Part 17

Whoever combines piety and lusts and desires has in his heart a will to be obedient to Allah, and a will to disobey Allah in obedience to his desires. Sometimes the first one prevails, and sometimes the second one prevails. This triple division is analogous to the division of the souls of people into three types, as alluded to in the Quran: Ammaara (that which always orders, i.e. evil), Lawwaama (that which always criticizes and holds to account, i.e. after doing evil, this soul criticizes itself and repents), and Mut'ma'innah (at peace, i.e. the soul which obeys Allah without any inner contradictions). Thus, the first group above is the possessors of the soul which is Ammaara, i.e. which always orders them to do evil, and the second group above is the possessors of the soul which is Mut'ma'innah, to which Allah will say on the day of Qiyama: [O, you souls at peace: Come back to your Lord, contented and accepted, and enter in among by slaves, and enter into my paradise.] Quran 89/27-30 The third and largest group are the possessors of the soul which is Lawwaamah, which commits sins and then blames itself for them. It changes colors, sometimes like this, and sometimes like that. It "mixes a good work with another which is evil". It is hoped that Enjoining Right & Forbidding Wrong - 34 Translated by Salim Abdallah ibn Morgan Allah will forgive these people provided that they acknowledge their sins and repent, as Allah said: [And others have acknowledged their sins. They mixed a good work with another which was evil. Perhaps Allah will forgive them, verily Allah is mostForgiving, most-Merciful.] Quran 9/102 It is for this reason that during the Caliphates of Abu Bakr and Umar - and they are the two which the Muslims have been ordered to emulate, as the Prophet (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) said: "Follow the example of the two who come after me: Abu Bakr and Umar." (Al-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, and Ahmad) Since the Muslims were still close to the era of the revelation, and greater in faith and piety, and their leaders were more conscientious in fulfilling their duties, and more at peace and free from inner contradictions - the chaos and bloodshed and strife which followed was absent during their two Caliphates. This is because they were as the people of the second category: those whose selves are at Peace and free from inner contradictions about Islam. Then, at the end of Uthman's Caliphate, and during the Caliphate of Ali (May Allah be pleased with them both), those of the third category became more numerous. Thus, there appeared in the Muslims desires and lusts along with the presence of belief and Islamic practice. This became the case of some of the administrators, and some of the citizens. Then the problem became worse, and the major fitna (strife) came to pass whose cause is as we have described earlier. Both sides failed to properly analyze the dictates of piety and obedience to Allah. Both sides mixed their understanding of piety and obedience with some element of hawaa and disobedience. Each side, in their own interpretation, believing that they are enjoining right and forbidding wrong, and that they are on the side of truth and justice. This interpretation, however, contains an element of hawaa, and an element of suspicion, and following the desires of the self, even though one of the two sides was closer to the truth than the other. For this reason, it is upon the believer to constantly pray to Allah to help him, and to depend fully on Allah to fill his heart with faith and piety, and not to let it become contaminated, and to establish him firmly on the guidance, and to protect him from following his hawaa, as Allah said: Enjoining Right & Forbidding Wrong - 35 Translated by Salim Abdallah ibn Morgan [And so for this, pray, and remain steadfast as you have been ordered, and do not follow their hawaa. And say: I have believed in the book which Allah has sent down, and I have been ordered to enact justice between you. Allah is our Lord and your Lord.] Quran 42/15 Good Must Support Good As Bad Supports Bad This is also the condition of the Ummah in those issues over which it has become divided and has differed over statements and acts of worship. These issues are among the things which bring about great trials upon the believers. They are in desparate need of two things: They need to repel the evil with which their peers have been afflicted, both in affairs of religion and worldly affairs, away from themselves, in spite of the drive within themselves calling to the same things. They, too, have selves and shayateen (i.e. calling them to evil), just as those who have already fallen into evil. Thus, when evil is seen from their peers, the evil tendencies within themselves are increased. So, even after eliminating the evil around them, the believers will remain with the evil drives within themselves and from the wiswaas of the shaitan. Motivators toward good are an exactly analogous situation: The believers are in need of bringing about the doing of good in others as a motivator toward good, as well as following their own, internal tendencies toward good.