٢٠٨. عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ:
«حُجِبَتِ النَّارُ بِالشَّهَوَاتِ وَحُجِبَتِ الْجَنَّةُ بِالْمَكَارِهِ».
208. Abu Huraira (r.a.) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“The (Hell) Fire is surrounded by all kinds of desires and passions, while Paradise is surrounded by all kinds of disliked undesirable things.” (Bukhari, al-Riqaq, 28; Muslim, Jannah, 1. Also see. Abu Dawud, Sunnah, 22; Tirmidhi, Jannah, 21; Nasai, Aiman, 3)
٢٠٩. عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ:
«لَمَّا خَلَقَ اللّٰهُ الْجَنَّةَ قَالَ لِجِبْرِيلَ: اذْهَبْ فَانْظُرْ إِلَيْهَا فَذَهَبَ فَنَظَرَ إِلَيْهَا ثُمَّ جَاءَ فَقَالَ: أَيْ رَبِّ وَعِزَّتِكَ لَا يَسْمَعُ بِهَا أَحَدٌ إِلَّا دَخَلَهَا ثُمَّ حَفَّهَا بِالْمَكَارِهِ ثُمَّ قَالَ: يَا جِبْرِيلُ اذْهَبْ فَانْظُرْ إِلَيْهَا فَذَهَبَ فَنَظَرَ إِلَيْهَا ثُمَّ جَاءَ فَقَالَ: أَيْ رَبِّ وَعِزَّتِكَ لَقَدْ خَشِيتُ أَنْ لَا يَدْخُلَهَا أَحَدٌ قَالَ فَلَمَّا خَلَقَ اللّٰهُ النَّارَ قَالَ: يَا جِبْرِيلُ اذْهَبْ فَانْظُرْ إِلَيْهَا فَذَهَبَ فَنَظَرَ إِلَيْهَا ثُمَّ جَاءَ فَقَالَ: أَيْ رَبِّ وَعِزَّتِكَ لَا يَسْمَعُ بِهَا أَحَدٌ فَيَدْخُلُهَا فَحَفَّهَا بِالشَّهَوَاتِ ثُمَّ قَالَ: يَا جِبْرِيلُ اذْهَبْ فَانْظُرْ إِلَيْهَا فَذَهَبَ فَنَظَرَ إِلَيْهَا ثُمَّ جَاءَ فَقَالَ: أَيْ رَبِّ وَعِزَّتِكَ لَقَدْ خَشِيتُ أَنْ لَا يَبْقَى أَحَدٌ إِلَّا دَخَلَهَا».
209. Abu Huraira (r.a.) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
When Allah created Paradise, He said to Gabriel:
“Go and look at it!” He went and looked at it, then came and said:
“O my Lord! By Your might, no one who hears of it will fail to enter it.”
Allah then surrounded it with disagreeable things, and said:
“Go and look at it, Gabriel!”
He went and looked at it, then came and said:
“O my Lord! By Your might, I am afraid that no one will enter it.”
When Allah created Hell, He said:
“Go and look at it, Gabriel!”
He went and looked at it, then came and said:
“O my Lord! By Your might, no one who hears of it will enter it!”
Allah then surrounded it with desirable things and said:
“Go and look at it, Gabriel!”
He went, looked at it, then came and said:
“O my Lord! By Your might and power, I am afraid that no one will remain who does not enter it.” (Abu Dawud, Kitab Al-Sunnah, 21-22/4744; Tirmidhi, Jannah, 21)
٢١٠. عَنْ أَبِي بَرْزَةَ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ:
«إِنَّ مِمَّا أَخْشَى عَلَيْكُمْ شَهَوَاتِ الْغَيِّ فِي بُطُونِكُمْ وَفُرُوجِكُمْ وَمُضِلَّاتِ الْهَوَى».
210. Abu Barza (r.a.) narrated that the Noble Prophet (pbuh) said as follows:
“One of the things that I fear most about you is strong desires that lead you to excess in the matters of your stomachs and chastity, another one is the possibility that your desires and passions to lead you to fall into heresy.” (Ahmad, IV, 420, 423; Haythami, I, 188; Abu Nuaym, Hilya, II, 32)
٢١١. عَنْ أَبِي مَالِكٍ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: قَالُوا:
«يَا رَسُولَ اللّٰهِ! حَدِّثْنَا بِكَلِمَةٍ نَقُولُهَا إِذَا أَصْبَحْنَا وَأَمْسَيْنَا وَاضْطَجَعْنَا» فَأَمَرَهُمْ أَنْ يَقُولُوا:
«اَللّٰهُمَّ فَاطِرَ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ عَالِمَ الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ أَنْتَ رَبُّ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَالْمَلَائِكَةُ يَشْهَدُونَ أَنَّكَ لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ فَإِنَّا نَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ شَرِّ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ وَشِرْكِهِ وَأَنْ نَقْتَرِفَ سُوءًا عَلَى أَنْفُسِنَا أَوْ نَجُرَّهُ إِلَى مُسْلِمٍ».
211. Abu Malik al-Ash’ari (r.a.) narrated:
The Companions of the Prophet (pbuh) said to him:
“Tell us a supplication which we repeat in the morning, evening and when we rise:
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) commended them to say:
“O Allah! Creator of Heavens and Earth; Knower of all that is hidden and open; You are the Lord of everything; the angels testify that there is no god but You, for we seek refuge in You from the evil within ourselves, from the evil of the Devil accused and from the evil of his suggestion about partnership with Allah, and that we earn sin for ourselves or drag it to a Muslim.” (Abu Dawud, Kitab Al-Adab, 100-101/5083)
Explanations:
Almighty Allah has created humans prone towards both good and evil. He taught humans both mischief and piety. In everything, He has stated its evil and goodness, what is good and bad, what is beneficial and harmful by saying things like “This is evil, bad, and sinful, it would lead yourself to mischief, so don’t do it! This, on the other hand, leads to piety, goodness and obedience, and protection from evil, so do it!” So, He directed us and stated that we should keep away from one and do the other. (Al-Shams; 91:7-8)
In addition, Almighty Allah had clearly stated right and wrong and established criteria called prohibited and permissible by sending prophets and books. Then, in order to test humans who He gave intellect, understanding, and self-control capacity, He left them alone with their choice between these two paths.
In a verse it is said:
“And shown him the two paths?” (Al-Balad; 90:10)
However, also, with the deception of Satan, the carnal self of humans tend towards the prohibited rather than the permissible. The prohibited and unacceptable seem to him as more beautiful and attractive. The carnal self dislikes the difficulties of worships, good deeds, and charities. It tends towards things that come easy such as, leisure, entertainment, and personal benefits. These are called the passions and desires.
Desire (hawa) has meanings such as wants, passion, tendency, descending just like that of a falcon, fall, be destroyed, that a cup is empty, fruitless, and valueless. It is used to mean more for the tendency of the carnal self towards the bad desires prohibited by the intellect and religion; and also for deviating from the honesty, truth, and virtue and tending towards pleasure and personal benefits. So, staying away from passion and desires is one of the most important attributes of a believer. This is because such desires are the catastrophe of the intellect.
Even if a person advances to the highest levels of sainthood, he is still face to face with the tricks, whispers (causing baseless anxiety), and traps of the worldly attractions, carnal self, and Satan. As a matter of fact, the value of being a servant to Allah is becoming a pious person by defeating the attractive deceptions of this mortal world and as a result tending towards Allah.
Since humans came to this world for the test of servanthood to Allah, their mission is to struggle with the passions and desires of the carnal self until the moment of death and to direct it towards worship and good deeds.
However, the struggle with the desires of the carnal self is not an easy matter. For this reason, it is named by the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) as “the Great Struggle (Jihad).”
According to Jabir’s (r.a.) narration, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said to the veterans returning from a difficult expedition:
“You have come in the best fashion. You have returned from the lesser jihad to the greater (or greatest) jihad.”
They asked:
“What is greater (the greatest) jihad?”
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) responded:
“It is the struggle of the slave of God with his desires.” (Baihaqi, al-Zuhd al-Kabir, p. 198/374; Suyuti, Jami, II, 73/6107)
Also, the Prophet has praised those who struggle against their desires and passions as:
“(The true) mujahid is the person who struggles against his carnal self.” (Tirmidhi, Fadail al-Jihad, 2/1621; Ahmad, VI, 20)
This is because while military jihad is obligatory on the community in general (fard kifayah), jihad with the carnal self is obligatory on everyone.
Ibrahim b. Adham said:
“The most intense jihad is the one with desires. Whoever denies his carnal self and his desires finds refuge from the world and its troubles. He will be protected from its torment and problems and have achieved peace.” (Abu Nuaym, Hilya, VIII, 18)
Almighty Allah has informed us repeatedly with the strongest type of vows that those who discipline their carnal self and improve it with piety and those who enlighten it will achieve the true salvation. (Al-Shams; 91:1-9)
Disciplining the self is to purify it from spiritual blemishes such as disbelief, ignorance, evil feelings, false beliefs, bad habits, and desires and passions.
Those deceptive people who do not protect their carnal selves and lower it and bury it to darkness will be truly harmed and sorry by causing their soul to spoil. Following several vows Almighty Allah took one after another, He has informed us about this matter. (Al-Shams; 91:1-10)
This is because, an undisciplined carnal self left alone and free will cause its owner to deviate by being buried in unlimited lust and desire, and it drags him to catastrophe both in this world and in the Hereafter.
A person who follows the desires of his carnal self is a foolish and weak person. His carnal self both causes him to make mistakes and gives him false hopes that he can be saved in the Hereafter. On the other hand, the weak person who follows his desires somehow never wants to understand that there could be no such thing as both rebelling to Allah in this world and entering into Paradise in the Hereafter. He falsely consoles himself that his heart is pure and that Allah will treat him with mercy. We take these from the following noble hadith of the Prophet (pbuh):
“Smart person is the one who has disciplined his carnal self and who works for the life after death. Weak person is the one who subjects his carnal self to his desires and keeps on asking from Allah (and sees this as sufficient).” (Tirmidhi, Qiyamah 25/2459. Also see Ibn Majah, Zuhd 31; Ahmad, IV, 124; Hakim, IV, 251)
When a person obeys the desires of his carnal self, he moves away from purifying his soul with virtuous things and gives it to evil deeds and bad manners. Finally, he buries his soul in material by rotting it with bestial purposes and evil and dark feelings and hence makes it deserve to be thrown into hellfire.
For this reason, the friends of Allah have seen the passions and desires of the carnal self as one of the biggest dangers for their spiritual and moral lives. This is because the Prophet has mentioned “the desire that is followed” among the things that cause distraction. (Munawi, Faid al-Qadir, III, 404/3471)
Mujahid, one of the great scholars of the Successors, said as follows:
“I am not sure which one of these two favors of Allah is greater: that He led me to the true path of Islam or that He protected me from the desires of my carnal self” (Darimi, Muqaddima, 30)
Also, Harith al-Muhasibi says:
“Whatever comes to you from Satan, who is your enemy, comes via the desires of your carnal self.” (al-Riaya, p. 325)
One needs to be extremely alert and careful against the passions and desires of the carnal self. Otherwise, a person can be deceived, tricked by it, and falls into one of its countless traps.
Some of the warnings of Mawlana Jalaladdin Rumi in his Mathnawi are as follows:
“A person with a carnal soul is like Pharaoh, and his body is his Moses: he keeps running (to and fro) outside, asking, “Where is my enemy? His fleshly soul (is) luxuriating in the house, which is his body, (while) he gnaws his hand in rancour against some one else.” (Mathnawi, II, v. 774-75)
“O son, if you seek (to know) the form of the self, read the story of Hell with its seven gates.” (Mathnawi, I, v. 779)
“What you call carnal soul is a triagonal thorn: however you may place it, it will pierce, and how will you escape from its stab? Set the thorn on fire with renunciation of sensual passion, and cling to the righteous friend.” (Mathnawi, III, v. 375-76)
“The scoundrel carnal self tries to lead you to a worldly gain. For how long will you continue to busy yourself with such temporary worldly gain? Enough already that you have spent so much time on it.”
“Even though the carnal self gives you fresh promises about goodness and righteousness he violates those promises and repentances thousands of times. Even if life gives you a term of a thousand years, your carnal self will find a new excuse every day.” (Mathnawi, II, v. 2279-80)
“If that scoundrel carnal self asks from you righteous deeds that are noble and sacred that is, deeds that will provide you with spiritual benefits, do not be deceived! Behind this demand, there would be a trick of that enemy carnal self.” (Mathnawi, II, v. 2274)
“The fleshly soul hath glorification of God (on its tongue), and the Qur’an in its right hand; (but) in its sleeve (it hath) dagger and sword.” (Mathnawi, III, v. 2554)
“Be careful! You have ridden in chase of a deer and have made yourself the prey of a hog! In other words, you become a slave to your carnal self while you are trying to walk in the path of Allah.” (Mathnawi, VI, v. 3684)
“All people except those who got drunk with the love of Allah are like children. None except those who have freed themselves from passions and desires have reached the age of adolescence.”
“You, O prayerless man, have put the polisher of the heart (or Reason) in bonds and have loosed the two hands of passions and desires. If bonds be put on sensuality, the hand of the polisher (Reason) will be untied. A piece of iron that became a mirror of the Unseen – all the forms (of the Unseen) would be shot into it.” (Mathnawi, VI, v. 2476-78)
As it is repeatedly expressed by the friends of Allah, passions and desires are the worst traps of Satan. The people who are drifted by them do not usually even understand that they are in error. They get consumed in them so much that they never even think of asking for forgiveness for their sins and turning to Allah.
Imam Awzai narrates:
Satan, the leader of the devils, said to his friends:
“From which way do you approach the Sons of Adam and deceive them?”
They said:
“We approach them from all sides with all things.”
Upon this, Satan asked:
“All right, can you approach them through the path of asking for forgiveness?”
They said:
“Alas! Unfortunately, that is too difficult.” Asking for forgiveness is done together with the word of acknowledging the oneness of God (la ilaha illallah).”
Satan said:
“I will spread such a thing among them that they will not ask for forgiveness for it!” and spread the passions and desires (of the carnal self) among people. (Darimi, Muqaddima, 30)
People who disregard the divine warnings and follow Satan and the desires which are attractive and pleasing to the carnal self will face the torment of Hell after briefly enjoying the worldly pleasures. This is because they have willingly and knowingly fallen into the trap of the carnal soul expressed in our first hadith.
As a requirement of the divine test, passions and desires are spread to the paths to Hell. Those who run after them will at the end see that Malik, the gate keeper of Hell, is waiting for them. The road to Heaven, on the other hand, is full of things that are considered as thorns and obstacles by the carnal self. In order to walk through that road, one needs to perform the acts of worship, live in accordance with the virtues, and make sacrifices that the carnal self does not like at all. The human carnal self, on the other hand, does not want to endure these difficulties. However, the real bliss is to endure those temporary difficulties and open those curtains. Indeed, struggle and fight with the carnal self step in right there.
If the carnal self is left alone, it follows the things that it likes without thinking where they end. However, one should never forget that “poison is presented in a golden cup.” Those who act only by looking at the outside appearance of things will eventually face their miserable end. Those who sweetly scratch a wound on their body will soon notice that it turns into a large one which gives them a lot of pain.
The statement in our hadith “Hell is surrounded by the wants and lustful desires of the carnal self” shows that the drifting of people to Hell is mostly the result of their following the passions and desires of their carnal self. Since carnal self tends towards lustful desires, Gabriel (pbuh) states his fears in our second hadith that a great majority of humans will be drifted to Hell.
The expression in the hadith that “Heaven is surrounded by difficulties” states that entering there is possible only by following Allah’s commands, staying away from His prohibitions, resisting the passions and desires of the carnal self, and enduring all the difficulties that will be faced in this path.
Since it is not the easy to conduct all of these fully and correctly, Gabriel (pbuh) has feared that humans will not be able to enter there.
The commands and prohibitions of Allah are difficult for the carnal self but they are like capital for the eternal bliss to the soul. Indeed, Abdurrahman b. Awf (r.a.) says:
“Islam has brought commands that were not pleasing to the carnal self. We found the best of the best in these difficult commands that our carnal selves disliked. For example, we had emigrated by exiting Mecca with the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). With the emigration that was hard on our carnal souls, superiority and victory were granted to us (the paths of victory were opened).
Again, we unwillingly went to Badr accompanying the Messenger of Allah thinking that we were almost being driven to death. Allah the Exalted describes our situation at that moment as follows:
“Just as your Lord ordered you out of your house in truth, even though a party among the Believers disliked it, disputing with you concerning the truth after it was made manifest, as if they were being driven to death and they (actually) saw it.” (Al-Anfal; 8:5-6)
At the end, Almighty Allah favored us with dominance and victory in Badr.
In short, we always reached the best favors thanks to the commands that were difficult upon our carnal self. (Haythami, VII, 26-27)
Almighty Allah gives the following glad tidings to his servants who leave their desires and live a pious life:
“And for such as had entertained the fear of standing before their Lord’s (tribunal) and had restrained (their) soul from lower desires, their abode will be the Garden.” (An-Naziat; 79:40-41)
With his deep mercy to his followers, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) warned them in order to to save them from Hell and go to Heaven. Indeed, in our third hadith, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) states that the greatest of worries that he has for his nation are passions and desires.
It is definite that a person who does not struggle with his carnal self and agrees with all of its desires will eventually turn to wrong paths. This is because desires are the greatest reasons for falling into heresy according to the Noble Qur’an. Almighty Allah commands the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) as follows:
“Say: “I am forbidden to worship those – others than Allah – whom you call upon.” Say: “I will not follow your wain desires: If I did, I would stray from the path, and be not of the company of those who receive guidance.” (Al-An‘am; 6:56)
In another verse, it is stated that none are more astray than those who follow their own desires:
“But if they hearken not to you, know that they only follow their own lusts: and who is more astray than one who follow his own lusts, devoid of guidance from Allah for Allah guides not people given to wrong-doing.” (Qasas; 28:50)
This is because either the person will obey the commands of Allah or follow the desires of the carnal self. Doing them simultaneously is impossible. How nicely the poet expresses this:
With two qibla one cannot go straight on the path of tawhid,
Either the consent of the Friend or the desires of the carnal self will prevail.
It is not possible to get the carnal self fully satisfied and leave wrongdoings by itself. As one allows it to taste its desires, it asks for more and greater. How nicely Mawlana Jalaladdin Rumi describes this:
“Fiery lust is not diminished by indulging it: it is diminished, without any escape (inevitably), by leaving it (ungratified). So long as thou art laying faggots on a fire, how will the fire be extinguished by a carrier of faggots?” (Mathnawi, I, 3703-4)
In time, the rampant carnal self asks for so many things that if they are done, neither the individual’s, nor the societies’, nor the universe’s order can stand. This is because the carnal soul always thinks of the pleasuring and entertaining aspects of things and never bothers with whether it is right or wrong.
Almighty Allah speaks as follows:
“If the Truth had been in accord with their desires, truly the heavens and the earth, and all beings therein would have been in confusion and corruption! Nay, We have sent them their admonition, but they turn away from their admonition.” (Al-Muminun; 23:71)
It would also be appropriate here to point out the grave danger of the people who would like to understand and interpret the Qur’an according to their own desires.
Those who follow their passion and desires fall into the great heresy of prioritizing their desires before all and adopting them as their gods. While they hold onto none of Allah’s commands, they want to realize all kinds of passions and desires that they have. Almighty Allah criticizes such people with a heavy style and speaks as follows:
“Do you see such the one as takes for his god his own passion (or impulse)? Could you be a disposer of affairs for him? Or do you think thou that most of them listen or understand? They are only like cattle; nay, they are worse astray in Path.” (Al-Furqan; 25:43-44, Al-Jasiyah; 45:23)
Those who follow their desires pretend not to have heard the verses of Allah and do not take lessons from the signs of His power in this universe. Since their carnal selves are pleased by swimming in heedlessness, they never want to wake up. Since they do all these even though they are bestowed with intellect and they know the truth, they fall into lower levels than animals. (Al-Araf; 7:179; (Al-Furqan; 25:43-44)
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) expresses as follows how great an evil it is to adopt desires as deity;
“According to Allah, there is no more serious and worse false deity among the deities that are worshipped under the sky than the desires that are followed.” (Haythami, I, 188)
A person conducts all the sins and wrongdoings when he follows the desires of the carnal self. So, there is not any person worse than the one who follows his passions and desires as if he adopts them as deity. In a noble hadith, the wrongdoings that leaving the Qur’an and Sunnah (the traditions of the Prophet) and following the desires bring and the evilness of the people who commşt them are listed as follows:
“How bad is a slave of Allah who forgets Allah the Greatest and the Most Exalted by drifting in empty dreams and boasting! How bad is a slave who is tyrant and violates others’ rights by forgetting Allah the Compeller! How bad is a slave who laughs and plays in heedlessness and forgets the decay in graves! How bad is a slave who goes excessive and rampant and forgets his beginning and end. How bad is a slave who looks religious and deceives people and runs after worldly benefits! How bad is a slave who corrupts his religion with doubtful things! How bad is a slave who is drifted to rebellious acts due to his greed and ambition! How bad is a slave who falls into despicableness due to his excessive desires and wants towards worldly wealth!” (Tirmidhi, Qiyamah, 17/2448; Hakim, IV, 351/7885; Haythami, X, 234)
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) also expressed that he is distant from those following their desires, and they are also distant from him. (Haythami, VII, 22)
When it is carefully analyzed, it can be inferred from the hadith that all of the attributes listed here emerge due to being subject of one’s desires. For this reason, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) was worried about his followers who were the subjects of their desires and he said:
“For my followers, I am most worried that they listen to their carnal desires.” (See Haythami, I, 187; Suyuti, I, 12)
In various verses of the Noble Qur’an, following those who are subjects of their desires is also strictly forbidden. That is because acting this way drags one to disaster as well. The thing that Muslims should do is to act upon knowledge rather than accepting the leadership of those who are the followers of their own desires. Since the source of knowledge is divine revelations, revelation and human desires are contradictory and opposite of each other. It is expressed in a noble verse:
“Never will the Jews or the Christians be satisfied with you unless thou follow their form of religion. Say: “The Guidance of Allah, that is the (only) Guidance.” Were you to follow their desires after the knowledge which has reached you, then would you find neither Protector nor helper against Allah.” (Al-Baqarah; 2:120)
“Say: “O people of the Book! exceed not in your religion the bounds (of what is proper), trespassing beyond the truth, nor follow the vain desires of people who went wrong in times gone by, who misled many, and strayed (themselves) from the even way.” (Al-Maidah; 5:77)
For this reason, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) advised us to take refuge in Allah often from the evils of the carnal self. In our forth hadith, when one of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) asked “How should we pray in the morning, evening, and when we go to sleep?” he taught them a prayer and first of all said “We take refuge in You my Lord from the evils of our carnal selves.”
Again the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said in one of his sermon prayers:
“We take refuge from the evils within ourselves.” (Abu Dawud, Kitab Al-Nikah, 31-32/2118; Tirmidhi, Kitab Al-Nikah, 17/1105; Nasai, Jum’a, 14)
The Messenger of Allah said to Husain, one of his Companions:
“If you convert to Islam, I will teach you two benefitial sentences” and after he became Muslim, he taught him the following prayer:
“O Lord, show me the best and most true one and protect me from the evils of my carnal self!” (Tirmidhi, Daawat, 69/3483)
Therefore, the era of the Messenger of Allah became a time period in which people stayed away from the fancies and desires of the carnal self. Ibn Mas’ud (r.a.) compared that exemplary era and following ones and warned someone saying:
“You live in a time period when canonists (of Islamic jurisprudence) are many and ignorant readers are few, when more weight is given to the judgments of the Qur’an than its recitation, when people who ask for something are few and people who give are many, when the prayers are performed long and sermons are kept short, and when good deeds are preferred over wants and desires. There will be a time period when canonists will be few and ignorant readers will be many, people will pay attention to the recitation of the letters and the words of the Qur’an but will not pay attention to practicing the commands in the Qur’an, there will be many people who will ask for something but few people who will give, they will keep the performance of the prayer short but the sermon long, and their wants and desires will be preferred over their good deeds.” (Muwatta, Qasr al-Salat, 88; Bukhari, al-Adab al-mufrad, no: 789)
May Our Almighty Lord protect us from the evils of our carnal selves and from being the slaves of their wishes and desires! May Allah make us among His servants who abandon his desires and look for the content of the Friend!
Amin!.
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7. To Leave Certain Desires and Passions
٢٠٨. عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ:
«حُجِبَتِ النَّارُ بِالشَّهَوَاتِ وَحُجِبَتِ الْجَنَّةُ بِالْمَكَارِهِ».
208. Abu Huraira (r.a.) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“The (Hell) Fire is surrounded by all kinds of desires and passions, while Paradise is surrounded by all kinds of disliked undesirable things.” (Bukhari, al-Riqaq, 28; Muslim, Jannah, 1. Also see. Abu Dawud, Sunnah, 22; Tirmidhi, Jannah, 21; Nasai, Aiman, 3)
٢٠٩. عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ:
«لَمَّا خَلَقَ اللّٰهُ الْجَنَّةَ قَالَ لِجِبْرِيلَ: اذْهَبْ فَانْظُرْ إِلَيْهَا فَذَهَبَ فَنَظَرَ إِلَيْهَا ثُمَّ جَاءَ فَقَالَ: أَيْ رَبِّ وَعِزَّتِكَ لَا يَسْمَعُ بِهَا أَحَدٌ إِلَّا دَخَلَهَا ثُمَّ حَفَّهَا بِالْمَكَارِهِ ثُمَّ قَالَ: يَا جِبْرِيلُ اذْهَبْ فَانْظُرْ إِلَيْهَا فَذَهَبَ فَنَظَرَ إِلَيْهَا ثُمَّ جَاءَ فَقَالَ: أَيْ رَبِّ وَعِزَّتِكَ لَقَدْ خَشِيتُ أَنْ لَا يَدْخُلَهَا أَحَدٌ قَالَ فَلَمَّا خَلَقَ اللّٰهُ النَّارَ قَالَ: يَا جِبْرِيلُ اذْهَبْ فَانْظُرْ إِلَيْهَا فَذَهَبَ فَنَظَرَ إِلَيْهَا ثُمَّ جَاءَ فَقَالَ: أَيْ رَبِّ وَعِزَّتِكَ لَا يَسْمَعُ بِهَا أَحَدٌ فَيَدْخُلُهَا فَحَفَّهَا بِالشَّهَوَاتِ ثُمَّ قَالَ: يَا جِبْرِيلُ اذْهَبْ فَانْظُرْ إِلَيْهَا فَذَهَبَ فَنَظَرَ إِلَيْهَا ثُمَّ جَاءَ فَقَالَ: أَيْ رَبِّ وَعِزَّتِكَ لَقَدْ خَشِيتُ أَنْ لَا يَبْقَى أَحَدٌ إِلَّا دَخَلَهَا».
209. Abu Huraira (r.a.) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
When Allah created Paradise, He said to Gabriel:
“Go and look at it!” He went and looked at it, then came and said:
“O my Lord! By Your might, no one who hears of it will fail to enter it.”
Allah then surrounded it with disagreeable things, and said:
“Go and look at it, Gabriel!”
He went and looked at it, then came and said:
“O my Lord! By Your might, I am afraid that no one will enter it.”
When Allah created Hell, He said:
“Go and look at it, Gabriel!”
He went and looked at it, then came and said:
“O my Lord! By Your might, no one who hears of it will enter it!”
Allah then surrounded it with desirable things and said:
“Go and look at it, Gabriel!”
He went, looked at it, then came and said:
“O my Lord! By Your might and power, I am afraid that no one will remain who does not enter it.” (Abu Dawud, Kitab Al-Sunnah, 21-22/4744; Tirmidhi, Jannah, 21)
٢١٠. عَنْ أَبِي بَرْزَةَ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ:
«إِنَّ مِمَّا أَخْشَى عَلَيْكُمْ شَهَوَاتِ الْغَيِّ فِي بُطُونِكُمْ وَفُرُوجِكُمْ وَمُضِلَّاتِ الْهَوَى».
210. Abu Barza (r.a.) narrated that the Noble Prophet (pbuh) said as follows:
“One of the things that I fear most about you is strong desires that lead you to excess in the matters of your stomachs and chastity, another one is the possibility that your desires and passions to lead you to fall into heresy.” (Ahmad, IV, 420, 423; Haythami, I, 188; Abu Nuaym, Hilya, II, 32)
٢١١. عَنْ أَبِي مَالِكٍ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: قَالُوا:
«يَا رَسُولَ اللّٰهِ! حَدِّثْنَا بِكَلِمَةٍ نَقُولُهَا إِذَا أَصْبَحْنَا وَأَمْسَيْنَا وَاضْطَجَعْنَا» فَأَمَرَهُمْ أَنْ يَقُولُوا:
«اَللّٰهُمَّ فَاطِرَ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ عَالِمَ الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ أَنْتَ رَبُّ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَالْمَلَائِكَةُ يَشْهَدُونَ أَنَّكَ لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ فَإِنَّا نَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ شَرِّ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ شَرِّ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ وَشِرْكِهِ وَأَنْ نَقْتَرِفَ سُوءًا عَلَى أَنْفُسِنَا أَوْ نَجُرَّهُ إِلَى مُسْلِمٍ».
211. Abu Malik al-Ash’ari (r.a.) narrated:
The Companions of the Prophet (pbuh) said to him:
“Tell us a supplication which we repeat in the morning, evening and when we rise:
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) commended them to say:
“O Allah! Creator of Heavens and Earth; Knower of all that is hidden and open; You are the Lord of everything; the angels testify that there is no god but You, for we seek refuge in You from the evil within ourselves, from the evil of the Devil accused and from the evil of his suggestion about partnership with Allah, and that we earn sin for ourselves or drag it to a Muslim.” (Abu Dawud, Kitab Al-Adab, 100-101/5083)
Explanations:
Almighty Allah has created humans prone towards both good and evil. He taught humans both mischief and piety. In everything, He has stated its evil and goodness, what is good and bad, what is beneficial and harmful by saying things like “This is evil, bad, and sinful, it would lead yourself to mischief, so don’t do it! This, on the other hand, leads to piety, goodness and obedience, and protection from evil, so do it!” So, He directed us and stated that we should keep away from one and do the other. (Al-Shams; 91:7-8)
In addition, Almighty Allah had clearly stated right and wrong and established criteria called prohibited and permissible by sending prophets and books. Then, in order to test humans who He gave intellect, understanding, and self-control capacity, He left them alone with their choice between these two paths.
In a verse it is said:
“And shown him the two paths?” (Al-Balad; 90:10)
However, also, with the deception of Satan, the carnal self of humans tend towards the prohibited rather than the permissible. The prohibited and unacceptable seem to him as more beautiful and attractive. The carnal self dislikes the difficulties of worships, good deeds, and charities. It tends towards things that come easy such as, leisure, entertainment, and personal benefits. These are called the passions and desires.
Desire (hawa) has meanings such as wants, passion, tendency, descending just like that of a falcon, fall, be destroyed, that a cup is empty, fruitless, and valueless. It is used to mean more for the tendency of the carnal self towards the bad desires prohibited by the intellect and religion; and also for deviating from the honesty, truth, and virtue and tending towards pleasure and personal benefits. So, staying away from passion and desires is one of the most important attributes of a believer. This is because such desires are the catastrophe of the intellect.
Even if a person advances to the highest levels of sainthood, he is still face to face with the tricks, whispers (causing baseless anxiety), and traps of the worldly attractions, carnal self, and Satan. As a matter of fact, the value of being a servant to Allah is becoming a pious person by defeating the attractive deceptions of this mortal world and as a result tending towards Allah.
Since humans came to this world for the test of servanthood to Allah, their mission is to struggle with the passions and desires of the carnal self until the moment of death and to direct it towards worship and good deeds.
However, the struggle with the desires of the carnal self is not an easy matter. For this reason, it is named by the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) as “the Great Struggle (Jihad).”
According to Jabir’s (r.a.) narration, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said to the veterans returning from a difficult expedition:
“You have come in the best fashion. You have returned from the lesser jihad to the greater (or greatest) jihad.”
They asked:
“What is greater (the greatest) jihad?”
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) responded:
“It is the struggle of the slave of God with his desires.” (Baihaqi, al-Zuhd al-Kabir, p. 198/374; Suyuti, Jami, II, 73/6107)
Also, the Prophet has praised those who struggle against their desires and passions as:
“(The true) mujahid is the person who struggles against his carnal self.” (Tirmidhi, Fadail al-Jihad, 2/1621; Ahmad, VI, 20)
This is because while military jihad is obligatory on the community in general (fard kifayah), jihad with the carnal self is obligatory on everyone.
Ibrahim b. Adham said:
“The most intense jihad is the one with desires. Whoever denies his carnal self and his desires finds refuge from the world and its troubles. He will be protected from its torment and problems and have achieved peace.” (Abu Nuaym, Hilya, VIII, 18)
Almighty Allah has informed us repeatedly with the strongest type of vows that those who discipline their carnal self and improve it with piety and those who enlighten it will achieve the true salvation. (Al-Shams; 91:1-9)
Disciplining the self is to purify it from spiritual blemishes such as disbelief, ignorance, evil feelings, false beliefs, bad habits, and desires and passions.
Those deceptive people who do not protect their carnal selves and lower it and bury it to darkness will be truly harmed and sorry by causing their soul to spoil. Following several vows Almighty Allah took one after another, He has informed us about this matter. (Al-Shams; 91:1-10)
This is because, an undisciplined carnal self left alone and free will cause its owner to deviate by being buried in unlimited lust and desire, and it drags him to catastrophe both in this world and in the Hereafter.
A person who follows the desires of his carnal self is a foolish and weak person. His carnal self both causes him to make mistakes and gives him false hopes that he can be saved in the Hereafter. On the other hand, the weak person who follows his desires somehow never wants to understand that there could be no such thing as both rebelling to Allah in this world and entering into Paradise in the Hereafter. He falsely consoles himself that his heart is pure and that Allah will treat him with mercy. We take these from the following noble hadith of the Prophet (pbuh):
“Smart person is the one who has disciplined his carnal self and who works for the life after death. Weak person is the one who subjects his carnal self to his desires and keeps on asking from Allah (and sees this as sufficient).” (Tirmidhi, Qiyamah 25/2459. Also see Ibn Majah, Zuhd 31; Ahmad, IV, 124; Hakim, IV, 251)
When a person obeys the desires of his carnal self, he moves away from purifying his soul with virtuous things and gives it to evil deeds and bad manners. Finally, he buries his soul in material by rotting it with bestial purposes and evil and dark feelings and hence makes it deserve to be thrown into hellfire.
For this reason, the friends of Allah have seen the passions and desires of the carnal self as one of the biggest dangers for their spiritual and moral lives. This is because the Prophet has mentioned “the desire that is followed” among the things that cause distraction. (Munawi, Faid al-Qadir, III, 404/3471)
Mujahid, one of the great scholars of the Successors, said as follows:
“I am not sure which one of these two favors of Allah is greater: that He led me to the true path of Islam or that He protected me from the desires of my carnal self” (Darimi, Muqaddima, 30)
Also, Harith al-Muhasibi says:
“Whatever comes to you from Satan, who is your enemy, comes via the desires of your carnal self.” (al-Riaya, p. 325)
One needs to be extremely alert and careful against the passions and desires of the carnal self. Otherwise, a person can be deceived, tricked by it, and falls into one of its countless traps.
Some of the warnings of Mawlana Jalaladdin Rumi in his Mathnawi are as follows:
“A person with a carnal soul is like Pharaoh, and his body is his Moses: he keeps running (to and fro) outside, asking, “Where is my enemy? His fleshly soul (is) luxuriating in the house, which is his body, (while) he gnaws his hand in rancour against some one else.” (Mathnawi, II, v. 774-75)
“O son, if you seek (to know) the form of the self, read the story of Hell with its seven gates.” (Mathnawi, I, v. 779)
“What you call carnal soul is a triagonal thorn: however you may place it, it will pierce, and how will you escape from its stab? Set the thorn on fire with renunciation of sensual passion, and cling to the righteous friend.” (Mathnawi, III, v. 375-76)
“The scoundrel carnal self tries to lead you to a worldly gain. For how long will you continue to busy yourself with such temporary worldly gain? Enough already that you have spent so much time on it.”
“Even though the carnal self gives you fresh promises about goodness and righteousness he violates those promises and repentances thousands of times. Even if life gives you a term of a thousand years, your carnal self will find a new excuse every day.” (Mathnawi, II, v. 2279-80)
“If that scoundrel carnal self asks from you righteous deeds that are noble and sacred that is, deeds that will provide you with spiritual benefits, do not be deceived! Behind this demand, there would be a trick of that enemy carnal self.” (Mathnawi, II, v. 2274)
“The fleshly soul hath glorification of God (on its tongue), and the Qur’an in its right hand; (but) in its sleeve (it hath) dagger and sword.” (Mathnawi, III, v. 2554)
“Be careful! You have ridden in chase of a deer and have made yourself the prey of a hog! In other words, you become a slave to your carnal self while you are trying to walk in the path of Allah.” (Mathnawi, VI, v. 3684)
“All people except those who got drunk with the love of Allah are like children. None except those who have freed themselves from passions and desires have reached the age of adolescence.”
“You, O prayerless man, have put the polisher of the heart (or Reason) in bonds and have loosed the two hands of passions and desires. If bonds be put on sensuality, the hand of the polisher (Reason) will be untied. A piece of iron that became a mirror of the Unseen – all the forms (of the Unseen) would be shot into it.” (Mathnawi, VI, v. 2476-78)
As it is repeatedly expressed by the friends of Allah, passions and desires are the worst traps of Satan. The people who are drifted by them do not usually even understand that they are in error. They get consumed in them so much that they never even think of asking for forgiveness for their sins and turning to Allah.
Imam Awzai narrates:
Satan, the leader of the devils, said to his friends:
“From which way do you approach the Sons of Adam and deceive them?”
They said:
“We approach them from all sides with all things.”
Upon this, Satan asked:
“All right, can you approach them through the path of asking for forgiveness?”
They said:
“Alas! Unfortunately, that is too difficult.” Asking for forgiveness is done together with the word of acknowledging the oneness of God (la ilaha illallah).”
Satan said:
“I will spread such a thing among them that they will not ask for forgiveness for it!” and spread the passions and desires (of the carnal self) among people. (Darimi, Muqaddima, 30)
People who disregard the divine warnings and follow Satan and the desires which are attractive and pleasing to the carnal self will face the torment of Hell after briefly enjoying the worldly pleasures. This is because they have willingly and knowingly fallen into the trap of the carnal soul expressed in our first hadith.
As a requirement of the divine test, passions and desires are spread to the paths to Hell. Those who run after them will at the end see that Malik, the gate keeper of Hell, is waiting for them. The road to Heaven, on the other hand, is full of things that are considered as thorns and obstacles by the carnal self. In order to walk through that road, one needs to perform the acts of worship, live in accordance with the virtues, and make sacrifices that the carnal self does not like at all. The human carnal self, on the other hand, does not want to endure these difficulties. However, the real bliss is to endure those temporary difficulties and open those curtains. Indeed, struggle and fight with the carnal self step in right there.
If the carnal self is left alone, it follows the things that it likes without thinking where they end. However, one should never forget that “poison is presented in a golden cup.” Those who act only by looking at the outside appearance of things will eventually face their miserable end. Those who sweetly scratch a wound on their body will soon notice that it turns into a large one which gives them a lot of pain.
The statement in our hadith “Hell is surrounded by the wants and lustful desires of the carnal self” shows that the drifting of people to Hell is mostly the result of their following the passions and desires of their carnal self. Since carnal self tends towards lustful desires, Gabriel (pbuh) states his fears in our second hadith that a great majority of humans will be drifted to Hell.
The expression in the hadith that “Heaven is surrounded by difficulties” states that entering there is possible only by following Allah’s commands, staying away from His prohibitions, resisting the passions and desires of the carnal self, and enduring all the difficulties that will be faced in this path.
Since it is not the easy to conduct all of these fully and correctly, Gabriel (pbuh) has feared that humans will not be able to enter there.
The commands and prohibitions of Allah are difficult for the carnal self but they are like capital for the eternal bliss to the soul. Indeed, Abdurrahman b. Awf (r.a.) says:
“Islam has brought commands that were not pleasing to the carnal self. We found the best of the best in these difficult commands that our carnal selves disliked. For example, we had emigrated by exiting Mecca with the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). With the emigration that was hard on our carnal souls, superiority and victory were granted to us (the paths of victory were opened).
Again, we unwillingly went to Badr accompanying the Messenger of Allah thinking that we were almost being driven to death. Allah the Exalted describes our situation at that moment as follows:
“Just as your Lord ordered you out of your house in truth, even though a party among the Believers disliked it, disputing with you concerning the truth after it was made manifest, as if they were being driven to death and they (actually) saw it.” (Al-Anfal; 8:5-6)
At the end, Almighty Allah favored us with dominance and victory in Badr.
In short, we always reached the best favors thanks to the commands that were difficult upon our carnal self. (Haythami, VII, 26-27)
Almighty Allah gives the following glad tidings to his servants who leave their desires and live a pious life:
“And for such as had entertained the fear of standing before their Lord’s (tribunal) and had restrained (their) soul from lower desires, their abode will be the Garden.” (An-Naziat; 79:40-41)
With his deep mercy to his followers, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) warned them in order to to save them from Hell and go to Heaven. Indeed, in our third hadith, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) states that the greatest of worries that he has for his nation are passions and desires.
It is definite that a person who does not struggle with his carnal self and agrees with all of its desires will eventually turn to wrong paths. This is because desires are the greatest reasons for falling into heresy according to the Noble Qur’an. Almighty Allah commands the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) as follows:
“Say: “I am forbidden to worship those – others than Allah – whom you call upon.” Say: “I will not follow your wain desires: If I did, I would stray from the path, and be not of the company of those who receive guidance.” (Al-An‘am; 6:56)
In another verse, it is stated that none are more astray than those who follow their own desires:
“But if they hearken not to you, know that they only follow their own lusts: and who is more astray than one who follow his own lusts, devoid of guidance from Allah for Allah guides not people given to wrong-doing.” (Qasas; 28:50)
This is because either the person will obey the commands of Allah or follow the desires of the carnal self. Doing them simultaneously is impossible. How nicely the poet expresses this:
With two qibla one cannot go straight on the path of tawhid,
Either the consent of the Friend or the desires of the carnal self will prevail.
It is not possible to get the carnal self fully satisfied and leave wrongdoings by itself. As one allows it to taste its desires, it asks for more and greater. How nicely Mawlana Jalaladdin Rumi describes this:
“Fiery lust is not diminished by indulging it: it is diminished, without any escape (inevitably), by leaving it (ungratified). So long as thou art laying faggots on a fire, how will the fire be extinguished by a carrier of faggots?” (Mathnawi, I, 3703-4)
In time, the rampant carnal self asks for so many things that if they are done, neither the individual’s, nor the societies’, nor the universe’s order can stand. This is because the carnal soul always thinks of the pleasuring and entertaining aspects of things and never bothers with whether it is right or wrong.
Almighty Allah speaks as follows:
“If the Truth had been in accord with their desires, truly the heavens and the earth, and all beings therein would have been in confusion and corruption! Nay, We have sent them their admonition, but they turn away from their admonition.” (Al-Muminun; 23:71)
It would also be appropriate here to point out the grave danger of the people who would like to understand and interpret the Qur’an according to their own desires.
Those who follow their passion and desires fall into the great heresy of prioritizing their desires before all and adopting them as their gods. While they hold onto none of Allah’s commands, they want to realize all kinds of passions and desires that they have. Almighty Allah criticizes such people with a heavy style and speaks as follows:
“Do you see such the one as takes for his god his own passion (or impulse)? Could you be a disposer of affairs for him? Or do you think thou that most of them listen or understand? They are only like cattle; nay, they are worse astray in Path.” (Al-Furqan; 25:43-44, Al-Jasiyah; 45:23)
Those who follow their desires pretend not to have heard the verses of Allah and do not take lessons from the signs of His power in this universe. Since their carnal selves are pleased by swimming in heedlessness, they never want to wake up. Since they do all these even though they are bestowed with intellect and they know the truth, they fall into lower levels than animals. (Al-Araf; 7:179; (Al-Furqan; 25:43-44)
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) expresses as follows how great an evil it is to adopt desires as deity;
“According to Allah, there is no more serious and worse false deity among the deities that are worshipped under the sky than the desires that are followed.” (Haythami, I, 188)
A person conducts all the sins and wrongdoings when he follows the desires of the carnal self. So, there is not any person worse than the one who follows his passions and desires as if he adopts them as deity. In a noble hadith, the wrongdoings that leaving the Qur’an and Sunnah (the traditions of the Prophet) and following the desires bring and the evilness of the people who commşt them are listed as follows:
“How bad is a slave of Allah who forgets Allah the Greatest and the Most Exalted by drifting in empty dreams and boasting! How bad is a slave who is tyrant and violates others’ rights by forgetting Allah the Compeller! How bad is a slave who laughs and plays in heedlessness and forgets the decay in graves! How bad is a slave who goes excessive and rampant and forgets his beginning and end. How bad is a slave who looks religious and deceives people and runs after worldly benefits! How bad is a slave who corrupts his religion with doubtful things! How bad is a slave who is drifted to rebellious acts due to his greed and ambition! How bad is a slave who falls into despicableness due to his excessive desires and wants towards worldly wealth!” (Tirmidhi, Qiyamah, 17/2448; Hakim, IV, 351/7885; Haythami, X, 234)
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) also expressed that he is distant from those following their desires, and they are also distant from him. (Haythami, VII, 22)
When it is carefully analyzed, it can be inferred from the hadith that all of the attributes listed here emerge due to being subject of one’s desires. For this reason, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) was worried about his followers who were the subjects of their desires and he said:
“For my followers, I am most worried that they listen to their carnal desires.” (See Haythami, I, 187; Suyuti, I, 12)
In various verses of the Noble Qur’an, following those who are subjects of their desires is also strictly forbidden. That is because acting this way drags one to disaster as well. The thing that Muslims should do is to act upon knowledge rather than accepting the leadership of those who are the followers of their own desires. Since the source of knowledge is divine revelations, revelation and human desires are contradictory and opposite of each other. It is expressed in a noble verse:
“Never will the Jews or the Christians be satisfied with you unless thou follow their form of religion. Say: “The Guidance of Allah, that is the (only) Guidance.” Were you to follow their desires after the knowledge which has reached you, then would you find neither Protector nor helper against Allah.” (Al-Baqarah; 2:120)
“Say: “O people of the Book! exceed not in your religion the bounds (of what is proper), trespassing beyond the truth, nor follow the vain desires of people who went wrong in times gone by, who misled many, and strayed (themselves) from the even way.” (Al-Maidah; 5:77)
For this reason, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) advised us to take refuge in Allah often from the evils of the carnal self. In our forth hadith, when one of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) asked “How should we pray in the morning, evening, and when we go to sleep?” he taught them a prayer and first of all said “We take refuge in You my Lord from the evils of our carnal selves.”
Again the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said in one of his sermon prayers:
“We take refuge from the evils within ourselves.” (Abu Dawud, Kitab Al-Nikah, 31-32/2118; Tirmidhi, Kitab Al-Nikah, 17/1105; Nasai, Jum’a, 14)
The Messenger of Allah said to Husain, one of his Companions:
“If you convert to Islam, I will teach you two benefitial sentences” and after he became Muslim, he taught him the following prayer:
“O Lord, show me the best and most true one and protect me from the evils of my carnal self!” (Tirmidhi, Daawat, 69/3483)
Therefore, the era of the Messenger of Allah became a time period in which people stayed away from the fancies and desires of the carnal self. Ibn Mas’ud (r.a.) compared that exemplary era and following ones and warned someone saying:
“You live in a time period when canonists (of Islamic jurisprudence) are many and ignorant readers are few, when more weight is given to the judgments of the Qur’an than its recitation, when people who ask for something are few and people who give are many, when the prayers are performed long and sermons are kept short, and when good deeds are preferred over wants and desires. There will be a time period when canonists will be few and ignorant readers will be many, people will pay attention to the recitation of the letters and the words of the Qur’an but will not pay attention to practicing the commands in the Qur’an, there will be many people who will ask for something but few people who will give, they will keep the performance of the prayer short but the sermon long, and their wants and desires will be preferred over their good deeds.” (Muwatta, Qasr al-Salat, 88; Bukhari, al-Adab al-mufrad, no: 789)
May Our Almighty Lord protect us from the evils of our carnal selves and from being the slaves of their wishes and desires! May Allah make us among His servants who abandon his desires and look for the content of the Friend!
Amin!.
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