Al-Tazkiyah (Inner-Self Purification) – The Gate to Prosperity

Al-Tazkiyah (Inner-Self Purification) – The Gate to Prosperity

By: Faysal Burhan
Published: 2002

Allah (SWT) said:

And whoever purifies himself does so for the benefit of his soul;
and the destination (of all) is to Allah. Qur’an, 35:18

Abstract

Al Tazkiyah–the purification of the heart and soul–a significant part of Prophet Muhammad’s teachings and plays an essential role in all people’s lives. This Islamic fundamental cultivates people’s consciousness and character, spirituality, and morality. The traits of compassion, mercy, generosity, piousness, trustworthiness, and more are consequential of tazkiyah and purified hearts.

Remembering Allah and contemplating His creation are gates to grow closer to God and upright. The heart—the place of the conscious—is the place to earnestly grow in the love of Allah, His prophets, and moralities. Thikru-Allah, the recollection of Allah, learning and observing His attributes, and contemplating the universe are elements in the development and cultivation of tazkiyah–the society’s ship to advance and prosperity.

Al Tazkiyah in the Sight of Allah

The prominence of tazkiyah lies in the ability to nourish the hearts and consciousness in exalting Allah and His attributes. The Surah of Abasa (80:1-4) or Frowned points out to the principal place of tazkiyah in Islam. Allah said:

(The Prophet) frowned and turned away, because there came to him the blind man [interrupting].
But what could tell you [O Muhammad] that perchance he might yazzakka, grow in spiritual understanding and closeness to God?
Or that he might receive a [mental] guidance and that the teachings might benefit him? As for he who thinks for
himself as self-sufficient [a member of Quraysh leaders whom the Prophet had hoped to bring to Islam], to him,
you give attention and not to you [is any blame] if he does not yazzakka, grow in purity.

The story of the above passages concludes that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was speaking to an influential member of Quraysh whom he had hoped to enlighten with Islam. During the conversation, a blind companion of the Prophet, Abdallah ibn Umm Maktum, approached the Prophet conversing with the Qurashi leader and interrupting. The Prophet frowned and turned his face away from Abdallah. In response to the Prophet’s action, Allah revealed the Chapter of Abasa, instructing the Prophet not to be distracted from anyone seeking tazkiyah. Aside from the lesson learned to withhold no spiritual admonition from anyone attaining it lies the manifestation of the unique and prestigious position of tazkiyah in Islam.

But what could tell you [O Muhammad] that perchance he [the blind man] might grow in closeness to God and spiritual understanding (yazzakka)?

The questioning of the Prophet over his delivery of “tazkiyah” to the blind man and arrogant Qurayshi is clear evidence showing that “tazkiyah” plays a crucial role in the plans of Allah (SWT).

The undeniable gravity of tazkiyah lies gates to prosperous endings. Hence is why a believer should earnestly and actively work to attain it. God attests to such fact even by swearing:

By the Sun and his (glorious) splendor;
By the Moon, as she follows him;
By the day as it reveals (the Sun’s) glory;
By the Night as it conceals it;
By the Firmament and its (beautiful) structure;
By the Earth and its (vast) expanse;
By the Nafs (Soul),
And the proportion and order were given to it and its enlightenment as to its wrong and its right,
Indeed he succeeds who (zakkaha) purifies it (i.e., nafs, the soul, or inner-self). And he fails who corrupts it.  Qur’an 91:1-10

Ibn Abbas narrated that when the Messenger of Allah read this verse (Truly he succeeds who purifies it and he fails who corrupts it!), he used to stop reciting and say:

O Allah, give to my inner-self (nafsi) piety (taqwa), and purify it for You are its Guardian and its Master and the best Purifier -Bukhari, and Muslim

Note: According to the scholar Hassan al-Maliky, taqwa is preventing harm and the stop of hostility.  If taqwa is practiced in people’s lives, with no insecurity, sensual luring, right taking, and other intrusions on Allah’s limits, the society will triumph and be in great favor to Allah.

Allah’s messengers, the learned men, and women with deep faith and spirituality, are candidates for helping people realize tazkiyah.

Elements of Al Tazkiyah 

Laborious and consistent humility and recollection of God are the means to earn tazkiyah. The prescribed acts of worship and much of God’s remembrance known as thikru-Allah or thikr for short are some means to explore for Tazkiyah. 

The Remembrance of Allah, Thikru-Allah (Thikr)

One of the most important elements for tazkiyah is thikru-Allah. Thikr is a term used to reflect how Muslims may remember, vitalize and attain spirituality and intimacy with Allah, metaphorically speaking for the latter. In Sufism, thikr extends to a training institution for developing enlightened hearts wholly occupied with Allah’s attributes away from sinfulness and wickedness. The Qur’an and Traditions of Prophet Muhammad are pleated with passages on thikr. Many people use their tong, yet others concentrate on thikr from the heart. Dr. Adnan Ibrahim comments that the thikr was intended to be made from the heart. The antonym of remembrance is forgetfulness, no wonder then why the heart envisioned for thikr, not the tong, yet both can make a better thikr at times.  Allah SWT said:

The heavens and earth are not enough to contain Me, but my servant’s heart does. -Musnad Ahmad, al-Mawahib 

In a beautiful passage, Allah tells us:

Say (O Muhammad) Truly, Allah leaves to stray whom He will (as a result of their choice to go astray). Still, He guides to Himself those who turn to Him in repentance, those who believe, and whose hearts find satisfaction in the remembrance of Allah, for without doubt in the recollection of Allah do hearts find rest.  Qur’an, 13:27-28

Furthermore, the Prophet (PBUH) is reported to have said:

The faith of a servant (worshipper) will not (yastaqeem) be upright, complete, and straight unless his heart straightened (yastaqeem, i.e., wholly staying away from vice and engaged in loving, observing Allah’s omission rules, kindly and candidly treating his creation).

Shaddad ibn Aws reported that in the salah (prayer), the Prophet (PBUH) used to ask Allah for a heart in awe of Him, free from the distress and agitation of sin, saying:

I ask You, O, Allah for a good heart. -Musnad Ahmad

The ninety-nine noble attributes of Allah are a heavenly spiritual enrichment. Each noble quality is an institution that speaks about Allah. A true believer loves Allah more than anything else. Therefore, these noble attributes will allow a trustworthy, honorable, wise, benevolent, successful, humble, and in awe of Allah. As a result of this knowledge and close attendance to Allah, righteous acts become natural in a person, and evil deeds become infrequent. These results naturally come from the reflections and in-depth knowledge of Allah and His attributes.

The Prophet (PBUH) said:

Truly in the body, there is a morsel of flesh, and if it is
guided (to the way of Allah), the whole body will be
guided and follow accordingly, and if this organ is
left to go astray, the whole body will follow and go astray;
indeed this (organ) is the heart. -Muslim

When the heart is cleansed of all vices and enlightened by the guidance of Allah, the rest of the body and all its senses will follow accordingly. Furthermore, the Prophet (PBUH) pointed out the importance of the role of faith in the heart when he said:

Verily, faith in your hearts wears out, just as clothes do. So ask Allah to renew faith in your hearts. al Mustadrak ala al Sahihain- Al-Albani

Abu Dawood, al Nissa’i, and Ibn Majah in their Masanid (Records of Prophetic Traditions), respectively reported that Abu Sa’eed al Khidri quoted the Prophet (PBUH) as saying:

If a man, during the night, wakes up his wife and then they conduct two rak’ah (a prayer unit), they are considered (in terms of rewards and honor) for that night amongst the people of thikr, ‘al thakereen and al thakirat.’ -Al-Tabari

Thikr utilizes the signs of Allah and His creations as a means of recollection and contemplation. The attributes: The Merciful, the Owner of mercy, the Giver of mercy, the Wise, the Pure, the Able, the King, the Cherisher, the Gracious, the Exalted, the Dominion, and the Master are a few attributes from which the spiritual nourishment of a pious believer drawn.

The Qur’an often motivates and inspires believers to contemplate His signs in this universe. Science tells us that the universe is over one hundred and fifty billion light-years wide. This vast universe holds over a billion galaxies, each with billions of stars and planets. There are eternal creation and destruction of new stars and planets—a phenomenon that could illustrate Judgment Day and the end of our world of the solar system.
The creation of people, animals, and other creatures, the physical and intellectual relationships among all such creations are indicators of His Mercy, Majestic ability, Wisdom, Knowledge, and Greatness.

His beautiful attributes are witnessed and abide in each particle and atom of the matter throughout the entire immeasurable universe. Contemplating the world can also remind us of Allah’s other signs, such as Heaven and Hell and the Hereafter.

There are over seventy-five verses in the Holy Qur’an that speak about thikr, separately by name. These verses speak of and reflect on this subject in a variety of ways. Moreover, there are hundreds of other places where implication denotes thikr through glorification and reflection. Below are some examples:

Do they not travel through the land, so that their hearts may understand (and learn wisdom), and their ears may consequently hear? Indeed it is not their eyes that are blind, but their hearts which are in their breasts. Qur’an, 22:46

On earth are signs for those of assured faith, as also in your own selves. Will you not then see? Qur’an, 51:20-21

Is it not a warning to such people (to call to mind) how many generations before them We destroyed in those haunts where they (now) move? Verily, in this are signs for people endued with understanding. Qur’an, 20:128

If We sent down this Qur’an on a mountain, surely, you would have seen it humble itself and cleave asunder in awe of Allah. Such are the analogies that We propound to people so that they may reflect. Qur’an, 59:21

So when you have accomplished your holy rites, celebrate the praise of Allah, as you used to celebrate the praises of your fathers, yea, with far more heart and soul. Qur’an, 2:200

(O reader!), bring your Lord to remembrance in your (very) soul,
with humility, and in reverence, without loudness in words,
in the mornings and evenings; and be not yourself of those who are unheedful. Qur’an, 7:205

The passage 7:202 is a heart soothing and culminating verse. I believe every Muslim should, daily, hold a silent, personal, hearty, self-accountability meeting with Allah, morning and evening, to share the concern of Allah in this verse. Muslims should make this verse a daily practiced sunnah.
One must understand that thikrul Allah is not just about moving the lips and the tongue with Allah’s praises with an absent mind and heart. Thikru Allah is a beautiful feeling and deep satisfaction when done with a heart and soul concentration.

But keep in remembrance the name of your Lord and devote yourself to Him wholeheartedly. Qur’an, 73:8

Oh, you who believe! Let not your riches or your children divert you from the remembrance of Allah. If any do so, the loss is their own. Qur’an, 63:9

There are many more forms of thikr: The former prayer (Salah), prayers during the night, supplication, meditation, and contemplation, as well as reading and studying the Holy Qur’an and the Traditions of the Prophet (PBUH). Thikr increases faith, enlightens our inner-selves, brings people closer to Allah, and yields tranquility and joy in the heart. Self-satisfaction and comfort can be actualized only when a person maintains Allah in his or her heart and pleases Him. Allah reveals:

Undoubtedly, believers are those who, when Allah is mentioned, their hearts tremble, and when they hear His verses rehearsed, find their faith strengthened and put (all) their trust in their Lord. Qur’an, 8:2

This kind of deep faith in Allah will result in less inclination to use the world to collect money and achieve power. Thikru Allah is a primary ingredient in making a true believer who epitomizes all moral virtues (husnu al khuluq). Triumph and prosperity in life are directly related to the degree of the practice of the merits of this school of spiritual guidance, tazkiyah. Almighty God said:

But the ultimate success (Falah or prosperity in the highest sense) is for the one who purifies oneself (in spiritual guidance) and remembers (glorifies and meditates on) the name of one’s
Guardian Lord (to enhance one’s spirituality)\ and then performs the prayer (salah). Qur’an, 87:14-15

Trust is certainly a minimum requirement for having a successful business. Tazkiyah, however, is the foundation not only of trust but also benevolent and honest relations. Thikru Allah is the cornerstone for loving Allah and practicing the virtues and traits of His attributes. Thikru Allah clears away all corruption and mischief, and this is truly the gateway to prosperity.

Furthermore, the Prophet Muhammad told us in a hadith Qudsi (words of inspiration from Allah, expressed by the mind and tongue of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH):

I am in the Company of my servant as long as he remembers Me,
and his lips move because of his remembrance of Me. -Musnad Ahmad

What could better company one wishes for? Muslims tend to go so deeply into their business affairs that the worldly things become a hindrance to worshipping Allah and tazkiyah for their hearts. There is no justification for allowing business or family affairs to obstruct the spiritual development of tazkiyah. An example of this is related to the Holy Qur’an. Allah said in Surah al Fat-h (the Opening):

The desert Arabs who lagged will say to you: ‘we were engaged in (looking after) our flocks and herds and our families; do then ask forgiveness for us.’ They say with their tongues what is not in their hearts. Qur’an, 48:11

Obligations, including prayers, are the means to accomplish thikru Allah, as Allah ordained:

And establish regular prayer (Salah) for remembering (praising) Me. Qur’an, 20:14

Even pilgrimage (hajj) is designed to accomplish thikr. Following, Allah says:

And proclaim the pilgrimage among men; they will come to you on foot and (mounted) on every kind of camel, lean on account of journeys through deep and distant mountain highways, so that they may witness the benefits (provided) for them and celebrate the name of Allah through the days appointed. Qur’an, 22:27-28

Despite Tazkiyah and thikru Allah’s weight in Islam, this matter is often neglected by many Muslims.  For those who seek to tread the Prophet’s way (PBUH), it is incumbent on them to adapt their lives to this spiritual component. Just as the body needs food to stay healthy, the soul too needs its spiritual nourishment. Muslims today must earnestly consider Tazkiyah as the number one priority in their lives.