Three Voices – Part 3

We continue with our topic of the three voices that speak to us and what to do about them. Over the last two weeks I spoke about the first of them which was Shaytaan.  Today we will speak about the second voice which is even more dangerous and that is the voice of our own Nafs (desire). And about the third voice which if we heed and obey, then we can never go wrong. Nafs (نَفْس) is an Arabic word occurring in the Qur’an, literally meaning ‘self’, and has been translated as ‘psyche’, ‘ego’, ‘soul’, ‘desire’, and ‘breath’. In the context of this Khutba we will take the meaning as ‘desire’. Abdullah ibn Amr (R) reported that Rasoolullahﷺ  said, “None of you (can) have faith until his desires comply with what I have brought.” (Nawawi 40 Ahadith) Anas bin Malik (R) reported that Rasoolullahﷺ  said, “The son of Adam grows old, but two (desires) in him remain young: desire for wealth and desire for life.” (Muslim) Islam is the name of a practice, not a theory. The one who practices Islam is a Muslim, not the one who only knows about Islam but doesn’t practice. Our eternal fate will be decided on the Day of Judgment based on what we did, not on what we knew. It is important to know because without correct knowledge, we can’t practice Islam correctly. The purpose of acquiring knowledge is not for its own sake but so that we can practice our religion. Practice starts with wanting to practice and that is why the right desire to please Allahﷻ by following the Sunnah of Rasoolullahﷺ is so important. It is essential for us to recognize our desire and see what it is trying to lead us towards and to correct that focus so that we can hope for Allahﷻ’s forgiveness and Jannah. It is the nature of the self (Nafs) to lead towards sin. Allahﷻ told us: وَمَآ أُبَرِّئُ نَفْسِىٓ إِنَّ ٱلنَّفْسَ لَأَمَّارَةٌۢ بِٱلسُّوٓءِ إِلَّا مَا رَحِمَ رَبِّىٓ إِنَّ رَبِّى غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ Yusuf 12: 53   And I do not seek to free myself from blame, for indeed the Self is ever inclined to evil, except those shown mercy by my Rabb. Surely my Rabb is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”  Anyone who thinks it can’t happen to him must remember that this is Yusuf (AS) speaking. If he says this about his Nafs, there is nobody living today who can say that he is more pious, stronger, or more blessed and protected than was the Nabi of Allahﷻ, Yusuf (AS). If he saw his Nafs as a danger, what must we do? This is the Law of Entropy in a manner of speaking. To be stronger, faster, more physically and mentally agile, to gain knowledge or skills, to have a good marriage or children, in short, to have anything of value, we need to make effort. If we do nothing, we just get weaker, slower, more disconnected with the world, more stupid and so on. Our nature is to regress, to slide down the slope. To be inclined to sin doesn’t mean that it is good. It is what will happen if we don’t take steps to prevent it. The good news is that it is all preventable. To prevent us from slipping, Allahﷻ sent His Book and His Messengerﷺ and commanded us to obey him and follow him in all aspects of life. We spoke about Shaytaan’s deception and that Allahﷻ told us that Shaytaan has no power us. He can only whisper and tempt but he can’t force us to disobey Allahﷻ. The Nafs, however, is a part of us. In Ramadan Shayateen are chained but the Nafs is free. The Nafs does whatever we have trained it to do. That is why childhood conditioning is so important. A child is never too young to learn. Children learn from the time they open their eyes. We fool ourselves that children don’t understand. Then we are horrified at what we taught them, even if inadvertently. If we have been trained to be obedient to Allahﷻ, the Nafs will be inclined to obedience. If not, it will guide us to what appeals to it. The Nafs is the animal part of our being and is drawn to what all animals are drawn towards, which is excess in physical pleasures. Gluttony, all addictions, the desire to have the biggest,