The Prophet Salallahu Alayhe Wasallam has said: “Verily, the most High Allah created the angels and set reason in them, and then he created the beasts and set lust in them, and then he created the sons of Adam (AS) and set in them reason and lust: and he whose reason prevails over his lust is higher than the angels, and he whose lust prevails over his reason is lower than the beast.” Mathnawi
With the name of Allah, most Beneficient, ever Merciful
The first class of creation is spiritual or angelic in nature. They have reason and knowledge and they do nothing else but prostrate to Allah SWT. They do not have lust or sensuality. They are made from light and they do not strive for their sustenance but gain their sustenance from the love of Allah.
The second class is the complete opposite of the first. They have no knowledge. These are the animals and they live just to eat. They do not bother about what is going to happen tomorrow or they do not worry about what someone else thinks of them. They simply live to eat.
The third class, humanity, has a very complex nature because it has both the spiritual and beastly natures in them. Both these natures are conflicting. When a man uses his reason to gratify his carnal nature then he becomes worse than an animal because this develops characteristics such as jealousy and excessive greed which leads to hoarding, stealing, unfair business practices, monopoly and even wars.
When a man restrains his carnal desires then he struggles and undergoes trials and tribulations. When he finally overcomes his baser desires or animal desires, he becomes angelic. He does not just possess angelic qualities but also understands them. He has worked towards and earned this state and he is therefore higher than the angels who have this state without having to strive for it.
“We have created man in the best of moulds, then do We abase him to be the lowest of the low except such as believe and do righteous deeds:….” 95:5.
Hazrath Ali (RA) was known as “Sher e Kuda” (The lion of Allah) and he was known to have a double edged sword called the “Zulfikaar.” With one edge of the sword he would mow down the enemies of Allah and with the other edge he would mow down his passions and desires (Nafs).
Once, in battle he brought down his enemy and was on the verge of ending his life when the enemy spat on his face. Hazrath Ali (RA) immediately withdrew his sword and got off the man’s chest.
In a split second he withdrew the one edge of his sword that was in the process of delivering the death blow and swiftly used the other edge instead to strike at his most dangerous and vicious enemy ie. his pride, anger and passion.
When the man inquired as to why he did not kill him, Hazrath Ali (RA) replied that I was not sure whether I would kill you for the sake of Allah or kill you because you angered me by spitting on my face.
If I killed you for Allah it would be fine, but if I killed you because you spat on me then I would do myself a great disservice.
Once, as the Prophet Salallahu Alayhe Wasallam was returning from the battlefield, he commented: we were involved in the smaller battle and now we return to the greater battle. He also said: “The most excellent Jihad is the conquest of the self” Bukhari.
Within each and every one of us the battle of reason and lust or good and evil rages on endlessly. Our nafs would always make evil suggestions and it is up to us to fight these urges. He also said: “Pondering for an hour is better than divine service for a year.” Al Hadith chpt. on pondering (ibn Habban).
He even went to the extent of saying: None of you (truly) believes until he makes his passion follow what I have been commissioned with. Al Hadith
We, the Muslims of today, are very materialistic people and we are using our intellect and knowledge for this purpose only.
“The mutual rivalry for piling up (the good things of this world) diverts you (from the more serious things) until you visit the graves.” 102:1
Allah Taalah has blessed us with guidance in the form of The Prophet Salallahu Alayhe Wasallam and the Holy Quraan which encourages us time and time again to use our sense of reason, not to gain the material things of this life but to ponder over the purpose of our lives and to strive to purify our souls.
The life of this world is worse than “mampara’s gold” which is worth nothing. This is like the bait that is in the trap and if you go for the bait then you will be caught in the trap. “And what is the life of this world but goods and chattels of deception” 57:20.
Look at an old man or woman and consider that your youth does not last forever, soon you would become old and sickly like them, you would forget all that you painstakingly learnt, soon you would not be able to enjoy the food you so much enjoyed because you would not have teeth and soon you would visit the grave to return to dust. All the material things that we have strived for would be left to others.
Unlike the body that is destined to perish, the soul does not perish. It will continue to exist. Moulana Rumi (RA) says: from inorganic lifeless material we became vegetables and from vegetables we became animals and from animals we have become man and from man we would become angelic.
Just as a fetus in a womb does not know about the world that it is to be born into, we do not know how our life would be after our soul is freed from this body. Allah taalah has also blessed us with reason and understanding. Instead of using it solely to gain the fleeting comforts of this world we must use our faculties to understand ourselves and to fathom the purpose of life. Instead of spending our entire lives studying secular education we need to spend a part of it learning about our souls and learning how to restrain our baser desires.
“By the soul and the order and proportion given to it, and its inspiration as to its wrong and its right: truly he succeeds that purifies it, and he fails that corrupts it.” 91:7
Study Tasawwuf and you would come across concepts such as Nasooth (worldly), Malikooth (angelic), Lahooth and jabrooth. These are all stages in the development of the human soul and this can only be experienced under the guidance of a True Pir O murshid.
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Peace and Salutations be upon Muhammad Salallahu Alayhe Wasallam.
Published by Anjuman e Waris e Mohammedi in 2011
Anjuman e Waris e Mohammedi was founded by Dr/Hakim Hazrath Khwaja Sayed Shareef Ahmed Ali Shah RA, (lovingly known as Hazrath Poona Wale Shah Saib RA).
Author: Mahomed Hassan Gaffoor
His WhatsApp: +27 84 910 1486