After taking an oath of the sky, earth and other great signs, Allâh took an oath of the nafs. "I take an oath by the nafs and the One that corrected it."
"He inspired the nafs with evil and piety."
Allâh has created the ability to sin as well as to be pious in man. Man now has a choice of accepting the slavery of the nafs and preparing his way to hell or he could muster some courage, become pious and thereby become a friend of Allâh. He could either become Abdur Rahmân (the slave of the Merciful) or Abdus Shaytân (the slave of satan). Allâh has granted man a choice to either adopt the path of piety or the path of sin. Retribution and punishment will be based on this choice.
Now the question arises why Allah mentioned taqwa after mentioning sin. Normally a good thing is mentioned first. When you enter the musjid, you step in with the right foot first. You eat with the right hand. Every good thing is placed first but Allâh mentioned sin first in this verse. This has a very great secret and if one comes to know this secret, one will not be grieved by the urge to sin. The urge to sin is not harmful. Fulfilling the urge is however sinful. If you do not have the urge to sin, you cannot become pious.
The Blood of Hopes
The blood shed by sacrificing one�s desires is the horizon of becoming a Muttaqi(pious person). Taqwa means to curb the fulfilling of the desires of the heart. Shed the blood of all your desires and all the four horizons of your heart will become red. The sun of this world rises from one horizon, that is from the east. But when the Muttaqi(pious person) adopt piety by sacrificing all their desires and enduring grief in the path of Allah, then all the horizons of the heart become red and the sun of Allâh�s friendship and relationship rises in the heart.
And if one did not sacrifice his desires, then what will he achieve? He will attain darkness upon darkness and pollution over pollution. He will get a foul odour and a disgraced name. No one on earth will call him pious person. When the creation comes to know that a person is the head (of evil), they snatch all noble titles away from him. One of the punishments of sin in this world is that all titles of honour are snatched away from one in this world.
The Secret of Mentioning Sin First
The fact that Allah took an oath of the nafs is proof that He wants to explain something very important. I was travelling from Lahore to Karachi by train with a very great scholar. On the way, he recited this verse in Fajr Salah. During salah the thought occurred to me why Allah mentioned sin first. I asked the scholar who smiled and told me to explain.
Taqwa�s Dependence on the Ability to Sin
I replied that Allâh has inspired me with the answer. Just as salah cannot be performed without wudhu, similarly one cannot study Sahih Bukhari without doing the pre-final year. In the same way, taqwa is dependent on the substance of sin. Had this substance not been existent, how could one prevent it? Every prohibition requires the existence of the prohibited act. For example, I tell you not to look at the tasbeeh in my hand. The existence of the tasbeeh is essential. If I do not have a tasbeeh in my hand and tell you not to look at it, everyone will say the statement is wrong. There is no tasbTh in the hand.
The Urge to Sin
Allâh has exhorted man to curb the urge to sin. Man has to obey Allah and become His slave because Allah has created man and not the nafs. This indicates that the urge to sin is essential. That is why He is commanding us to prevent the nafs. Had there been no urge to sin, taqwâ would not have existed because taqwâ means to subdue the urge of the nafs to sin and to endure the grief that follows.
The Greatness of the Grief of Allah�s Path
Allah is reached by this grief. But how regretful it is that man is prepared to endure the grief of the entire world, but he hesitates and fears undergoing the grief of Allah�s path. The grief of Allah�s path is so honoured that if all the crowns and thrones of the kings of the world are placed in one pan of the scale together with the beauty and love of all the lovers of the world, the entire wealth of the world and all the deliciousness of the food of the world cannot equal one atom of the grief of Allah�s path. How aptly Allamah Sayyid Sulaiman Nadwi (Rahimahullâh) has said,
When I obtain the wealth of Your grief I become independent of the grief of both the worlds.
The grief of Allah�s love and the grief of abstaining from sin is better than the whole world. You can attain heaven by this grief. This is the grief that brings one into close proximity to Allah, makes one a pious person, keeps one at ease in this world and makes one reach jannah. Who can pay the price of this grief? If all the joys of this world present a guard of honour to the grief of Allah�s path, they cannot fulfil the rights of this grief. I implore you with a painful heart that this grief is extremely valuable. This grief leads one to Allah.
A True Incident
One of my friends had a habit of listening to music. He was such an expert that he used to put all the European tourists to sleep with his flute at the foot of the mountain. But when Allah chose him and granted him guidance, he broke all the instruments and buried them. Now he is pious from head to toe. He has the attire of a pious man and all praise is due to Allâh that his heart is also attached to Allah. If you listen to him, you will think that he is a very great Muttaqi person. But did he not endure the grief? He still undergoes grief. If he hears the voice of anyone singing, his heart undergoes pain. His heart wants to listen but he suppresses his urge to do so.
Disobedient Limbs
Whoever does not have the habit of this grief is useless. His foot is worth chopping off. It is better for the feet that do not walk in the path of Allah or towards the mosque to be cut off. It is better to amputate the hands that do not worship Allah, do not touch Hajre Aswad or shake hands with the Muttaqi. The ears that do not listen to Allah�s talk should be torn off. The eyes that do not appreciate Allah�s manifestation and disobey Him should be thrown away.
The one who disobeys Allah should not remain alive. However, this does not mean that you should go and kill someone or tear off his eye or cut off his ear. What is meant here is that a disobedient person has no value in the eyes of Allah. Allah, through His forbearance and grace grants him the opportunity to repent. But our insistence in sinning has no limit. Had Allah not been forbearant, we would not have existed.
What is Taqwa?
Allah did not mention taqwa first. He first mentioned the fact that He created the ability to sin within man. Now it is your duty not to fulfil the urge to sin. This will create taqwa (piety) in you. If you want to obtain piety, then all you have to do is abstain from sin. Achieve Reward without Doing any Work
Example
The owners of factories first make their employees work and then reward them. But in this case, Allah is granting reward for not doing any work. Do not steal, speak lies and do not look at women. By not doing these things, you will be rewarded with piety and Allah�s friendship. What is taqwa? Taqwa is when you have the urge to sin but you abstain due to the fear of Allah. Then you must endure the pain and not regret adopting piety. Do not say, "I wish I should have looked at least once." Remember that it is shaytân�s ploy to make you regret. One who regrets has an undeveloped heart and his Imân is weak. Imân will be complete when he abstains from sin, endures grief, thanks Allah and becomes ecstatic with joy.
Who is a Muttaqi?
A muttaqi is one who protects himself from sin, protects his gaze from women, protects himself from speaking lies, from bribery, from disobeying his parents, from oppressing his wife and neighbours. He keeps away from all impermissible acts and does not regret. He does not regard Islam as oppressive. Islam has protected him from troubles otherwise if he had to eat from every farm like a cow, people would beat him so much that it would be impossible for him to stay alive. Go to the villages and have a look at the cow that grazes from everyone�s farm. It is beaten by everyone. Not an inch of its back is safe. When it falls ill, there is no one to cure it. When it dies, there is no one to bury it. Vultures and crows feed on its corpse.
"He inspired the nafs with evil and piety."
Allâh has created the ability to sin as well as to be pious in man. Man now has a choice of accepting the slavery of the nafs and preparing his way to hell or he could muster some courage, become pious and thereby become a friend of Allâh. He could either become Abdur Rahmân (the slave of the Merciful) or Abdus Shaytân (the slave of satan). Allâh has granted man a choice to either adopt the path of piety or the path of sin. Retribution and punishment will be based on this choice.
Now the question arises why Allah mentioned taqwa after mentioning sin. Normally a good thing is mentioned first. When you enter the musjid, you step in with the right foot first. You eat with the right hand. Every good thing is placed first but Allâh mentioned sin first in this verse. This has a very great secret and if one comes to know this secret, one will not be grieved by the urge to sin. The urge to sin is not harmful. Fulfilling the urge is however sinful. If you do not have the urge to sin, you cannot become pious.
The Blood of Hopes
The blood shed by sacrificing one�s desires is the horizon of becoming a Muttaqi(pious person). Taqwa means to curb the fulfilling of the desires of the heart. Shed the blood of all your desires and all the four horizons of your heart will become red. The sun of this world rises from one horizon, that is from the east. But when the Muttaqi(pious person) adopt piety by sacrificing all their desires and enduring grief in the path of Allah, then all the horizons of the heart become red and the sun of Allâh�s friendship and relationship rises in the heart.
And if one did not sacrifice his desires, then what will he achieve? He will attain darkness upon darkness and pollution over pollution. He will get a foul odour and a disgraced name. No one on earth will call him pious person. When the creation comes to know that a person is the head (of evil), they snatch all noble titles away from him. One of the punishments of sin in this world is that all titles of honour are snatched away from one in this world.
The Secret of Mentioning Sin First
The fact that Allah took an oath of the nafs is proof that He wants to explain something very important. I was travelling from Lahore to Karachi by train with a very great scholar. On the way, he recited this verse in Fajr Salah. During salah the thought occurred to me why Allah mentioned sin first. I asked the scholar who smiled and told me to explain.
Taqwa�s Dependence on the Ability to Sin
I replied that Allâh has inspired me with the answer. Just as salah cannot be performed without wudhu, similarly one cannot study Sahih Bukhari without doing the pre-final year. In the same way, taqwa is dependent on the substance of sin. Had this substance not been existent, how could one prevent it? Every prohibition requires the existence of the prohibited act. For example, I tell you not to look at the tasbeeh in my hand. The existence of the tasbeeh is essential. If I do not have a tasbeeh in my hand and tell you not to look at it, everyone will say the statement is wrong. There is no tasbTh in the hand.
The Urge to Sin
Allâh has exhorted man to curb the urge to sin. Man has to obey Allah and become His slave because Allah has created man and not the nafs. This indicates that the urge to sin is essential. That is why He is commanding us to prevent the nafs. Had there been no urge to sin, taqwâ would not have existed because taqwâ means to subdue the urge of the nafs to sin and to endure the grief that follows.
The Greatness of the Grief of Allah�s Path
Allah is reached by this grief. But how regretful it is that man is prepared to endure the grief of the entire world, but he hesitates and fears undergoing the grief of Allah�s path. The grief of Allah�s path is so honoured that if all the crowns and thrones of the kings of the world are placed in one pan of the scale together with the beauty and love of all the lovers of the world, the entire wealth of the world and all the deliciousness of the food of the world cannot equal one atom of the grief of Allah�s path. How aptly Allamah Sayyid Sulaiman Nadwi (Rahimahullâh) has said,
When I obtain the wealth of Your grief I become independent of the grief of both the worlds.
The grief of Allah�s love and the grief of abstaining from sin is better than the whole world. You can attain heaven by this grief. This is the grief that brings one into close proximity to Allah, makes one a pious person, keeps one at ease in this world and makes one reach jannah. Who can pay the price of this grief? If all the joys of this world present a guard of honour to the grief of Allah�s path, they cannot fulfil the rights of this grief. I implore you with a painful heart that this grief is extremely valuable. This grief leads one to Allah.
A True Incident
One of my friends had a habit of listening to music. He was such an expert that he used to put all the European tourists to sleep with his flute at the foot of the mountain. But when Allah chose him and granted him guidance, he broke all the instruments and buried them. Now he is pious from head to toe. He has the attire of a pious man and all praise is due to Allâh that his heart is also attached to Allah. If you listen to him, you will think that he is a very great Muttaqi person. But did he not endure the grief? He still undergoes grief. If he hears the voice of anyone singing, his heart undergoes pain. His heart wants to listen but he suppresses his urge to do so.
Disobedient Limbs
Whoever does not have the habit of this grief is useless. His foot is worth chopping off. It is better for the feet that do not walk in the path of Allah or towards the mosque to be cut off. It is better to amputate the hands that do not worship Allah, do not touch Hajre Aswad or shake hands with the Muttaqi. The ears that do not listen to Allah�s talk should be torn off. The eyes that do not appreciate Allah�s manifestation and disobey Him should be thrown away.
The one who disobeys Allah should not remain alive. However, this does not mean that you should go and kill someone or tear off his eye or cut off his ear. What is meant here is that a disobedient person has no value in the eyes of Allah. Allah, through His forbearance and grace grants him the opportunity to repent. But our insistence in sinning has no limit. Had Allah not been forbearant, we would not have existed.
What is Taqwa?
Allah did not mention taqwa first. He first mentioned the fact that He created the ability to sin within man. Now it is your duty not to fulfil the urge to sin. This will create taqwa (piety) in you. If you want to obtain piety, then all you have to do is abstain from sin. Achieve Reward without Doing any Work
Example
The owners of factories first make their employees work and then reward them. But in this case, Allah is granting reward for not doing any work. Do not steal, speak lies and do not look at women. By not doing these things, you will be rewarded with piety and Allah�s friendship. What is taqwa? Taqwa is when you have the urge to sin but you abstain due to the fear of Allah. Then you must endure the pain and not regret adopting piety. Do not say, "I wish I should have looked at least once." Remember that it is shaytân�s ploy to make you regret. One who regrets has an undeveloped heart and his Imân is weak. Imân will be complete when he abstains from sin, endures grief, thanks Allah and becomes ecstatic with joy.
Who is a Muttaqi?
A muttaqi is one who protects himself from sin, protects his gaze from women, protects himself from speaking lies, from bribery, from disobeying his parents, from oppressing his wife and neighbours. He keeps away from all impermissible acts and does not regret. He does not regard Islam as oppressive. Islam has protected him from troubles otherwise if he had to eat from every farm like a cow, people would beat him so much that it would be impossible for him to stay alive. Go to the villages and have a look at the cow that grazes from everyone�s farm. It is beaten by everyone. Not an inch of its back is safe. When it falls ill, there is no one to cure it. When it dies, there is no one to bury it. Vultures and crows feed on its corpse.
