Education of the soul

“The one who purifies the soul has succeeded, and the one who corrupts it is lost” (s.91 v.9-10).

This verse, dear readers, among many others in the noble Qur’an, brings man face to face with the primary goal, which is to free himself from his ego and from any attitude contrary to the notion of servitude and devotion in which every aspirant to spirituality must be enrolled. The soul, therefore, needs an alchemy in order to preserve its original nature as Allah says: “Direct your whole being towards religion exclusively (for Allah), such is the nature that Allah originally gave to mankind, no change to Allah’s creation. This is the religion of righteousness; but most people do not know” (s.30 v.30). More than ever, the time is ripe for the reformation of souls, and the month of Ramadan, by the grace of Allah, is a unique opportunity of its kind, for as our beloved Prophet (saws) said: “If my community knew in reality what the month of Ramadan contains, then no doubt they would wish that all the other days of the year would be similar to Ramadan” (Bayhaqi) But before going further into the subject, it would be important for us to know first the soul and its realities as described in the Qur’an.

The three souls

Meditating on the verses of the Qur’an, we realize that there is some form of classification of souls according to their ranks and merits. Certainly, not everyone is at the same moral or spiritual level, there are some who are good and some who are less so, some who are very good and some who are even better as Allah says in a verse of the Qur’an:

“To each one ranks (rewards) according to his works. And your Lord is not unmindful of what they do” (s.6 v.132).

Thus the Qur’an puts forward three types of souls:

The soul called “Al Ammara” i.e. the ego. It is the soul that only advises evil, passions and desires. Allah says:

“I do not absolve myself, for the soul is very inciting to evil, unless my Lord, out of mercy, (preserves it from sin). My Lord is indeed forgiving and most merciful” (s.12 v.53).

This type of soul is for those who are unjust to themselves because not only are they in evil, but the darkening of their insight makes them unaware of the level of darkness of their station and therefore, they remain insensitive to any form of reminder

“Those against whom the word of your Lord will be fulfilled will not believe, even if all the signs were to reach them, until they see the painful punishment” (s.10 v.96-97)

The soul known as “Al Lawama” i.e. the one who regrets. There are some who, even while living in total darkness, still keep their conscience which does not abandon them. They are often subject to self-criticism and questioning as Allah says:

“And for those who, if they have committed some turpitude or caused some harm to themselves (by disobeying Allah), they remember Allah and immediately ask for forgiveness for their sins, and who is it that forgives sins but Allah? And who do not knowingly persist in the evil they have done” (s.3 v.135).

In another verse Allah says:

“Those who practice piety, when a suggestion of the devil touches them, they remember (Allah’s punishment): and behold, they become clear-sighted” (s.7 v.201)

This is what we can call “human conscience”. If there is a blame for this type of individual, it is the fact that they reason after the act instead of before.

The soul is called “Al Motma’inna” i.e. serene. The serenity of the soul is the desire of every spiritual. It is nothing but the divinely bestowed faculty that makes the individual solid in his principles, flourishing in his deeds and never being disturbed by any form of trials. These same individuals are not inhabited by a deceitful conscience (Al Ammara) nor by a belated reason (Al Lawwama). And it is with gratitude that their Lord addresses them when he says:

“O you, a quiet soul, return to your Lord, satisfied and pleased; and enter my paradise” (s.89 v.27-30).

So, dear readers, these are the three different types of souls that can exist. Allah summarizes them in another verse when he says:

“Then we made heirs of the book those of our servants whom we chose. Some of them do wrong to themselves, some of them stand on a middle path, and some of them with Allah’s permission go ahead of (all the others) by their good deeds; such is the infinite grace” (s.35 v.32).

Be yourself

Muslim spiritual scholars have made the search for the causes of sin one of their highest priorities because abandoning sin through the body while the heart feels the desire and the taste for it is certainly a sign of a possible relapse. Hence the importance of attacking the evil at its source. Thus, some like Imam Abu Hamid Al Ghazali and many others, point to four characteristics which, because they are not compatible with the original nature of man, are often the causes of his fall into the world of sins:

The attitudes of the divine. That is to say, there are acts that are done only for the Lord, such as power, supremacy, eternity, pride, etc… . No need to learn the Quran to know that these remain the exclusivity of the divine, and when man wants to appropriate them, the result is unequivocal: “Pride is my coat and my pride is my pants, whoever tries to take it from me, I destroy him” (Muslim) and besides what was the trick that took Adam out of paradise? “

Then the devil tempted him saying, “O Adam, shall I show you the tree of eternity and an imperishable kingdom?” (s.20 v.118).

The characteristics of the devil. Man, when he wants to acquire certain characteristics that are totally divine, he goes astray as when he imitates the devil in his vices i.e. jealousy, cunning, hatred, racism, underestimating the other as when to justify his refusal to prostrate himself before Adam, Satan says: “I am better than him because you created me of fire and him of clay” (S.7 v.12) here is indeed racism and discrimination in its most authentic form

Beastly characteristics That is to say, to have as concerns only the search for desire and the adoration of passions like an animal in its quest for food and mating deprived of all reason. And when man lets himself be guided by his impulses instead of his reason, he is lowered to a level lower than the beasts as Allah says:

“We have destined many jinns and men for hell. They have hearts, but do not understand. They have eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear. These are like the cattle, even more misguided. Such are the reckless” (s.7 v.179).

The characteristics of predators. That is to say, everything that is related to anger, injustice or violation by force or coercion of the rights of others, hence the prophetic invitation to men to make them masters of themselves: “The strong one is not the one who defeats his enemy, but the one who knows how to restrain his anger” (Bukhari).

Thus, man can only find his place and succeed in humanism.

In Islamic spirituality, there are very effective means that are in some ways the remedy for all these diseases of the heart. Hence the importance of referring to those experienced in esotericism, who have been able to put into practice the word of Allah:

“Surely, the one who rebels and prefers the present life, Gehenna will be a refuge for him, and the one who fears his presentation before his Lord and forbids his soul from passions, Paradise will be a refuge for him” (s.79 v.37-41).