Note: The following article is deduced from many Islamic sources, it has been compiled by the author into a single article from the work of several scholars over the course of Islamic History. Intention behind the article is to ease the process of understanding ‘Tazkiah’ due to a personal longing and pursuit of the the truth. The author in no way claims to have a complete understanding of the subject. May God protect us all from ‘Al-Azama’ – claiming greatness or superiority” The author is merely someone with an inquisitive mind and access to some books & Internet. Kindly provide naseeha (correction) if any one of the content below can be revised or needs fine-tuning.

“Verily, he who has purified the heart is successful and he who has despoiled it has lost.”

Prophet Noah an apostle of God, told his people to worship one creator, he ordered them to live ‘Pure and Good’ lives. Unfortunately, his people refused to mend their ways. God commanded him to construct an ‘Ark.’ Soon enough disaster struck, with the command of God, a great flood came to purify the world of all evil. Many monsters existed before the flood. But in the modern world, all the monsters that exist are the ones inside ourselves. This is exactly where we shall begin the process of ‘Tazkiah Al Nafs’ – getting rid of the inner monsters.

‘Tazkiah’ when applied to the human self, means to beautify and remove all evil traces and spiritual diseases that are obstacles in worshipping and pleasing God. A simpler explanation is to cleanse and purify from evil thoughts & actions while simultaneously improving and develop towards the path of perfection. Many might wonder why the word ‘Zakat’ and ‘Tazkiah’ sound similar, this is not just a co-incidence, ‘Zakat’ in prinicipal purifies your earning and material resources, just like ‘Tazkiah’ cleanses your heart & soul. Morally sound behavior brings eternal happiness and well-being (Heaven), while corruption leads to never-ending wretchedness (Hell.) The only legitimate “preference principle” in the sight of God is piety “Every time a rich man believes that he is better than a poor one, or a white man believes that he is better than a black one, then he is being arrogant.” He is adopting the same hierarchical principles adopted by ‘Iblees’ or Satan in his ignorance/arrogance, and thus falling into the trap of ‘Kibr’

Abu Huraira reported: “The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: ‘Verily, Allah does not look at your appearance or wealth, but rather He looks at your hearts and actions’.” (Sahih Muslim 2564)

Successive generations of believers have understood the meaning and implications of professing God’s Unity in different mannerisms. The people of ‘Tasawwuf’ struggle with the concept of God, so much that there remains no room in their heart to entertain any other concept. To be on the path of perfection, it is necessary to struggle against desires and immoral tendencies, and prepare the soul for the final interview with God. If an individual makes the decision to travels on the path of purification, God will aid and guide him. The Quran is an ocean of knowledge, and exegesis of the text is multifaceted. This is promised in Surah Al-Ankabut, and God does not make false promises.

[29:69] وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمَعَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ
Waallathēna jahadū fēna lanahdiyannahum subulanā wainna Allaha lama’a almuḥsinēna

But as for those who struggle hard in Our cause, We shall certainly guide them onto paths leading unto Us: for, behold, God is indeed with the doers of good.”

To walk on the path of perfection requires a lot of spiritual effort and discipline. An individual by his fitrah stands between two extremes, the lowest is below beasts and the highest surpasses the angels. Without ethics and purification, mastery over other subjects is devoid of value, because the benefits will be only worldly, and not support us in the here-after.

Moving on to the ‘Maqamat’ there are Seven Basic ones,that are generally agreed upon, however some scholars have further divided the Maqamat into a 100.

The Seven Major Maqaamaat of Tazkiah

Repentance (Tawbah), Abstention (Wara), Asceticism (Zuhd), Poverty (Faqr), Patience (Sabr), Confidence (Tawakkul) and Contentment (Riḍā’)

1) Repentance – To perform ‘Tawbah’ – Realise that we are bound to make mistakes, the feeling of regret for the past mistakes is highly important, and even more so is the determination to avoid making the same mistakes in the future. Maintaining the state of repentance is quite difficult especially in the modern world where exposure is so vast. A self-auditory reflex is critical for this Maqaam.

2) Absention – ‘Wara’ – Practicing self-restraint, being honest in belief and acts, and committed to applying Islamic commandments to your life. Being cautious in one’s relations with Allah.

3) Asceticism – ‘Zuhd’ – Living a life of minimalism, avoid extravagance, minimise worldly ambitions.

4) Poverty – ‘Faqr’ Denying the inner voice for pleasure and power, and dedicating to the service of others, instead of seeking to climb the ladder.

5) Patience – ‘Sabr’ Practicing the concept of self-restraint. Bearing the pain of life. Patience can be categorised into three parts
A. Sabr Al Amal (consistent in practicing righteous acts)
B. Sabr Fil Amal (patience in performing a righteous act)
C. Sabr Anil Amal (patience in abstaining the temptation of evil act)

Allah praises the patient ones, declares His love for them, or mentions the ranks He has bestowed on them: “And Surely God is with the patient ones.” (2:153)

6) Confidence – ‘Tawakkul’ Accepting the idea that everything comes from God. Relying on God, instead of the world. A person’s acknowledgement of ‘Tauheed’ is reflected by their level of ‘Tawakkul.’ Devotion is key here, there is no object of worship other God itself. God is incomparable, has no partner, and has power over all phenomena. The ‘Mutawakkil’s’ state of heart resembles an infant who knows that when he or she will cry, the mother will nurse him/her.

There are three basic fundamentals – Arkan’ of ‘Tawakkul’

A. Ma’rifat – This is a knowledge that cannot be learned through books. It is knowledge, which is a gift of Almighty Allah, to his chosen people.
B. Halat – God is full of Wisdom, he is the only benefactor and protector of the one who has placed tawakkul in him. Therefore there should be no need to toss in doubt and uncertainty. Rizq (sustenance), maut (death), hayat (life) and all affairs of creation are within the direct power and control of God, one should not worry and let his mind linger in uncertainty.
C. A’maal –

7) Contentment: The submission to fate or destiny, showing no rancor or rebellion against misfortune, and accepting all manifestations of Destiny without raising complaint. Preferring God’s wishes over one’s own in advance, accepting his God’s decree without complaint, since whatever God wills and does is for the greater good.

The process of ‘Tazkiyya An-Nafs’ or ‘Purity of the self’  starts with “Verily deeds are according to intentions” and ends with the station of perfect character, Ihsan, “Worship Him as though you see Him”, the reference being to the first hadith in Sahih Bukhari. Ihsan is the highest level of faith that the seeker can develop through his quest for reality. This is referred to as ‘Al-Yaqin Al-Haqiqi’  the reality of certainty and knowing that it brings true understanding and leads to ‘Al-iman Ash-Shuhudi’, the true faith of witnessing the signs of Allah’s Oneness everywhere. The only higher level of realisation is ‘Maqam Al-Ihsan.’ At this stage of perfection, the seeker realizes that God is observing him every moment.

Tazkiah is a continuous process of purification to maintain spiritual health, it is similar to the process of maintaining physical health, any lapse in following the principles below can cause one to lose their previous gains, and thus caution must always be used to not deviate from the path. If the believer does not rigorously abstain from the aspects listed below, their efforts will be wasted.

16 Acts – The Tree of Bad Manners

Our Prophet Muhammad stated: “To leave an atom’s weight of Allah’s prohibations, is more lovely to Allah than worshipping of all sentient beings”  To leave one forbidden act for the sake of Allah, is equivalent to performing all 500 of the ordered actions because to leave one forbidden act is extremely difficult for the nafs (ego)

1) Al-Ghadab – Anger: considered the worst of all the negative traits. It may easily be said that anger is the source from which the others flow. The Prophet states in a hadith: “Anger (ghadab) blemishes one’s belief.” Controlling anger is called kāzm.

2) Al-Hiqd – Malice or having ill-will toward others; grows from lusting for what someone else has. You must replace hiqd with kindness and look upon your brother/sister with love. There is a hadith that says “give gifts to one another, for gifts take away malice.”

3) Al-Hasad – Jealousy or envy; a person inflicted with this disease wants others to lose blessings bestowed on them by Allah.

4) Al-‘Ujb – vanity or having pride because of an action, possession, quality or relationship.

5) Al-Bukhl – Stinginess: The cause of bukhl is love of the world, if you did not love it, then giving it up would be easy. To cure the disease of miserliness, one must force oneself to be generous, even if such generosity is artificial; this must be continued until generosity becomes second nature.

6) Al-Tama – Greed – excessive desire for more than one needs or deserves. Having no limit to what one hoards of possessions! Seeking to fulfill worldly pleasures through forbidden means is called tama’. The opposite of tama’ is called tafwiz, which means striving to obtain permissible and beneficial things and expecting that Allah will let you have them.

7) Al-Jubn – Cowardice: the necessary amount of anger (ghadab) or treating harshly is called bravery (shajā’at). Anger which is less than the necessary amount is called cowardice (junb). Imam Shafi says, “a person who acts cowardly in a situation which demands bravery resembles an ass.” A coward would not be able to show ghayrat for his wife or relatives when the situation requires it. He would not be able to protect them and thus will suffer oppression (zulm) and depreciation (ziliat).

8) Al-Batalah – Indolence or Sloth (deadly sin): Batalah is inactivity resulting from a dislike of work.

9) Al-Riya – Ostentation or showing off: riya’ means to present something in a manner opposite to its true nature. In short, it means pretension, i.e., a person’s performing deeds for the next world to impress the idea on others that he is really a pious person with earnest desire of the akhirah while in fact he wants to attain worldly desires.

10) Al-Hirş – attachment and love for the material world, such as desiring wealth and a long life.

11) Al-Aazamah – Superiority or claiming greatness: the cure is to humble oneself before Allah.

12) Al-Ghabawah Wa’l-Kasalah – heedlessness and laziness; “The heart needs nourishment, and heedlessness starves the spiritual heart.”

13) Al-Hamm – Anxiety: this develops from heedlessness. The seeker must first understand that Allah is al-Razzaq (the Provider), and submit and be content with the will of Allah.

14) Al-Ghamm – depression: passion (hawā) conduces to anguish (ghamm) whenever reason is allowed to represent itself as grievous or painful the loss of the suitable or desirable, and is therefor a “rational affection” that can cause the soul untold suffering and perturbation.

15) Al-Manhiyat – Eight Hundred Forbidden Acts

16) Ghaflah – neglect and forgetfulness of God, Indifference: those guilty of ghaflah, the ghāfilün, are those who “know only a surface appearance of the life of this world, and are heedless of the hereafter” (30:7).

17) Kibr – arrogance or regarding one’s self to be superior to others. The Prophet states in a hadith: “A person who has an atom’s weight of conceit in his heart will not enter Paradise.” The opposite of arrogance is tawādu’, which is a feeling of equality.

18) Hubb-e-dunya – love of the material world: Materialism. The Prophet has said that “love of the world is the root of all evil.” If this ailment is treated and cured, all other maladies flowing from it will also disappear.

The believer must purify himself from these bad traits and get rid his heart of the qualities above. Outward adherence to the five pillars of Islam is not sufficient: he must be perfect in behaviour. This requires a program of self-evaluation, purification, seclusion and establishing a practice of remembrance and contemplation. In this way the believer is able to achieve a state in which his heart is ready to receive ‘Divine Inspiration’ and observe ‘Divine Realities’