Tazkiyat al-Nafs, and the search for Sakinah

Time of India

20 hours ago

'Sufism is to sit without cares with Allah,' said Sufi master Hazrat Abu Bakr al-Shibli (861–946), an important Sufi of Persian descent and one of the pioneers of Islamic mysticism. We all desire a life that is not beset by stress and anxiety. Yet, how many times have we indulged ourselves in this simple joy of being – of sitting without cares. How many times have we chosen to quietly contemplate the glory of the omniscient and omnipresent almighty, who is the creator of everything?
Many shall instantly argue that it is not possible to sit without cares, and that we have too many things to worry about. Let us contemplate this. Is it true that one must be in a state of stress all the time? Or can we find an oasis in our being where our mind and spirit are soothed, and we feel that we are enveloped by divine love.
The Sufi saints knew that we encounter stress when we allow our mind to be guided by the vicious webs of pride, greed, jealousy, malice and other negative traits which are manifestations of nafs. According to Sufi philosophy, nafsin in its unrefined state is 'the ego', which is regarded as the lowest dimension of a person's inward existence – removed from any spiritual pursuit.
We live in times when the world insists on complicating everything so that one is forever in need of intervention and is always a 'consumer'. This new identity of man is so normalised now that we don't even pause to question it. More and more we are pushed into categories where we need to buy one thing or another in our frenzied pursuits of life. One may find pleasures in entertainment, in purchases, and more such activities. But such pleasures are transient only. They do not connect with our deep being, with the need of our soul.
Our soul finds solace only when it sets out on the path of divine love. The search for divine love soothes the injuries and hurts we have suffered in life because this path brings us fulfilment and contentment. The eternal quest of the evolved man is the exploration for the oasis of Sakinah – a state of inner peace, tranquillity, and serenity. It's a state of calmness and reassurance, a feeling of being grounded and at peace with oneself and the world.
The Sufi wants to be in the space of harmony with oneself and the divine. This highly valued state of being is possible after diligent spiritual practices and meditation. Sakinah is a reflection of God's presence and a sign of inner purification. Hazrat Al-Ḥakīm al-Tirmidhī (The Sage of Termez), one of the great early authors of Sufism, said of Sakinah: 'It is the security that the heart feels when it receives the word of God in it.' It is the result of immense effort upon oneself, because peace of heart comes through the overcoming of inner conflicts and a sustained effort.
Through constant endeavour and deep thirst in one's soul, one can set out on the search for the divine. Certainly, the search shall not come to fruition within the narrow confines of our comfort zones. The old Sufi story of King Ibrahim illustrates why it is important to leave our comfort zones and search beyond when we seek the Almighty.
The story is of the time when King Ibrahim ibn-Adham still sat on the throne, and he had not yet become a dervish. One night, the king heard heavy footsteps on the palace roof. Who dares disturb my peace?' he wondered, and he went to investigate. On the roof, he saw people, strangers he had never seen before, running back and forth. 'What do you think you're doing?' he shouted. 'We're looking for camels,' they said. 'Camels?' exclaimed the king. 'Who looks for camels on the roof of a palace?' 'And who looks for God while sitting on a royal throne?' they replied. According to the story, the strangers vanished thereafter, but the king had the answer to the dilemma in his head.
Sufi saints emphasise that deliberate and sustained efforts are vital for cleansing the heart and the soul of all negative tendencies that may be born of nafs. The process of cleansing and the purification of the self is known as tazkiyat al-nafs. It is only after moving through this process of cleansing that one can strive for the attainment of spiritual growth and seek divine love.
Persian Sufi saint Hazrat Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (1058–1111), a prominent and influential philosopher and mystic, wrote that a human being is born in a natural state of purity (fitrat al-Islam). The child holds within the possibilities of good or bad, and his life experiences determine the course of his journey.
Sufi masters underscore the importance of tazkiyat al-nafs because it can lead man on the quest towards cultivating noble qualities such as compassion, virtuous conduct and the seeking of divine love. Such refinement is possible only by consciously letting go of all contaminants in our being. One has to move from a state of self-centrality towards an inner illumined being which is pure and submits to the will of the Divine. The Sufi story of the chickpea and its struggle against the cook illustrates this journey well. The chickpea was boiling in the pot, and it shouted at the cook. 'What are you doing? You paid good money for me in the market, but now you're boiling me!'
'I'm boiling you to fill you with flavor!' replied the cook. 'When you were green and grew in the garden, you drank water, but now you need both fire and water. You must surrender to the maker of fire and water. You came from cloud and sun and sky, and now you will become soul and act, speech and thought. Boil, chickpea, boil! Boil in time! Boil in spirit!'
This cleansing, this purification, leads the soul to Sakinah and the ultimate union with God the Almighty.
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Views expressed above are the author's own.