Purifying the Soul - Ustadh Anas Tayib

Khutbah Opening

أَمَّا بَعْدُ، فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ الْكَلَامِ كَلَامُ اللَّهِ وَخَيْرَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ

Every Soul Will Be Held Accountable

Allah created us from one soul — خَلَقَكُم مِّن نَّفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ. Allah created us from Adam (alayhi salam) and from Adam he created Hawwa, and from them Allah sent and created the rest of mankind — وَبَثَّ مِنْهُمَا رِجَالًا كَثِيرًا وَنِسَاءً. Every single nafs that has come from Adam (alayhi salam) and from Hawwa — including the two — will come to Allah. Each individual nafs will be held accountable.

Allah says: الْيَوْمَ تُجْزَىٰ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ — meaning on the Day of Judgment, each and every soul will be given that which it has earned. لَا ظُلْمَ الْيَوْمَ — there will be no oppression on this day.

And in preparation for this day, Allah sent down messengers and prophets to clarify the truth, and He sent with them books with guidance in them, so that no nafs comes on the Day of Judgment complaining to Allah that they found no guidance, complaining of their ignorance.

Allah commands the believers — all the people — to return to Allah, to go back to Allah and follow His commands before a day comes and:

A nafs, a soul says: "What a waste — in that which I have neglected with Allah, and indeed I was of those who were mocking — mocking the religion, mocking the promise of Allah." Or it says: "If only Allah had guided me, then I would have been from the muttaqeen, from the righteous, from the people of taqwa." Or it says when it sees the punishment of Allah: "If only I had one more chance, then I would be of those who do good."

Allah will say — or it will be said:

"Indeed my signs and my verses have come to you, but you rejected them and neglected them, and you were arrogant, and you were from those who were disbelievers."

Allah mentions in the Quran the excuses a person may possibly give on the Day of Judgment. Allah is telling you ahead of time — go back to Him, turn back to Him before a day comes where you will be mentioning these excuses for yourself. Allah already established the proof; He sent down the messengers, He sent down the prophets, He sent down His guidance, so each soul can be guided. And Allah will judge them all individually — whether a person was someone who lived a life of righteousness or whether it's a person who led a life of wretchedness and evil. Allah will hold them accountable. لَا ظُلْمَ الْيَوْمَ — there will be absolutely no oppression, there will be absolutely no injustice on this day.

The Purpose of the Prophets: Tazkiyah of the Soul

For this same reason Allah sent the prophets (salallahu alayhi wasalam), so that the people may be guided, so that people may learn their religion — know what pleases Allah so they do it, know what displeases Him so they stay away from it. Each nafs is required to know these things, to purify themselves. And this is what is known as at-tazkiyah — tazkiyat an-nufus — that you purify your nafs: you get rid of the evil in it, the evil of desires, the evil of shubuhat, the evil of doubts. You clean your soul from it, and then you come to Allah with a soul which has been adorned with righteousness, a soul that has been adorned with good character.

This is one of the main reasons that Allah sent the prophets (salallahu alayhi wasalam). There are four ayat in the Quran that mention the objectives of why the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wasalam) was sent. Allah says in Surah al-Baqarah, mentioned in the du'a of Ibrahim (alayhi salam):

Ibrahim (alayhi salam) made du'a to Allah to send amongst the people a man from them who will recite Allah's verses upon them, who will mention to them guidance and teach them — وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ — and Allah gives him the ability to teach these people so they can be purified.

And Allah also says:

In all of these four verses, Allah mentions tazkiyah before knowledge — except for one, which is the first, the du'a of Ibrahim (alayhi salam). Three out of the four verses put tazkiyah — purifying yourself, purifying your nafs — before knowledge. And this is an important point for every single Muslim, and in particular those who seek knowledge: that before knowledge comes purity. You purify your soul, you purify the vessel that carries this knowledge, which is your heart.

If a person's heart is pure and he takes on knowledge, then he benefits. However, if the heart is corrupt and the knowledge is taken on, then even the knowledge becomes corrupt — and instead of making a path to Jannah, this knowledge leads him to be thrown into the Hellfire. Wa al-'iyadhu billah.

An example to bring this closer to the mind: if a person were to now take a drink — any drink you like, milk, water — and they were to take out a cup, and the cup was dirty, the smart thing to do is to clean the cup, take away the impurities, take away any filth within this cup, and then pour the milk or pour the water and have the drink. However, if a person doesn't purify the vessel, doesn't purify the cup, leaves it filthy and impure — what happens to that milk? What happens to that water? It becomes ruined, it becomes corrupt. Similarly is knowledge in the person's heart who is corrupt — the person who doesn't purify their soul, the person who doesn't always check themselves. Knowledge in their heart is a punishment. Wa al-'iyadhu billah.

The First to Enter the Hellfire

They come on the Day of Judgment not only to be punished by Allah, not only to be thrown into the Hellfire, but they are the first to even taste the Hellfire. The Messenger (salallahu alayhi wasalam) said:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 33, Hadith 4923)

The first group of people that will be thrown into the Hellfire — used as fuel — one of them is a man who recited the Quran and taught the Quran. And Allah brings him forth and says to him: "What have you done with the blessings I gave you?" The man responds: "I recited the Quran for Your sake, O Allah." And Allah says to him: كَذَبْتَ — "You have lied. You only recited the Quran so that people may say you are a reciter, you are someone who recites the words of Allah. And this was mentioned about you." And he will be thrown into the Hellfire.

And there will be another man who comes to Allah — dying in battle, he was a martyr, a shaheed, a great station in Islam. However, Allah throws him into the Hellfire as well because he did it not so that Allah would reward him, but he did it so that he would be praised by the people — so that people may say he was brave and strong and courageous. And this was said about him, and he was thrown into the Hellfire. And likewise the third man — he was also thrown into the Hellfire.

What was the issue with these people? The issue wasn't that they came with actions that were not loved by Allah. They came with righteous deeds — reciting the words of Allah, one of the most beloved things to Allah; doing jihad and dying in the sake of Allah, being a martyr; and giving charity and spending in the path of Allah. The only thing that betrayed them — the only thing that changed their path of reward to a path of punishment and evil — is what they held in their heart. The evil that they held in their heart: that they did it for the sake of praise, they did it for the sake of fame; they didn't do it for the sake of Allah.

And this is a problem of tazkiyah. This is a problem of purity. This is a problem which is found originally in the heart — because if the heart is pure, then the actions reflect that. The actions are shown: a person does righteous deeds for the sake of Allah, and then Allah rewards him not only for his actions but also for the purity in his heart, the intention in his heart. The actions are by intentions, and for every soul and every person is that which he intended — if he intended reward from Allah, then that is what he will be given; if he intended fame and praise and wealth, then that is what he has been given.

The Oath of Allah in Surah ash-Shams

Allah in Surah ash-Shams started the surah by an oath, followed by another, followed by another — up until eleven oaths:

So eleven oaths — and then following that is something known as the jawab al-qasam — the answer to the oath. When you say wallahi such and such happened, the oath is wallah and the statement you are making great by adding a qasam to it is the statement which follows. So when Allah takes eleven oaths — what do you think Allah is taking an oath because of?

This is what Allah is swearing by — He is swearing because of the nafs and those who purify it and observe it: قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن زَكَّاهَا — they have succeeded. وَقَدْ خَابَ مَن دَسَّاهَا — and they have lost and been ruined. Dassaha comes from dass, which means to hide and to conceal — meaning these people concealed the good nature and the righteousness of the soul, and they showed and they put forth the evil within the nafs. So they hid the righteous characteristics that they could show, and they showed the evil characteristics that they should be purifying and getting rid of.

This is the difference between the muflih — the one who is saved, the one who succeeded — and those who show the evil of their nafs and hide the goodness of their nafs. You should know that all of these nafs that Allah has given us have the capacity to do good and they have the capacity to do evil. Even those who are righteous have the capacity to do evil, and even those who do evil have the capacity to do good. But it's whether you let your nafs go or whether you hold your nafs accountable.

It's the same nafs that's been spoken about in both ayahs. The only difference is how the people dealt with their nafs. If they purified it — if they looked at it and always checked to see if there's any evil in the heart so they could remove it, and to see if there's any goodness they could put in their heart, attach to their heart and beautify their nafs with it — they would take it. And as for those who showed evil, they let their nafs go on without any restraints. Just let it go — all the evil it could commit, it commits. The righteousness it holds back.

وَقَدْ خَابَ مَن دَسَّاهَا — Allah says this group of people have been lost. They have nothing for them in the akhirah. All of success is in the first type: purifying your heart, keeping it pure, taking from the teachings of Muhammad (salallahu alayhi wasalam) who was sent to purify our nafs by teaching us the guidance, by reciting the ayahs.

The Prophet as a Murabbi — Purifying the Hearts of His Companions

This is one of the reasons Allah sent our Messenger (salallahu alayhi wasalam). He was someone who was a murabbi — who used to teach the people, who used to see evil in the people's hearts and he would call them out and he would teach them about it. He saw Abu Dharr speaking about a man and speaking about a man's lineage in evil, and he said to him (salallahu alayhi wasalam):

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 30; Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 117)

"You are a man — there is still jahiliyyah in your heart." Look at how the Messenger (salallahu alayhi wasalam) would always be concerned with the state of the heart of his companions. He would always check them, and if he saw any evil he would clean it, he would clarify it.

This is why the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wasalam) was sent. And if this is why he was sent and this is what he left behind, does it not make sense for us to hold on to his guidance — not just the Quran and Sunnah in terms of narration and memorization, but that we act upon it — not just in the physical aspect, praying salah, giving sadaqah, but also in our hearts? That we see if there is evil in our hearts?

The people who are of righteousness that Allah praises — they are not people who have absolutely no evil in their hearts. This is impossible. Allah created a nafs that leans towards evil. But they have patience with those things that they dislike — exerting effort and withholding from doing haram — so that they can earn Jannah by the will of Allah.

How to Attain Purification of the Soul

And how does one attain this level? How does one purify their soul? Allah mentions this in Surah an-Nazi'at:

Whoever fears standing before Allah, and he forbids himself — his nafs — from following its desires, then the Jannah, the abode Allah created for the righteous, it is an abode for him — he or she will stay in it for eternity.

So you have to exert effort. Look at this nafs of yours, see evil in it. The difference between a believer who looks at his heart and a person who doesn't: for example, they will see a ni'mah that Allah has given a person, and both of them will feel a type of way — they will feel something in their heart, maybe a bit of envy may creep into their heart. But the difference, as we said, is that the nafs is the same — it's the way you deal with it that is different.

The believer that checks his heart sees the evil that is creeping up in his heart and he says أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ — he seeks refuge in Allah, he makes du'a for the person, and he asks Allah to remove the evil in his heart.

As for the one who doesn't do so — the person of evil, the person who has hasad and hiqd in his heart — he lets it go. He doesn't withhold himself, he doesn't stop the evil that's coming from his heart. He carries on, he looks at this ni'mah and he just keeps looking at it — he doesn't withhold himself. And then eventually he may reach the most evil of all levels, in which he asks Allah to remove this ni'mah from this person — whether he receives the ni'mah or not. This is the most evil type of hasad: that not only do you wish for the person to lose the ni'mah, you don't even wish it for yourself — you are happy enough that the person loses that ni'mah.

This is a stage a person can reach if they don't look at their heart, if they don't check themselves. These desires that this heart is full of — if you don't forbid them and keep them restrained, then you'll be from those who lose. And if you do keep them restrained, Allah says: فَإِنَّ الْجَنَّةَ هِيَ الْمَأْوَىٰ.

The Greatest Matter: Du'a for a Firm Heart

Another matter — which is in fact the greatest matter, the matter you should be starting with — is du'a. This heart requires du'a. Allah says:

Allah separates between a person and their heart — meaning a person cannot be guided except by the permission of Allah. That is why the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wasalam) would always make the du'a:

"O Allah, Turner of hearts, keep my heart firm upon Your religion." And he (salallahu alayhi wasalam) said:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 33, Hadith 6750; Jami' at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2140)

Indeed the hearts are between two fingers of Ar-Rahman — Allah — He turns them as He wishes. So ask Allah to keep your hearts firm.