Blog

Al-Miqdad ibn Amr ibn Tha’labah رضي الله عنه, before he was born, his father had committed a crime. He murdered someone, then fled fearing that he would be punished. He escaped to Hadramaut, where he stayed for some time, married a woman from Hadramaut, and had a son. That son was named Al-Miqdad.

Al-Miqdad was very dark in complexion and had a very hot-blooded, temperamental nature. As he grew older, he became involved in several disputes with people in Hadramaut. During one of these arguments, he struck an elderly man with his sword, cutting part of his leg.

Just like his father before him, Al-Miqdad fled Hadramaut and made his way to Makkah al-Mukarramah.

In Makkah, Al-Miqdad ibn Amr made an agreement with one of the respected men of Quraysh named Al-Aswad ibn Abd Yaghuth. They became so close that one day Al-Aswad publicly declared:

“This young man is my son from today. When I die, he will inherit from me, and if he dies, I will inherit from him.”

From that day onward, many people began calling him Al-Miqdad ibn Al-Aswad.

During that period, Al-Miqdad began hearing from fortune-tellers that the time had come for a messenger to appear in Makkah. He hoped to meet that messenger one day.

When he heard about Muhammad ﷺ, he immediately knew:

“This has to be the man.”

Al-Miqdad ibn Al-Aswad became one of the first ten people to accept Islam.

Like the early Muslims, he immediately faced persecution.

When the Prophet ﷺ made the Hijrah, Al-Miqdad was initially unable to migrate because of the persecution. Later, he carefully planned his escape and eventually made the Hijrah, just as Suhayb ibn Sinan رضي الله عنه had done.

When he arrived in Madinah Munawwarah, the Prophet ﷺ was extremely pleased with him because Al-Miqdad showed a deep eagerness to learn the religion. The Prophet ﷺ was delighted with him and allowed him to remain among those who stayed close to him.

Later, Al-Miqdad wanted to get married.

Abdur Rahman ibn Awf رضي الله عنه asked him,

“Why don’t you get married?”

Al-Miqdad replied,

“Why don’t you marry me to your daughter?”

Abdur Rahman ibn Awf رضي الله عنه declined, saying that he could not marry his daughter to him.

Al-Miqdad was upset and went to the Prophet ﷺ to mention what had happened.

The Prophet ﷺ then said to him,

“Wouldn’t you like me to become one of your in-laws?”

Al-Miqdad replied,

“Yes, O Messenger of Allah, why not?”

The Prophet ﷺ then married him to his cousin Duba’ah bint Az-Zubayr ibn Abdul Muttalib رضي الله عنها.

Al-Miqdad was overjoyed and would often say,

“No one was willing to marry me into their family, but Muhammad ﷺ married me to his own cousin. Now I have become part of his family through marriage.”

During the Battle of Badr, Al-Miqdad رضي الله عنه stood before the Prophet ﷺ and said:

“O Muhammad ﷺ, we will never say to you what the people of the Book said to Prophet Musa عليه السلام: ‘Go, you and your Lord, and fight. We are sitting here.’

Instead, we say to you: Go forward, and we are with you. Even if you command us to follow you across the sea, we will follow you into it.

There is nothing you command us today except that we will obey.”

His powerful words inspired all of the Companions, and the Prophet ﷺ was greatly pleased.

The Muslims then marched forward to the Battle of Badr, where Allah granted them victory.

Al-Miqdad رضي الله عنه passed away in 33 AH. Some narrations mention that he was killed by one of his own servants.

He was approximately 73 years old.

He passed away in an area called Al-Jurf, on the outskirts of Madinah Munawwarah, and was buried in Al-Baqi’.

■ What is the Nafs-ammarah and how does it take different shapes and show its bad nature in our daily life?

Bismillah Irehman Niraheem

First of all, we need to understand what Nafs-ammarah means. In Sufism, Nafs is our inner self, and ammarah means that which keeps ordering and commanding us to do evil things. So Nafs-ammarah is the bad part of our inner self that only loves evil and only tells us to do wrong actions. It does not tell us to do good; it only pushes us toward sins, bad behavior, and disobedience to Allah. This is clearly mentioned in the holy Quran in Surah Yusuf, verse 53, where Prophet Yusuf says:

إنَّ النَّفْسَ لَأَمَّارَةٌ بِالسُّوءِ إِلَّا مَا رَحِمَ رَبِّي

“Indeed the Nafs always commands evil, except when my Lord shows mercy on me.”

So this verse proves that the Nafs-ammarah is naturally inclined toward badness, and only Allah’s special mercy can save us from its harm.

Now, it is important to know that people from every religion and every community in the world are aware of these bad qualities of the Nafs. They all know that this inner self causes trouble, so they try to control it and purify it according to their own ways and traditions. They all spend their time in different practices to fight against their Nafs and improve their character.

For example, the Hindu yogis put their bodies through all kinds of sufferings and hardships for many, many years. They sit in very difficult positions, they stop eating for long times, they stand on one leg, they lie on beds of sharp nails, and they torture their physical bodies. According to their Vedanta philosophy, when they correct their Nafs in this extreme way, they believe they gain special powers. They think they can fly in the air like birds, walk on water without sinking, and even pass through solid glass or walls without breaking them. So they believe that by crushing their bodies, they can make their Nafs obey them.

On the other hand, the Christian monks and hermits leave their homes and families and go far away into deep jungles and lonely mountains. They live in caves and small huts away from all people. They do this because they want to kill their Nafs. They give their bodies very hard work, they eat very little, they stay awake all night praying, and they wear rough and uncomfortable clothes. They think that by making the body weak, the spirit will become strong and take over the Nafs. When this happens, they start to experience what we call Kashf and Karamaat in Sufism – which means they start seeing hidden things and performing wonderous acts that seem like miracles, and people begin to respect them for these special gifts.

But here is a very deep and important point about Nafs-ammarah that many people do not know. This bad inner self does not just stay hidden inside us; it actually shows itself in different shapes and forms inside our Batin, which is our inner hidden world of dreams. The Nafs takes the shape of different animals inside us, and the shape it takes tells us what kind of bad nature we have.

For some people, their Nafs appears in the shape of a snake. Such a person’s inner self is like a poisonous snake that keeps biting everyone around them with their sharp tongue and hurtful words. They harm others with their speech and spread poison in their relationships.

For other people, their Nafs is like a wolf. Just like a wolf attacks and tears apart its prey, this kind of person has a fierce and aggressive nature. They want to destroy others, they are cruel and violent, and they enjoy tearing down other people’s reputations and feelings.

For some, their Nafs looks like a fox. The fox is very cunning and tricky. So these people are always making clever plans to cheat others. They lie, they deceive, and they use their intelligence to trap people in their schemes.

For another group, their Nafs is like a jackal. The jackal is known for being fearful and cowardly. So these people are always scared, they have no courage, they run away from small difficulties, and they cannot stand up for what is right because they are too afraid.

For some people, their Nafs is like a bear. The bear is very heavy and full of strong physical desires, especially for food and for sexual lust. So these people are ruled by their stomach and their private parts; they cannot control their cravings and they keep chasing after physical pleasures all the time.

And for yet others, their Nafs behaves like a dog. A dog is always greedy and never satisfied; it keeps looking for more food and more things to grab. So these people are extremely greedy; they want more money, more property, more of everything, and they are never happy with what they already have.

This is exactly what Allah says in the Quran in Surah Al-A’raf, verse 179:

اولئِكَ كَالْأَنْعَامِ بَلْ هُمْ أَضَلُّ

“They are like cattle, rather they are even more lost and misguided than cattle.”

So when a person lets their Nafs take over completely, they become like animals or even worse than animals because animals act on instinct without thinking, but humans have a mind and still choose to act like beasts.

Now we must also understand that this bad Nafs has a very difficult and tricky nature. It changes its behavior depending on what situation we are in. For example, if we keep our Nafs hungry – if we do not feed it with food, luxury, and comfort – then it becomes very ungrateful. It starts to complain loudly, it panics, it cries, and it shouts in fear and impatience.

It says, “Why am I suffering? Why am I not getting what I want?”

It becomes restless and full of Jaz’ which is panic, and Faza’ which is extreme fear and screaming.

But on the other hand, if we fill our Nafs with too much food and we make it completely full and satisfied, then it behaves like a donkey. A donkey that has eaten well starts to bray loudly and act in a silly, arrogant, and playful way. In the same way, a person whose Nafs is overfed becomes foolishly proud, they become careless, they start making loud jokes, they waste time in silly entertainment, and they forget all seriousness and worship.

Then think about what happens if this Nafs gets a position of power and authority, like becoming a ruler, a boss, or a leader. In that case, it turns into Pharaoh – the famous tyrant king who was very cruel and proud. The person starts to oppress others, they bully the weak, they think they are above everyone else, and they do not care about justice or mercy.

And if this Nafs gets a lot of wealth and money, then it becomes like Qaroon – the very rich man who was so miserly and stingy. Such a person does not want to spend even a little bit for charity, they hoard their gold and silver, they refuse to help the poor, and they love their money more than anything else.

Worse than all this, the Nafs is also an expert in showing off and pretending to be good i.e Riya. It takes on many different fake masks and forms. It does not always appear as an obvious sinner. Sometimes it appears as a very Islamic religious person. So the Nafs might pretend to be a great Islamic scholar, a very pious worshipper, a wise judge, a humble saint, a respected Islamic teacher, or even a famous Islamic Sufi. It wears the clothes of Islamic religion to trick us.

This is why Sultan-ul-Faqr Shaykh Sultan Bahoo, who is the king of the knowers of Allah and a great Aulia Allah said a very deep and powerful statement.

He called out to the Nafs and said:

“O you who pretend to be a scholar! O you who pretend to be an ascetic and worshipper! O you who pretend to be a mufti who gives religious rulings! O you who pretend to be a very pious and pure person! O you who show off your goodness to others! O you who act like the master of the prayer rug and the leader of the Sufi lodge! O you who act like a true Sufi! O you who act like a poor and humble dervish! O you who even pretend to be the Sultan of the Arifeen itself!”

He said all of these things to show us that the Nafs can disguise itself in any holy dress and fool us into thinking we are very spiritual, while inside we are still full of pride, show-off, and other bad habits.

So, my dear reader, the whole point of this teaching is to open our eyes. We must never trust our Nafs completely, because it is a great deceiver. It can be a snake, a wolf, a fox, a jackal, a bear, or a dog inside us. It complains when it is hungry, it gets silly when it is full, it becomes tyrannical with power, it becomes miserly with money, and it wears the mask of piety to impress people.

The only way to save ourselves is to constantly check our intentions daily, ask Allah in Tahajjud time for mercy, and work on correcting these bad habits without hurting our bodies, but with gentle and steady effort in our everyday lives.

■ The 5 Senses and Their Connection to the Self (Nafs)

Bismillah Irehman Niraheem

Now we need to understand about the five external senses. These are seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching. These five senses work for the self, which is called Nafs in Arabic. The self uses these five senses to get four types of pleasures.

The First Pleasure – Eating and Drinking

The self finds great pleasure in eating and drinking delicious food and drinks. This is a very basic desire that all humans have.

The Second Pleasure – Intimacy Desires

The self finds pleasure in fulfilling physical and intimacy desires. This is another strong desire that the self has.

The Third Pleasure – Power and Authority

The self finds pleasure in having power, ruling over others, being in charge, and having authority. This is the pleasure of leadership and control.

The Fourth Pleasure – Knowledge

The self also finds pleasure in gaining knowledge. This may seem surprising but even the desire for knowledge can come from the ego. A person may want to be seen as knowledgeable or to show off his learning.

All of these pleasures come from the lower self, which is called Nafs al-Ammara. This is the self that commands evil and bad things.

إِنَّ النَّفْسَ لَأَمَّارَةِ بِالسُّوءِ إِلَّا مَا رَحِمَ رَبِّي

Prophet Yusuf said in the Quran, “Indeed the self commands evil, except when my Lord has mercy on me.”

This means that the lower self, by its nature, always tells a person to do bad and evil things. It wants to make a person sin and disobey Allah. The only way a person can escape the evil commands of this lower self is through the mercy of Allah.
The lower self is like a bad friend who always tells you to do wrong things. It says “Eat too much, sleep too much, be lazy, be angry, be proud, be greedy.” This bad friend never wants good for you. But if Allah’s mercy comes to you, then you can control this bad friend and make him good.

How the Lower Self Becomes the Peaceful Self (Nafs al-Mutmainnah) ?

When a person works hard to purify his self, which is called Tazkiyah-e-Nafs, the lower self gradually changes and becomes the peaceful and content self, which is called Nafs al-Mutmainnah. This is the self that is at peace and satisfied with Allah. When the self reaches this stage, it takes on a good human form and character. The whole purpose of spiritual purification is to transform the evil commanding self into the peaceful self.
All types of evil and bad qualities come from the lower self. Anger, pride, jealousy, greed, laziness, lust, showing off, and all other bad qualities are the children of the lower self.

Important Warning: There are many people in the world who seem very religious and spiritual. They may be scholars, jurists, people who pray all night, people who fast all day, people who have made the pilgrimage to Mecca, people who live in seclusion, people who are called Aulia Allah and spiritual leaders. They may be known for their piety, their knowledge, their teachings, their constant recitation of prayers, their struggle in worship, and their spiritual visions. They may be humble and poor, patient and grateful, lucky and good-natured. They may have deep love and longing for Allah.
But here is the warning: Even with all these good qualities, many of these people are still controlled by their lower self. They are still following their ego and their desires. Among all these people, very few are truly connected to Allah and truly devoted to the truth and to Allah alone. The number of true Murshid Kamil is very small.

Many Aulia Allah said that the Self is Like a King, Shaytan is Its Minister

To understand this better, think of the self as a king who sits on a throne. Shaytan is like the minister or the advisor to this king. The world, which is called Dunya, is like the mother that feeds and raises this king. The self, Shaytan, and the world all work together to keep a person away from Allah.

When a person’s heart is full of the love and attachment to the world, that heart becomes a place where Shaytan sits. Such a person’s end will be like what Allah says in the Quran about those who rebel and prefer this worldly life over the Hereafter. Their final home will be hellfire.
When a person’s heart becomes a place where Shaytan sits, four evil spirits are appointed to attack that heart.

The First Evil Spirit – Khannas

Khannas is the one who whispers evil thoughts and then retreats. He comes back again and again. He is like a thief who keeps trying to enter the house.

The Second Evil Spirit – Khartoom

Khartoom is the one who puts bad ideas and temptations into the heart. He makes sin look attractive.

The Third Evil Spirit – Waswasah

Waswasah is the one who creates doubt, confusion, and hesitation. He makes a person doubt his faith, doubt his worship, and doubt everything.

The Fourth Evil Spirit – Khatarat

Khatarat are the passing thoughts and imaginations that come into the mind. These are random thoughts that distract a person from remembering Allah.

These four evil spirits work together to keep a person away from Allah. They are like four guards who work for the lower self.

There is a very important story that explains how Shaytan, the self, and the world all came together to destroy human beings.

When the cursed Iblees, who is Shaytan, was removed from his high position in heaven and thrown down to the lowest level, he made an agreement with both the self and the world. All three of them made a promise to each other. They all agreed to work together to bring shame and destruction to the children of Adam, meaning all human beings.

Shaytan said, “I will stop the children of Adam from obeying Allah and worshipping Him. I will turn them away from doing good deeds and make them commit sins. I will drown them in the mud of disobedience.”

The self said, “I will make them crazy for pleasures. I will make them slaves to their desires and lusts. I will make them follow their passions without any control. I will make them forget Allah and only think about themselves.”

The world said, “I will decorate myself and appear beautiful in front of them. I will attract them with my beauty and make them love me. I will make them greedy for more and more wealth, status, and things. I will trap them in my net so that they forget to remember Allah.”

So these three enemies of humanity – Shaytan, the self, and the world – all joined hands to mislead human beings and pull them away from Allah.
When the self is full and satisfied, it becomes like Pharaoh, the tyrant king. It becomes arrogant and proud. It thinks it does not need anyone, not even Allah. It says “I am the greatest” just like Pharaoh said “I am your Lord, the most high.” This is a very dangerous state.

When the self is hungry, it becomes like a mad dog that cannot think properly. It bites and attacks without control. Similarly, when a person is tempted to sin, the self acts like a mad dog that has lost all sense. When the self is in this state, it does not care about what is halal (permitted) and what is haram (forbidden). It does not think about what it is eating or saying. It has no control.

When the self is overpowered by sexual desires, it becomes completely foolish, ignorant, and unconscious. In this state, a person does not remember Allah and does not think about the consequences of his actions. He only thinks about satisfying his desire.

When the self is angry, it starts to curse and say bad words. It says things that go against the teachings of the Quran. It may say things that are abusive, hurtful, and forbidden in Islam. This is why the Prophet, peace be upon him, taught us to control our anger.

Even when the self wants to be generous and give charity, it can become like Qaroon, who was a very wealthy man but refused to spend in the way of Allah. The self makes a person hesitate and hold back. It makes the person calculate and think about himself instead of giving generously for Allah’s sake.

May Allah guide us all to the right path and give us true Murshids who can help us reach Him. Ameen.