Nafs/slave of Allah

Assalamu alykum warahmatullah wabarakatuh. So there is this site i go when i want exclusive islamic informations,hadiths, lectures etc it's a dawah site which belongs to Muhammad faraaz ebrahim to go to the site click here . I pray Allah increase his imaan, accept his dawah efforts as an act of ibadah and at the end make him gain jannah.
I saw this piece on the site and i think i should share.

In the Qur'an the word nafs is used in two ways:

★•——• 1. First way that the word nafs is used is to indicate our own-self. Some people would translate it in English as self, some people would translate it in English as soul. An example of this is when Allah (لاعتَو ُهَناَحْبُس ) says in the Qur'an :

Waothkur rabbaka fee nafsika tadarruAAan wakheefatan wadoona aljahri mina alqawli bialghuduwwi waalasali wala takun mina alghafileena —••——••—Allah says:  And do thou (O reader!) bring thy Lord to remembrance in thy (very) soul, with humility and in reverence, without loudness in words, in the mornings and evenings; and be not thou of those who are unheedful. sura AL ARAF chapter 7 verse 205

★•——• 2. The second way the nafs has been used in the Qur'an ,which is quite frequent, is that the nafs is referring to a specific part of our self and it is that part of our self that has desires, appetite, some people call it ego. It has anger, it has passion, it has lust, desire, it has all these things. Some people may even call it the carnal self or the carnal soul. This nafs is not part of the Ruh ,its part of the physical human being. So if we wanted to say that we have some physical part of our creation, that is our body and our nafs and then Allah (لاعتَو ُهَناَحْبُس ) has also put inside of ourselves an inner or spiritual part of our creation, that is our ruh. This nafs is part of our physical self, even though its not part of our physical body.

Three adjectives have been used in the Qur'an to describe three different types of nafs.

—• 1. First type of nafs is known as nafs-ul-ammarah

Wama obarrio nafsee inna alnnafsa laammaratun bialssooi illa ma rahima rabbee inna rabbee ghafoorun raheemun
Three adjectives have been used in the Qur'an to describe three different types of nafs.

Allah says:  "Nor do I absolve my own self (of blame): the (human soul) certainly prone to evil, unless my Lord do bestow His Mercy: but surely my Lord is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." sura YUSUF chapter 12 verse 53

So this refers to that nafs that is ruling over the self. This means that the nafs commands us and tells us what to do. So when the nafs has any desire, any wish, any appetite, it simply commands us, it dominates us. It is that nafs which is sovereign over a human being, it has sovereignty over us. What it means is that the nafs is sovereign over us, if it is Ammarah ,it means we are subjugated by it, we are sub-ordinate to it, we listen and follow all of its dictates and commands. So this is the first type of nafs and the sign that a person has this type of nafs is that they sin wantingly, blatantly, remorselessly, in any way that they ever want.

And if you think about it, in many places in the west, this concept is actually glorified because people say you should do whatever makes you happy, do whatever pleases you, do whatever your heart desires. They may glamorize that by saying that it’s the heart but actually there are many people, whether in east or west, even muslims now, that are doing what our passion desires. So that means that we have a nafs-ul-ammarah .

—• 2. Second type of nafs is known as nafs-ul-lawwamah

Lawwamah, lawwam, it’s the same type of word as ammar and Allah (swt) has mentioned this in Qur'an :

Wala oqsimu bialnnafsi allawwamati —••——••—Allah says:  And I do call to witness the self-reproaching spirit; (Eschew Evil). sura AL QIYAMAH chapter 75 verse 2
Lawwam here means to self incriminate, to self reproach, to have blame, to do mulamat of oneself. So, this is that nafs that does sometimes bring a person to do sin, but then that nafs self incriminates itself, it reproaches itself, it feels bad, it feels guilty. Lets put it that way, it feels guilty. And then this guilt is supposed to increase so much so then the person leaves those sins because they feel so guilty about them. So, the sign of this is precisely that that the person has such a nafs that when they commit a sin they feel remorse, regret, they feel guilt, they feel shame, they feel embarrassment, they wish they could take it back, they wish they never did it, they may even intend at that moment never to do that again. So, they are fighting a battle with their nafs . Sometimes they make sin and sometimes they are able to stay away from sin.

—• 3. Third type of nafs is known as nafs-ul-mutmainnah

Ya ayyatuha alnnafsu almutmainnatu IrjiAAee ila rabbiki radiyatan mardiyyatan
Allah says:  (To the righteous soul will be said:) "O (thou) soul, in (complete) rest and satisfaction! "Come back thou to thy Lord well pleased (thyself), and well-pleasing unto Him! sura AL FAJR chapter 89 verse 27-28

So, Allah (لاعتَو ُهَناَحْبُس ) addresses the mutma’in nafs . And mutma’in here means two things.

a) Number one is that they are mutma’in, they are content with the hukm of لَجَوَّزَع ُهَّللَا ,there is nothing else that makes them happy. So, this person is also doing what makes them happy. But this person has been molded and trained and disciplined it in such a way, that the only thing that makes it happy, that gives it solace, the only thing that it is mutma’in on, that it is content with, is what Allah (swt) is please with, what لَجَوَّزَع ُهَّللَا is content with. So, it’s heart’s content lies in that which Allah Ta’ala is happy and pleased with.

b) Second meaning of mutma’in is that has reached a state of serenity. The serene, contented, tranquility, at peace nafs. And obviously, the peace here means that it has aman, itminan from doing sin and also aman and itminan from desiring sin. It has no unlawful desires. It has desires, that is what the nafs does, but it only desires good things. The sign of this is exactly what we just mentioned that this person, not only do they not do sin, they no longer desire sin. That faculty, that part of their humanity that desires, only and only desires things that لَجَوَّزَع ُهَّللَا views as desirable and has stopped desiring those things that Allah Ta’ala has labeled as undesirable.

And had preferred the life of this world, The Abode will be Hell-Fire; And for such as had entertained the fear of standing before their Lord's (tribunal) and had restrained (their) soul from lower Desires, Their Abode will be the Garden.

Short Story

There was once snake catcher who once went to the mountains. Due to the winter cold and heavy snow, many very big snakes lay motionless, as if they were dead.

The Snake Catcher picked up one of these seemingly lifeless snakes and took it to Baghdad, with the purpose of using it for a show. Showing it off, he made big claims as to how he had brilliantly captured the snake.

However, when the sun began to shine and its warmth cloaked the snake, the coldness in its body disappeared. The signs of life were soon apparent and when the snake began to move, the Snake Catcher and all those around, fled.

Moral of the Story: Our Nafs (self) is like that Snake. With Tazkyia (purification), Mushaqqat (effort), our Nafs becomes frozen. It appears to be dead. But give it a little heat from the fire of sin and it will bite again. A little exposure to some past sins and the Nafs swings back to life.

We should not think that we have killed our Nafs and thus become unmindful. Yes, with some Mujahadah (striving), Suhbat (company) of the Sheikh, Tilawat (recitation) of the Noble Qur'an, Dikrullah, following Deen and Shariah and in building up that contact and love for Allah Ta'ala and Rasulullah (sallAllahu alayhi wasallam), and the Nafs can be frozen. However, a little taste of sin revives the evil Nafs

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Peace.