7) ونعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا ❝And WE seek refuge with Allaah | Ilm4all

7) ونعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا
❝And WE seek refuge with Allaah from the evils of our souls❞


b) The three states of “al-Nafs”:

Shaikh al-Islaam, Ibn Taymiyyah, رحمه الله said: ❝The “Nafs” are of three types:

1) Al-Nafs al-Ammaarah bi al-Soo’ (the self which dictates evil):

﴿إِنَّ النَّفْسَ لَأَمَّارَةٌ بِالسُّوءِ إِلَّا مَا رَحِمَ رَبِّي﴾

{Verily, the (human) self is inclined to evil, except when my Lord bestows His Mercy (upon whom He wills)}

It is the Nafs, which overpowers one to follow its desires by committing sins and acts of disobedience.

2) Al-Nafs al-Lawwaamah (struggling moral self or self-reproaching soul):

﴿وَلَا أُقْسِمُ بِالنَّفْسِ اللَّوَّامَةِ﴾

{And I swear by the self-reproaching Nafs}

It is the Nafs, which falls into sins and repents (to Allaah). Through it, one commits sins and does good deeds, but when it commits sins, it repents and turns back (to Allaah for forgiveness). It is called as “al-Lawwaamah” because it reproaches own self for committing sins, and it is also called as such because it lingers between good and evil and it does not stay in one state, it keeps swaying between this and that.

Shaikh al-Islaam, Ibn Taymiyyah, رحمه الله said: ❝This Aayah refers to the Nafs (self) of the human being. And it was said that the human self can be self-reproaching, or it may not be self-reproaching – but this is not the case. Rather, every human self will be self-reproaching, for there is no human being except that it will regret and be remorseful – either in this world or in the Hereafter (i.e., a righteous person will regret why he did not do more good deeds, and a wicked person will regret why he did evil deeds).❞

3) Al-Nafs al-Mutma-innah (satisfied or composed self):

﴿يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ * ارْجِعِي إِلَىٰ رَبِّكِ رَاضِيَةً مَّرْضِيَّةً * فَادْخُلِي فِي عِبَادِي * وَادْخُلِي جَنَّتِي﴾

{[To the righteous it will be said]: “O reassured soul! Come back to your Lord, Well-pleased (yourself) and well-pleasing unto Him! Enter you, then, among My honored slaves, and enter you My Paradise!”}

Shaikh al-Islaam, Ibn Taymiyyah, رحمه الله said: ❝It is the Nafs, which loves to do good deeds and acts of obedience, and wants (to do more), and it hates evil deeds and acts of disobedience, and abhors doing it. All this becomes part of its inborn pattern of behavior, natural habit, and instinct.

So these (three) are the states and descriptions of the same being, otherwise, every person has only one self (but in a different state), and this is a matter which a person can feel within himself.❞

Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله said: ❝Al-Nafs (self) sometimes can be the one which dictates evil (Ammaarah), and sometimes self-reproaching (Lawwaamah), and sometimes satisfied or composed (Mutma-innah). Rather, in one day or in one hour it can be in this state and that state.❞

[from the forth coming book, إن شاء الله , "Explanation of Khutbah al-Haajah"]