Dear Brothers and Sisters!  

Allah (swt), who created all existence out of nothing, created man as composed of body and soul. The human being, although he was created in the most beautiful form physically, it is his spiritual structure that distinguishes him from other creatures. Allah (swt), regarding the creation process of man says; “Then He proportioned him and breathed into him from His [created] soul and made for you hearing and vision and hearts [i.e., intellect]; little are you grateful.”[1] Man carries the spirit given by Allah (swt) as a trust until the end of his worldly life. Thereafter, as Allah (swt) mentions, “Surely to Allah we belong and to Him we will all return.”[2] We are being tested by struggling to return the pure soul that has been given to us by Allah back to him, in a clean state. The way to pass this test successfully is to train the Nafs and desires of the Nafs that pollute our soul.

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

The Nafs is an attribute of the soul. This feature in the soul encourages people to sin constantly. The Nafs gains strength as its endless desires are fulfilled; As good deeds are committed and lived with piety, it weakens. Allah (swt) says, “Whatever good befalls you is from Allah and whatever evil befalls you is from yourself.”[3] The Prophet (saw), who was sent as an example to humanity, he made Dua by saying: “O Allah! We seek refuge in You from the evil of our souls.”[4] He made Dua, drawing attention to the provocative and corrupting nature of the Nafs. The Islamic elders who lived in the past understood the danger of the Nafs and always made Dua by saying, “Ya Allah! Do not leave me alone with my soul for even a moment!”

Dear Jama’ah!

We live in a time when the desires and desires of the soul are not restrained but are provoked. It is almost as if humanity has adopted its urges as religion and has become a lifelong interest of its endless desires. Rasulullah (saw) made Dua by saying, “(O Allah!) Educate me to good morals. There is no one who can lead to good morals except you. Drive the bad morals away from me. There is no one who can drive bad morals away from me but you.”[5] We should train our Nafs with Islamic moral values ​​and make Dua after each prayer. We should not forget that prayer prevents us from evil deeds and cleans our souls.

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

Our Prophet (saw) said, “The wise person is the one who has self-control and works for the afterlife by taking it into account, and a fool is one who hopes for good in this situation even though he is subject to his own whims.”[6] Surrendering to our lust and surrendering to our egos will only drag us into wrong. Allah (swt) mentions in the Quran, “But there came after them successors [i.e., later generations] who neglected prayer and pursued desires; so they are going to meet evil.”[7] It is possible to attain salvation, to take Allah’s orders and prohibitions seriously, and to follow the Sunnah of our Prophet (saw).

May Allah (swt) prevent us from being one of those who are self-defeating, but those who discipline themselves and live by the moral values ​​of Islam. Ameen.

[1] Surah As-Sajdah, 32:9

[2] Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:156

[3] Surah An-Nisa, 4:79

[4] Dârimî, “Nikâḥ”, 20; İbn Mâce, “Nikâḥ”, 19

[5] Müslim, Müsâfirîn, 201

[6] Tirmizi, Kıyâmet, 25/2459; İbn Mâce, Zühd, 31

[7] Surah Maryam, 19:59

 

Khutba: Taming Our Nafs