Internal Purification and Islamic Spirituality The Forgotten Path

Islamic Spirituality - The Forgotten Path

 

A lecture delivered by Maulana Imran Nazar Hosein

at the Maulana Abd al-Aleem  Siddiqui Masjid, Singapore

In order for the heart to accommodate the truth, the heart must now be cleansed and purified. This is called, Tazkiyah  or internal purification. After the heart has been purified and the heart is turned to Allah ﷻ then Allah ﷻ will put nur into the heart. Now you can see what other wise you could never see. The 24th  Sura, an-Nur  [The  Light],  verse  35 is the most important verse  of the Holy Qur’aan teaching  us the methodology for spiritual growth. Teaching  us the way through which we can learn to see with the internal eye when we are spiritually mobilized.

Allah  is the Light of the heavens and the earth.

The example by which you could understand His light is that of a niche in the wall where you used to put a lamp before the electricity came.

In that niche in the wall there is a lamp. Abdullah ibn Abbas Radiyallahu anhu said that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said that that mishkaat or niche is not in the wall. Its here in the chest and in that space within the chest there is a lamp. I can’t do it now but when you teach this lesson, you turn off the lights and you light an oil lamp. All the children will look at the lamp and they will never forget that lesson for the rest of their lives. This is the way to teach it.

The lamp has a glass around it.

The glass is so spotlessly clean that it glitters like a shining star.

So the process of internal purification is to look to see the stains on the glass within your own heart and start to cleanse them, purify them and wash them out. The process of washing away the stains on the glass is first of all to recognize that we have committed sin. Secondly, to turn away from the sin; this is called tauba. When you turn you must turn with sincerity. Don’t turn in the day and turn back at night. [The 66th Sura, at-Tahreem (the Prohibition, verse 8]:

Turn away from the sin. Turn to Allah and do it with sincerity

Having turned away from this sin, there must be regret in your heart for what you did. [Nafsul lawwama  reproaching]:  ‘How could I ever  have  done that?  I am ashamed of myself. O My Lord! Kindly put a cover over the sins I have committed because I am ashamed of them.’ Weep for the things you did yesterday. Now you must commit yourself, never again to return to them. When you give your word, keep it. Then one last thing remains. You must spend the rest of your life teaching others, helping others, guiding others, warning others, that they do not walk on that path of sin. If you do that, then Allah ﷻ is prepared to forgive all sins. He wipes it away and the glass becomes clean. Sometimes we think the stain is gone, like in the case of lust. In fact it is not gone and still more work remains. How will I know that the stain remains? Dreams! In my dream I will commit the sin again. So that dream is telling me that the stain is still there so go back and wash. After the  glass  has been cleaned  and the  stains  have  been removed  then the  Holy Prophet ﷺ said that these hearts they catch rust. The dust accumulates.  So in addition to cleaning you also have to keep on constantly polishing. What is the polish for the glass? The Holy Prophet ﷺ   said the polish is zikr.

Source:  Islamic Spirituality - TheForgotten Path

 to be continued  . . . .