2.2. PURIFYING ONESELF IN THE BOOK AND THE SUNNAH
The objective here is to command people with purifying (tazkiyah) their ‘seifs’ and to warn (tadhir) from corrupting them, just like in His statement:
“He has succeeded who purifies himself ’ (al-‘A’la (87): 14)
Thus if it is assumed that the meaning is ‘he has succeeded who Allah purifies himself, there would not be a command (ami) or prohibition (nahy) in it for them, nor exhortation (targhib) and admonishment (tarhib). And when the Qur’an commands or prohibits it does not mention Divine Decree (qadr) alone. It doesn’t say: ‘He who Allah has made a Believer’. Rather it says:
“The Believers have succeeded” (al-Mu’minun (23): 1)
and
“He has succeeded who purifies himself ’( al-‘A’la (87): 14),
Since the mere mention of ‘Divine Decree’ (qadr) in this defeats the purpose and this would not be appropriate for even the weakest of people in intelligence, so how about for the Speech of Allah?! Do you not see that [purification] is in the position of commands and prohibitions, exhortation (targhib) and admonishment (tarhib) to mention what is consistent with promises (wad) and threats (wa’id) , praise (madh) and censure (dhamm)? And (the Qur’an) only mentions the Divine Decree when making clear His favour upon them whether for something they did not do or for His favours of belief and righteous deeds, thus (the Qur’an) mentions (purification) in the context of His might and will; and as for when in connection with commands, then (the Qur’an) does not mention it except along with favours, like in His statement:
“And were it not for the favour and mercy of Allah upon you, not one of you would ever have been purified…” (al-Nur (24): 21)
Thus this is consistent. And His statement: “He has succeeded who purifies himself’ is an ayah of the second type, not the first.
The purpose of mentioning purification is in what He, exalted is He, said:
“Tell the Believers: ‘Lower…” (al-Nur (24): 30),
and
“Then return. It is purer for you” (al-Nur (24): 28),
and
“Those who do not give zakah” (Fussilat (41): 7),
and
“And what does it matter to you if he will not be purified” ( Abasa (80): 7)
The basis of zakah is to increase in goodness. From this meaning it is said: ‘The crop grew (zaka)’ and ‘the wealth grew (zaka) when it increased. Goodness will never increase except through abandoning evil and crops will not grow until it stops getting dense and twisted. Likewise the self and deeds will not grow until that which opposes it stops. And a person cannot be someone pure except along with abandoning evil, for indeed it contaminates and corrupts the self.
Al-Zajjaj said:‘“…corrupt it (means to) make it low, ignoble and contemptible’. Ibn Qutaybah said: In other words to cover it with evil deeds and disobedience’. So the person who commits evil corrupts himself, or stifles and tarnishes it; and the person who performs good deeds allows himself to shine and elevates it. For the most generous among the Arabs the pregnant ewe would get down in order to show herself, and the ignoble would go down the outskirts and small valleys
Thus goodness (birr) and piety (taqwa) delight the self (nafs) and expand the chest (sadr) so that the person finds spaciousness (bast) and joy (itisa’a) in himself compared to how he was before that. For indeed when someone widens through goodness, piety and sincerity, Allah makes him happy and expands his chest. While the evil and stingy stifle, degrade and debase the self so that the stingy finds has made that clear in the authentic narration: “The likeness of the stingy and charitable is two men who have on a garment of iron and their hands are tied to their necks. So whenever the charitable giver (the garment) widens and stretches until it covers the tips of his toes and (the garment) erases his footsteps. Whenever the stingy gives (the garment) shrinks and every link constricts in its place. And I saw the Messenger of Allah saying so with his finger in his collar, as if trying to widen it and it would not do so.’
The concealment and exposure of the abode is pursuant to that, as Allah, exalted is he, said:
‘He hides himself from people out of the evil he has been informed of’ (al-Nahl (16): 59)
As such the stingy, evil self has been concealed in parts of its body by its owner, and due to this, at the time of death, [the soul] is torn out from its body like thorns from wet wool; and the good, pious, pure self whose owner has purified it, as a result it was elevated, wid- ened, was praised and noble, at the time of death [the soul] exits the body flowing like drops from a water-skin and like hair from dough.
Ibn ‘Abbas (radiyAllah’(anhuma) said: ‘Indeed due to good (hasari) there is a light {nut) in the heart, a brightness {diyaf on the face, a strength (quwa) in the body, an abundance (wus’a) in provision and a love (muhabbah) in the hearts of creation. And indeed due to evil (sayi’ah) there is a darkness {julma) in the heart, a blackness (suwad) on the face, a weakness (wahn) in the body, a restriction (diq) in provision and an anger (bughd) in the hearts of creation’. Allah, exalted is He, said:
“And the pure land…” (al-A’raf (7): 58),
This is the likeness of the stingy and charitable. He, exalted is He, said:
“So whoever Allah intends to guide, He expands his chest…’ (al-An’am (6):125),
And Allah, exalted is He, said:
“Allah is the guardian of those who believe…”(al-Baqarah (2): 257)
He told him in the context of the accusation of sin, the censure of those who liked for it to appear among the believers and the one who speaks with what he does not know:
“And were it not for the favour of Allah upon you and His mercy, not one of you would ever have been purified.” (al-Nur(24): 21)
Thus He made it clear that purification only takes place with the abandonment of sin and due to this He said:
“Tell the Believers: ‘Lower your eyes…’(al-Nur (24): 30)
The abandonment of evil is among the actions of the self (amal al-nafs), for indeed it knows that evil is blameworthy and its perform- ance disliked. His self struggles when he calls it to [evil] if he accepts the Book of his Lord believing what His Prophet came with.Due to this the acceptance (tasdiq), belief (iman),dislike (karaha)and struggle of the self (jihad al-nafs) are actions the purified self performs, and as a result is purified through that as well, in contrast to what happens when it commits evil. For indeed it becomes impure, contaminates and becomes constricted like crops when thick, twisted undergrowth grows with it.
Rewards (thawab) are based on actual deeds as is punishment (iqab). As for the lack of purity, there is no reward or punishment in it, rather there is lack of reward and punishment. Allah, glorified is he, comand good (khayr) and prohibits evil (sharr) and mankind is in agreement that what is sought by commands are actual matters or non-existent.Some say it is ‘existent’,and it is to abandon something, and this is the view of the majority. While others say what is sought is a lack of evil, and it is to not do something.
The confirmation is that when the believer is prohibited from something abominable, there is no doubt that he does not approach it and is determined to abandon it and he dislikes doing it. This is an actual matter no doubt, so it is unimaginable that the believer who knows that it is … actually however it would not be desirable to him like disliking consuming non-ritually slaughtered animals instinctively. Along with that, it is essential for him to believe in the prohibition and to be determined to abandon out of obedience to the legislator, and this is an increased amount beyond the instinctive dislike and a real matter which one is rewarded for. However it is not like the reward of one who refrains himself. …however it is not like the reward of he who refrains himself and struggles against it with respect to desire for prohibited matters. And he whose dislike for prohibited matters is a dislike based on faith, and his faith overwhelms the dictates of his nature, then this is the highest of the three categories [of people], and this type of person possesses the tranquil’ soul (nafs mutma’inna).He is more elevated than the owner of the blameful [soul]'(sahib lawwama) which committed sin, who found blame in its owner over it, and it lingered and hesitated [saying]: ‘Should you do it or not?!’
As for someone that it did not even cross his mind whether Allah prohibited a matter and he was not desirous of it, rather he simply did not commit (that which is prohibited), then this type of person is not punished nor is he rewarded since no actual command was fulfilled to be rewarded or punished over. So whoever says: ‘The demand is to not commit (prohibited actions)’, if he means that this demand suffices in terms of the lack of punishment, then he has said the truth, and if he means that one shall be rewarded on top of this lack [of punishment], then it is not the case. Since the disbeliever does not believe in Allah and His Messenger, then it is inevitable for himself to have actions through which he is distracted from faith and the abandonment of which is disbelief that he will be punished for.
For this reason, when Allah mentions the punishment of the disbelievers in Hell-Fire, He mentions actual matters, and (matters) that corrupted the self. Thus tawhid and faith are the greatest things by which a self can be purified and polytheism is the greatest thing that can corrupt.The salaf mentioned all of this and that righteous deeds (a’mal al-nafs) and charity purify (the self). They said about the ayah:
“He has succeeded who purifies himself’ (al- A’la (87): 14)
It is to purify oneself from polytheism and disobedience through repentance’. And on authority of Abu Sa’id, Ata’ and Qatadah: It is the charity given at the end of Ramadan’. They did not mean to say that the ayah does not apply to anything except that, rather what they meant was that whoever gives the charity due at the end of Ramadan and prays the ‘id prayer, then it applies to that and everything afterwards. For this reason, every time Yazld Ibn Habib would leave for the prayer, he would bring something to give in charity with him and give it away before the prayer, even if all he could find was an onion.Al- Hasan said about the ayah:
“He has succeeded who purifies himself’(al-‘A’la (87): 140
‘It is anyone whose actions increase (zaki) Abu’l-Ahwas said: The zakah of all matters’. Al-Zajjaj said: ‘He purifies himself through obeying Allah, lofty and sublime is He’. And the meaning of zaki is ‘a great deal of increase;
They said something similar regarding His statement:
“And woe to the polytheists who do not give charity(zakah) (fussilat(41):6-7)
Ibn ‘Abbas (radiyAllah “anhuma) said: They do not testify that there is no god except Allah’. Mujahid said: Their deeds do not increase, in other words, they are not righteous’. It is also said that they did not purify (their deeds) with sincerity, as if he intended and Allah knows best people who show off, for indeed it is polytheism. On authority of al-Hasan: They do not believe in zakah and they do not establish it’. On authority of al-Dahhak: They do not voluntarily give charity or spend out of obedience’. And on authority of Ibn al-Sa’ib: They do not give gakdh from their wealth’. He said: They would make the major and minor pilgrimages and not give zakah’
In effect, the ayah deals with anything with which people can be purified whether it is tawhid or righteous acts, as in His saying:
“…would you purify yourself ’(al-Nazi’at (79): 18)
and“He has succeeded who purifies himself*,and upon the revelation of the latter, voluntary charity (sadaqa) was no longer obligatory to give.
And if it is said: ‘The term ‘give* is a transitive verb’. It is said: this is like His statement:
“and fitnah [i.e., disbelief] had been demanded of them,they would have done it.” (al-Ahzab (33):14).
Before this ayah, the Messenger called to them and it was demanded from him [to do so]. So this term involves establishing the proof against them through the Messengers and they only called them to that by which they could purify themselves.
From what is befitting is that zakah involve purity (taharah) since its meaning is the concept of purity.His statement:
“Take charity from their wealth to purify them” (al-Tawbah(9):103)
From evil “And increase them” in good. The Prophet said:
‘ Oh Allah purify me with water, cold and snow…”
He would supplicate with it in the opening of the prayer, upon standing up from bowing and for major ablution.
These matters necessitate the cooling of the person washing with them and ‘snow* grants strength and firmness; what is pleasing is described with ‘coolness* and ‘delight of the eye*. Due to this tears of joy are cold and tears of grief are hot because whatever offends the self necessitates its sadness and grief, and whatever gladdens it necessitates its happiness and joy and that is from whatever cools on the inside.
So the Prophet asked to wash the sins from the perspective of greatly cooling the heart so there could be through what is in it of happiness (farh) and joy (surur) that which eliminates from him what offends the self of sins.
And his statement: “…with ice, cold and cold water is a representation of what is in it of this type, otherwise the self of sins could not be washed by that, like what is said: ‘Make us taste the coolness of Your Pardon And the sweetness of your forgiveness’.And when Abu Qatadah paid the debt of the debtor, the Prophet said: “Now his body has cooled”
It is also said that coolness is certainty (yaqiri) and hotness is doubt (shakk). It is said: ‘This matter has ‘cooled* his chest or made him pleased’ since it is a truth that the heart recognizes and he is glad- dened by it to the point that it becomes like the coolness of ice. The ailment of the self (marad al-nafs) whether it is a doubt (shubh), desire (shahwa) or anger (ghadab) all three necessitate hotness. And it is said to whoever obtains what he desires: ‘His heart has cooled’, for indeed in the seeker is the heat of desire (hararat al-talab).
And His statement:
‘’Take from their wealth’’ (al-Tawbah (9): 103)
Is proof that good deeds cleanse the self and purify it from previous sins, for he said that after saying:
‘’And other recognize their sins’’ (al-Tawabah (9):102)
Thus cleansing and purification take place with repentance and righteous deeds and due to this He said in the context of His statement:
“Tell the Believers: ‘Lower…” (al-Nur (24): 30]
The ayahs:
‘’And repent to Allah.’’ (al-Nur (24): 31)
So He commanded them all to repent in the context of what He mentioned because no one is safe from this type, like what is men- tioned in the Sahlh: “Indeed Allah has written for the son of Adam his allotment of fornication” , the narration. And also in the Sahlh that: “His statement:
‘’Indeed good deeds wipes out evil ones’’ (Hud(11): 114),
was revealed because a man used to do everything except inter- course with a woman (not his wife), then he repented, so it was revealed.
A Muslim needs to fear Allah in that and prevent the self from desires. A self of desires and appetites is not punished for them, rather for following and acting upon them. So when the self desires something and the person prohibits it, prohibiting it is an act of worship for Allah and a righteous act. It is established that he said: “The Mujahid is the one who fights against himself for the sake of Allah.”Thus one is commanded to fight against it just like one is commanded to fight against whoever commands disobedience and calls to it. A person is in greater need of fighting against himself for indeed it is an individual obligation while the former is a communal obligation. Patience (sabr) in this matter is among the most meritori- ous of acts, for indeed the fight against one’s self is the essence of the fight against (the enemy), for whoever is patient upon the former, can be patient upon the latter. Likewise, it is like he said: “And the immigrant is he who flees from evil deeds.”
Furthermore, the person (in the first type of fighting) is not praiseworthy unless victorious in contrast with the second type (of fighting), for indeed he is one who:
“…is killed or attains victory, thus We will grant him a great reward” (al-Nisd’ (4): 74)
And due to this the Prophet said: “The strong one is not the one who can throw another down…”, and that is because Allah commanded people to prohibit the self from desires and to fear the position of their Lord, so belief takes hold in them and that aids them in fighting. So if defeated, it is due to a weakness in his belief, thus he would have been excessive in neglecting what was commanded; in contrast with the disbelieving enemy, for indeed his body could be stronger.
Thus sins only take place when the self does not abide by what it is commanded with, and along with complying with what is commanded, one should not commit what is prohibited, for indeed they are mutually exclusive. Allah, exalted is He, said:
“As such in order that We divert evil from him” (Yusuf (12): 24)
And He said:
“Indeed My slaves- you do not have authority over them” (al-Hijr (15): 42)
Thus Shaytan cannot cause the sincere slaves of Allah to stray,and‘to stray’ is the opposite of ‘correct guidance’,and it is to follow desires. So he whose self inclines towards a prohibited matter, then he performs an act of worship as Allah commanded, making the din for His sake alone;then indeed that will divert from him evil and sin… fearing, loving and worshipping for Him alone, and this prevents evil deeds.
So if he is repentant, then falls short in some way and sins take place from the owner [of the repentance), it serves as an erasure (of the sins) after the fact. So it is like the antidote which eliminates the effects of poison and removes it after its taking effect; like nutrients from food and drink; like the enjoyment of permissible matters which prevent the self from seeking the prohibited and if (the prohibited) does occur to him, he seeks to eliminate it; like knowledge which prevents doubt and removes it after its taking place; like the medicine which preserves health and removes sickness; and likewise what is in the heart of faith, safeguarding from anything arising in it in similar ways.
When a sickness of doubts and desires arises from him, they are eliminated through this way, and sickness does not take place except due to a deficiency in the causes of good health. Likewise the heart does not become sick except due to a deficiency in one’s faith. And likewise faith and disbelief are two opposites. For all opposites, does not one prevent and remove the other at times, like blackandwhite?…it takes its place and removes it when it occurs. As such are good deeds and evil deeds. And the thwarting …..and the Mu’tazilah is that major sin is thwarted by good deeds as well as Faith.And indeed whoever dies upon it is not… al-Jubba And His son in the balance. However they said: He whose sins weigh more will be eternally in the Hell-Fire’, while the balance not having eternal ramifications is the view … the thwarting that is agreed upon is the thwarting of all good deeds through disbelief, as He said:
“And whoever among you apostates from his religion…” (al-Baqarah (2): 217)
And His statement:
“And whoever rejects Faith, then his deeds amount to nothing”(al-Maidah (5): 5)
He also said:
“And if they join partners, truly whatever they used to do would amount to nothing” (al-An’am (6): 88)
And he said:
“Indeed if you join partners, surely your deeds will amount to nothing” (al-Zumar (39): 65)
The claims of the Mu’Tazilah contradict the views of the Salaf, the fornicator and others, and He did not declare them disbelievers (kuffar) whose deeds had been thwarted or amounted to nothing. And He did not command for them to be killed, unlike the apostates (murtadun) and the hypocrites (munafuq) who did not manifest their disbelief.The Prophet ordered that the extremist and the one who committed suicide be prayed over, and if they had been disbelievers and hypocrites, prayer over them would not be permitted. Thus it is known that their belief was not completely thwarted. And he said about the one who drank intoxicants: “Do not curse him for indeed he loves Allah and His Messenger.”And that love is among the greatest of the branches of faith. So it is known that his addiction did not remove every ‘branch’ (of faith). Also established through many routes is the narration: “Whoever has in his heart an atom’s amount of faith will be removed from the Hell-Fire”, and if it amounted to nothing, there would not exist anything of (faith)in their hearts. And Allah, exalted is He, said:
“Then We bequeathed the Book…” (Fatir (35): 32)
So He appoints from among those who are chosen.
So since evil deeds do not thwart all good deeds (hasanat) then are they thwarted in proportion to them and are some good deeds thwarted by sin aside from disbelief (,kufr)?There are two views about this among those who are attributed to the Sunnah. Among them are those who reject it and those who affirm it, just as the texts indicate.
For example, in His statement:
“Do not nullify your charity with reminders and harm” (al-Baqarah (2): 264)
It indicates that this sin invalidates the charity and another example of this is with the one who shows off. ‘A’ishah ( radijAllah ‘anha) said: “Inform Zayd that he nullified his fighting….” the narration.
As for His statement:
“…so that your deeds amount to nothing” (al-Hujardt (49): 2)
and the narration about the afternoon (‘Asr) prayer, then there is a dispute about that. Allah, exalted is He, said:
“And do not invalidate your deeds” (Muhammad (47): 33),
and al-Hasan said: ‘…through disobedience and major sins’; on authority of ‘Ata’: ‘…through polytheism and Hypocrisy’; on author- ity of Ibn al-Sa’ib: ‘…through showing off and (for)reputation’; on authority of Muqatil: ‘…through reminding’ and that is for people to remind others of their Islam. What is mentioned on the authority of al-Hasan demonstrates that disobedience and major sins thwart one’s deeds.
If it is said: ‘It does not intend but the invalidation (of one’s deeds) through disbelief . It is said: that is prohibited for him in itself and is a cause for lasting eternity (in Hell-Fire). Thus the prohibition of it is not expressed through this rather he mentions it by way of harshness, like His statement:
“He among you who apostates from his religion”(al-Ma’idah (5): 54),
and similar ayahs. And Allah, glorified is He, in this one and in the ayah of ‘reminding others of good one has done designates (that particular deed) as invalidated and does not designate (all deeds)as amounting to nothing. And for this reason, afterwards He mentions disbelief by saying:
“Indeed those who disbelieve and turn away from the path of Allah, then die while disbelievers” (Muhammad (47): 34),
If it is said: ‘What is intended is when you enter (the reminding) into (a matter) and complete it’, and those who said ‘enlistment in the beginning is required’ relied on this.
It is said: If it is supposed that the ayah demonstrates that it is disallowed to invalidate some of the deeds, then (a deeds) complete invalidation is more appropriate through (reminding) entering into it. So how, while that is before its completion, is (an act) not designated as prayer or fasting? Then it is said: ‘Invalidation happens before the completion (of an act) or after it’. And what they mentioned is a matter of the completion and invalidation, and it is the invalidation of the reward. We do not accept that one who does not complete an act of worship invalidates all of its reward, rather it is said: ‘Indeed one is rewarded for whatever he has done of that (act)’. And in the Sahlh is the narration of ‘the bankrupt ‘…who comes with good deeds the likes of a mountain.’
By Shaykhu’l-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah
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