Question:
Assalamu Alaikum wa Rehmatullah!
I am from pakistan and with great respect, i want to know about tazkiyah annafs.
How we can attain that quality?
Can we reach to it by doing dhikr (rememberance of the Allah Almighty) along with five times obligatory prayers?
please guide me in this regard.
JazakALLAH Khair!
Answer:
wa `alaykum salam wa rahmatullah,
Tazkiyyat an-nafs means purification of the lower self. By means of tazkiyya, one moves from the state Muslim, observing the five pillars, to the state of iman, faith, and then with further polishing to the state of Ihsan, which as the Prophet (s) informed Archangel Jibril (as) when he questioned him on the three levels of religion, he said “Ihsan is to worship Allah as if you see Him and if you do not see Him, know that He in fact sees you”.
While Dhikr is one of the remedies to the evils of the lower self, it is only part of the pharmacy available to a spiritual doctor to cure you. But in order to be cured, one must first see the doctor.
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani wrote, in Classical Islam and the Naqshbandi Sufi Tradition:
Allah said in the Holy Qur’an, “Fear God and accompany Trustworthy people” (at-Tawba, 9:119)
Allah’s Word is for all time, for every era and for every century. It is an ongoing order, from which we understand the importance of keeping company with the Trustworthy. Allah orders all human beings to accompany them, because by keeping their company one will see how they live their lives, how they deal with people, how they address their companions, how they eat, how they sleep, how they worship. By accompanying them, one will learn all their good manners, and their ways of life.
Another way too understand this verse, is that one should accompany a trustworthy person, because to be trustworthy is very rare and not many people achieve it. Everyone, however, can find a trustworthy person and accompany him, in order to be guided. Following a Trustworthy One is essential to our spiritual path. Such a one is needed to lead us and guide us and to be a beacon for us on that way. In the Naqshbandi Order, the living presence of a connected shaykh is essential. Through his physical and spiritual linkage to the Prophet (s) he establishes the murid‘s connection. The murid‘s obligation is to maintain his connection to his shaykh, to hold tightly to the hand of the one within his reach. The shaikh maintains the further connection to the previous shaikhs and to the Prophet (s).
From what has been said above, and in the biographies of the Masters, the importance of accompanying a True Master has been clearly demonstrated. It provides the seeker with the opportunity to learn the essentials of ethics and good conduct, to discover the hidden defects of his heart, and to be lifted to the states of perfection. There are two requisites for entering upon such an endeavor: when the seeker feels the need to seek in this way he must purify his intention and ask his Lord to connect him to a Truthful One; and he must look in his own country for someone who will point him in the direction of the Perfect Master.
Taher Siddiqui
