of anger, jealousy, or the need to reply harshly, I immediately do Wudu and remain silent for 3 minutes. Science calls it a pattern interrupt. Islam called it Sunnah 1400 years ago. It breaks the Nafs's momentum.
*Step 2: Daily Muhasaba (Accountability Before Sleep)*
Every night before sleeping, I ask myself 3 questions, as Umar ibn Al-Khattab (RA) used to do:
1. What did my Nafs make me do today that displeased Allah?
2. Did I do any good deed only for people to see?
3. If I died today, would I be proud of how I controlled my tongue?
This 5-minute journaling has changed me more than any book.
*Step 3: Starve the Nafs with Fasting
The Prophet (PBUH) said fasting is a shield. I understood why. The Nafs is like a spoiled child. If you give it everything it wants (food, entertainment, endless scrolling), it becomes stronger. When I started fasting on Mondays and Thursdays, I noticed my ability to say "No" to other desires also became stronger. Fasting is gym training for the Nafs.
*Step 4: The Hidden Good Deed Challenge
The Nafs loves to be seen. So I started to do one deed daily that absolutely no one knows except Allah. It could be 2 rakahs of Tahajjud, giving $1 in secret charity, or forgiving someone in my heart without telling them. When the Nafs is denied its audience, it starts to die. And sincerity (Ikhlas) starts to grow.
*Step 5: Replace, Don't Just Remove
Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim said,
"The Nafs cannot be empty. If you don't occupy it with good, it will occupy you with evil."
You cannot just say "I will not backbite." You must replace it with Dhikr. You cannot just say "I will not be jealous." You must replace it by making dua for that person's success. I started replacing:
- Anger with "La Hawla Wala Quwwata Illa Billah"
- Jealousy with "MashaAllah, BarakAllahu Lahu"
- Overthinking with recitation of Surah Duha
The Real Victory
I don't think overcoming the nafs means reaching a point where you never struggle with yourself again. Even the Sahaba struggled.
The Prophet (PBUH) himself used to make this dua often:
*"Allahumma aati nafsi taqwaha, wa zakkiha, Anta khairu man zakkaha. (O Allah, grant my soul its piety and purify it, You are the Best to purify it)." (Sahih Muslim)
If the Prophet (PBUH) needed to ask for purification of the Nafs, who am I to think I am done?
Maybe the real change is not that the battle ends, but that you get better at hearing it. You catch yourself 10 minutes after anger, not 10 hours after. You catch the show-off intention before you post, not after.
Some victories are meant to stay between you and Allah. Nobody will clap for you when you decide not to reply to an insult. Nobody will know when you forgive someone who never apologized. Nobody will see you crying in Tahajjud.
And perhaps that is what makes it sincere. Those hidden choices, when no one is watching and you have every excuse to follow your desires but you still choose Allah, those choices tell us more about our hearts than any public good deed.
I am still learning my own nafs. I still fail. But now I fail and I return. I fall and I get up. And maybe that is the whole point.
Because Allah does not want a perfect heart that never sins. He wants a heart that keeps correcting its direction back to Him.
As the Quran beautifully says:
*"Successful indeed is the one who purifies it, and doomed is the one who corrupts it." (Quran 91:9-10).
written by Nosheen Nawaz(Master in Islamic studies)
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