Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!think.com!samsung!crackers!m2c!wpi.WPI.EDU!zahle.wpi.edu!shari From: gt8145a@prism.gatech.edu (FADEL,AYMAN HOSSAM) Newsgroups: soc.religion.islam Subject: al-ghazali on training the soul (part 6 of 6) Message-ID: <1991May20.164433.15456@wpi.WPI.EDU> Date: 20 May 91 16:44:33 GMT Sender: news@wpi.WPI.EDU (News) Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology Lines: 267 Approved: shari@zahle.wpi.edu Originator: shari@zahle.wpi.edu Nntp-Posting-Host: zahle.wpi.edu ALL TREATMENT IS ESSENTIALLY CONTROLLING ONE'S WHIM (HAWAA) God subhanahu wa ta`aala said in the 40th and 41st ayaat of surat al-naazi`aat (wa ammaa man khaafa maqaama rabbihi wa nahaa `an il-hawaa ** fa inna al-jannata hiya al-ma'waa) (As for him who fears the station of his Lord and fobids himself from following his whims, he shall have Paradise as his abode.) FaDaala ibn Ubayd radiy allahu anhu said: The messenger alayhi ssalaam said, "Stop hurting your soul, and don't follow its whims by disobeying God. If you do, it will be an enemy to you on the day of Judgement, when parts of you will curse each other, except if God forgives and chooses to cover up your misdeeds." Sufyaan al-thawri said: "I have never treated anything more difficult than my soul. One time, I win, another time, it wins." al-Hasan said: The wild animal is not in more need of a strict saddle than your soul." yahya ibn mu`aadh said: Mankind has three enemies: His world, his shayTaan, and his soul. Some of the wise people said: Whoever has become ruled by his own soul becomes a prisoner in the love of his desires, and trapped in the prison of his whims. He is defeated, enchained. Whims lead him where they want, and they prevent his heart from obtaining any benefits. ja`far ibn Hamiid said: "The scholars and the wise people have come to a consensus that bounty cannot be gained except by forsaking bounty." abu yaHyaa al-warraaq said: "Whoever pleases his extremities with desires has planted in his heart the tree of regret." wuhayb ibn al-ward said: Whoever loves the desires of this world, he should prepare for humiliation. Ali ibn abi Talib radiy allahu anhu said: "Whoever desires paradise should avoid desires in this world." Malik ibn diinaar radiy allahu anhu would be walking in the market and if he saw something he desired he would say, "Be patient, my soul, for I do not deprive you of it except because of your high place in my sight." THERE IS DANGER IN THE MUBAAH (THE PERMISSIBLE) al-ghazaali points out that some would say that desiring the permissible (al-mubaaH) cannot be a bad thing. al-ghazaali responds by saying that the desire which causes you to strive for the mubaaH is the same desire which causes you to strive for the Haram (the forbidden.) Love of the world is the beginning of every evil, and only by being able to ignore the bounty of the world can we hope to succeed in the next life. The wise ones know that they will be held to account for the permissible things, punished for the bad things, and rebuked for those things which are neither clearly Halaal nor Haraam. SIGNS OF DISEASES OF THE HEART AND THEIR SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT We say that an organ of the body is sick if it fails to perform what it is supposed to. The purpose of the heart is to love and worship God `azza sha'nuh. If the servant prefers anything over God's pleasure, then he knows he needs treatment. This is as God tabaarak said in the 24th aya of surat al-tawba: (qul in kaana aabaa'ukum wa ikhwaanukum wa azwaajukum) ila qawlihi (aHabba ilaykum min allaahi wa rasuulihi wa jihaadin fi sabiilihi fa tarabaSSuu Hattaa ya'tiya allaahu bi amrih). (Say: If your parents, your brothers, your wives, your clan, your properties which you have accumulated, your trade which you fear its decline, and homes with which you are please are more beloved to you than God, His messenger and jihaad in His path then beware of the day when God comes with His command.) As has been mentioned previously, most virtues lie between two distasteful extremes. The way to detect whether or not a moral inclines to one of the two is to know what kinds of actions they cause, and then see if the heart is more inclined to these improper actions than it is to proper actions. For example, should the heart be inclined to withold money from a worthy cause, then the disease is miserliness (bukhl). If the heart is inclined to go money for an unworthy goal, the disease which must be treated is tabdhiir (unrestrained wastefulness.) THE FOUR WAYS BY WHICH A PERSON MAY KNOW HIS DEFECTS The first is by accompanying a wise shaykh and accepting fully his diagnosis. The second is to request a truthful, religious friend to inform him of his defects. Umar radiy allahu anhu used to say: May God have mercy on people who guide me to my defects. He used to ask salmaan radiy allahu anhu about his defects. Salmaan would decline to mention anything, but Umar would persist in asking. Finally Salmaan said, "It has reached me that you have two bread softening trays on your table, and that you eat two bowls, one during the day and one at night." Umar said, "Have you heard anything else that you dislike about me?" Salmaan replied in the negative. Umar said, "As far as those two things, I'll stop doing them." In addition, Umar used to ask Hadhiifa radiy allahu anhu if he saw in him any signs of hypocrisy. Dawuud al-Taa'i removed himself from people, so people would come to him and ask, "Why have you removed yourself from the rest of the people?" He replied, "What should I do with people who hide my defects? The desire of those of religion used to be that they be informed of their defects by somebody else. It has now gotten to the point that the most hated of all creation is he who advises us sincerely and points out our defects. This almost proves weak belief since bad morals are poisonous snakes and scorpions. Consider if someone warned you of a scorpion under your robe. We would bear with his expecting favors from us, we would be happy with him, and we would concern ourselves with removing the scorpion from the robe, distancing it from us and killing it. The scorpion's attack is on the body, and the pain lasts no more than a day. But the attack of bad morals is on the inner heart, and it is to be feared more for it lasts forever and thousands of years. But instead we don't become happy when someone points out our mistakes, nor do we busy ourselves with correcting them. Rather we concern ourselves with responding to the one who advised us sincerely by criticising him, saying, "Well, you do this and that..." Our ill-will causes us to become unable to benefit from his sincere advice. It seems that all of this is part of the hardness of the heart which is the fruit of sins, and the source of it all is weak iimaan (belief.) So we ask God `azza wa jalla to illuminate to us the path of righteousness and make us see our defects and make us concerned with their treatment. We also ask God to grant us the success of fulfilling our obligation to the one who pointed out our defects by thanking him for his gift and graciousness." The third way to know one's defects is to listen to what your enemies say about you. Most often, unfortunately, we attribute what our enemies say about us to jealousy. But we can benefit more from a bitter enemy who mentions our mistakes than we can from a companion who tries to make us feel good by praising us. The seeing person does not neglect to benefit from the criticisms of his enemies. The fourth and final way to know your defects is to mingle with people and make note of whatever you find to be blameworthy in their deeds. Then look at your own deeds and see if you can find those same things there. THE FOUR TOOLS OF TRAINING THE NAFS sahl ibn abdallaah al-tasturi said: The ascetics (abdaal) did not become ascetics except through four means: Starving their stomachs, going long periods of time without sleep, silence and separation from people. In addition, it is critical for the servant to perform what he intends to perform. If he fails to fulfill his intention, he should punish himself as a way of strengthening his resolve. BRINGING UP CHILDREN WITH GOOD MORALS The proper upbringing of children is an obligation for muslims. God ta'aala said in the sixth ayaa of surat al-taHriim (Protect yourselves and your families from a fire whose fuel is stones and people.) The first thing the muslim must do is ensure that everything that the child eats and drinks is Halaal, in substance and source of revenue. Then, as soon as the father notices that the child has acquired powers of discrimination, he must encourage him to avoid bad things and in general show him what is good and what is bad. The first place to begin the child's disciplining is at the table. The child must eat only with his right hand, and he must say bismillaah before eating. Nor should the child be allowed to eat before others, nor should he be allowed to examine the food closely nor examine closely how or what others are eating. The child should not eat quickly, and he should chew the food well. The child should completely swallow his food before he takes another spoonful. He should not soil his hands or his clothes. He should be made to eat hard, dry bread at times so that he does not come to believe that all he eats must be fresh. Eating a lot should be made to look undesirable in his eyes by comparing those who eat too much to animals. You should criticize those children he sees who eat too much, and praise in front of him those well-mannered children who eat little. You should encourage him to give his food to others and not to concern himself with food. You should also encourage him to be content with any type of food, even if it is rough and unpleasant. As far as clothing, the child must be made to like plain clothes, and he must be convinced that wearing multi-colored, expensive clothes is unworthy of real men. If the father sees any child wearing such clothes in front of his child, he should criticize him so that his child does not desire expensive clothes. As soon as the child is able, he should begin to learn Quraan and the reports of the companions and the pious, so that love of the pious can grow in his heart. Whenever the child does a good thing, he should be praised openly and given a reward. If he does a bad thing once, it should be ignored so that his privacy is protected and he is not embarrassed in front of strangers. Thus, the parent will demonstrate that he does not believe the child will be so bold as to do the same thing again. Announcing what the boy did might make him reckless enough to ignore the consequences of announcing mistakes. This is especially true if the child tried hard to keep his mistake a secret. If he does it again, he should be criticized and made to understand that what he did was a very bad thing. He should be warned not to repeat the same mistake and threatened with announcing his mistake to others. It is important not to overdo the criticism, for if overdone it will become a small thing in his eyes and it will have no effect on his heart. Moreover, the father should remain dignified in speech and posture the entire time he is instructing his children. The child should be prevented from sleeping during the day so he does not become lazy, and he should be given a hard mattress so his body becomes strong and he does not become addicted to bounty and ease. The child should be prevented from doing anything he does secretly, for if he does it secretly that is a sign that he himself considers it a bad action. The child should be made to walk and practice a sport during the day so he does not become lazy. He should not walk at a fast pace, and he should keep his hands at his breasts and not let them fling about. He should be prevented from bragging about any superiority he has over his peers, especially about anything his family has given him in terms of food, clothing or personal belongings. He should be taught to honor everyone and to speak kindly with everyone. He should be made to understand that honor lies in giving, not taking, and he should refuse gifts from the children of rich people. The child should be warned of the dangers of gold and silver more often than he is warned of the dangers of snakes. He should be taught to remain silent in the company of others, unless asked a question and then only to respond as necessary. He should sit still and be prevented from crossing his legs and supporting his chin with his palm, for all these are signs of laziness. He should be absolutely prevented from swearing or taking oaths, be they true or false. He should be made to listen closely to whatever is being said. He should get up to greet whoever is older than him, and make room for him to sit. The child should be protected from those children with bad habits. If the teacher chooses to strike the child, the child should be taught not to scream and to be perseverent in taking his punishment. The child should be given time away from the kuttaab to play and relax, however. Constantly being in the schools will cause his senses to become dull and cause him to hate learing. The child should be taught to obey his parents and teachers and whoever is older than him, be they relatives or not. He must stop playing when they come before him. When the child becomes able to discriminate between things, he must not be allowed not to pray and not to obey laws of purity. He should be ordered to fast some of the days of Ramadan, and in general should be taught everything about the shariah that he needs to know. When the child becomes more mature, he should be made to understand that the dunya passes and is not permanent, and that all actions must be undertaken for the sake of the next life. He should be made conscious that death is near for everyone at any time. sahl ibn `abdallaah al-tasturi said: When I was three years old I used to get up at night and see my maternal uncle muhammad ibn suwaar praying, so he said to me, "Do you make dhikr (remembrence) of God, the One Who created you?" I said, "How should I make dhikr?" He said, "Say in your heart when you turn over at night in your bed, "God is with me, God is looking at me, God sees me" three times without moving your tongue." So I did that for some nights and then told him about it. So he told me to say it seven times, and then eleven times. So I would say it, and soon I began to find happiness in saying it. After a year, my uncle said, "Remember what I have taught you, for it will benefit until you enter your tomb, both in this life and the next." I continued to do this for years until one day my uncle asked me, "O sahl, does someone with whom is God and at whom God is looking and whom God sees disobey God?" -- FADEL,AYMAN HOSSAM Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332 uucp: ...!{decvax,hplabs,ncar,purdue,rutgers}!gatech!prism!gt8145a Internet: gt8145a@prism.gatech.edu