Book of Healing - Healing Through Knowledge - Cure of Waswasah
Cure of Waswasah
Tags: Waswasah, Insinuation, Nafs-i Ammarah, Carnal Soul, Nafs-i Lawwamah, Censuring Soul, Nafs-i Mutma'innah, Satisfied Soul
1. What is waswasah? Waswasah in Arabic means the jingle of an ornament; a light footfall; to speak softly; to speak nonsense due to insanity; an evil suggestion which occurs in the heart; a bad or useless thought which occurs in the heart. In the technical language of the shari`at, it means seduction, temptation, dissuasion from good and persuasion to bad by the devil. From this, it is certainly clear that waswasah or insinuation of the devil is the root of all diseases, and therefore to cure it, means to prevent all physical and spiritual diseases.
2. The main cause of Waswasah: There is no doubt that it is the sneaking devil (khannas) who is from among the jinn and mankind (114:4-6) who instils waswasah in the hearts of the people. But this matter does not end here, for it has a background and also a main cause, which is the nafs-i ammarah or the carnal soul. It is the carnal soul which, in reality, creates the waswasah and always commands one to do evil (50:16; 12:53). There is such a hidden power in this carnal soul, which acts as the personal devil of each individual. This is alluded to in verse (43:36) which has been explained in a noble Hadith (Mishkat, I, 42). The gist of the explanation is that, every individual has a personal devil, whose reformation is possible and also very necessary.
3. Purification of the soul: The wise Qur'an has not only warned man of waswasah and the deception of the carnal soul and the devil, but has also taught the method through which a mu'min can be cured from this disease, as indicated in: "He indeed is successful who purified it (soul), and he indeed failed who buried it in debauchery." (91:9-10). It is understandable that so many good deeds of religion are enjoined for the sake of the purification of the soul, because without it, there is no success for a mu'min. It is clear in the noble Qur'an that the spiritual and intellectual purification of mu'mins is possible through knowledge and wisdom (2:129, 2:151, 3:164), and in order to attain this exalted place, the true obedience of God and the Prophet is indispensable, without which nobody can conceive true knowledge and wisdom.
4. Ranks of the Soul: There are many stages with respect to ethical and spiritual reformation, refinement, progress and elevation of soul. According to the law of comprehensiveness, the holy Qur'an has mentioned three great ranks which comprise all these stages. Thus in the first few stages, soul is called ammarah or commanding (12:53) which implicitly means the one which persistently commands the gratification of one's desires. Fortunately, if enough progress is made in the reformation and purification of it (nafs-i ammarah), it transforms into nafs-i lawwamah, or the censuring soul (75:2), which comprises the intermediary stages. By nafs-i lawwamah is meant the soul which rebukes itself again and again. That is, in view of the subtleties, niceties and intricacies of the path of God, the Kind, the Aware, the soul has been able to reprimand itself time and again in its heart of hearts. In the benevolent sight of God, this perfect awareness, complete realization, ardent yearning, strenuous struggle, and constant endeavour for His proximity is highly pleasing, and therefore He swears by this soul (nafs-i lawwamah) in verse (75:2).
5. Nafs-i Mutma'innah (Satisfied Soul): If by Divine providence this (Divine) help and guidance continues, then comes the third stage, which consists of the final stages of spiritual progress, in which the soul of the mu'min, who walks on the path of spirituality, becomes transformed into the satisfied soul (89:27). Such a soul has attained satisfaction according to the standard of God (3:126; 8:10; 5:113; 13:28; 2:260; 17:95), as God says: "O the satisfied soul! return to your Lord, well pleased (with Him), well-pleasing (Him), so enter My (chosen) servants, enter My paradise" (89:27-30). This final and supreme bliss is attainable by the friends of God, not only after death in the next world, but can be perfectly experienced in this world. In this connection, please refer to an extremely useful diagram in "Qur'anic Healing", (Heavenly Ladder).
6. Abundant Dhikr and Giryah-u zari: `Ibadat is the wisdom-filled slavery of God, the Exalted. In connection with this unprecedented and unique slavery nothing much can be said about a person who does not sacrifice his "I (ana)" for the True Master, does not struggle to attain the pleasures of the remembrance of God by effacing himself, does not become the dust of humility in the path of love and fidelity, keeps hiding the idol of conceit under the armpit and does not understand the extremely great wisdom of shedding tears (giryah-u zari) in ardent love. However, all mu'mins with the attributes of a darwish will certainly pray that, may God grant them all the high ambition and success of humility and submission in His `ibadat and protect them from the insinuations of the devil and keep them all in His refuge!
7. By abundant dhikr and giryah-u zari not only are the insinuations and disturbing thoughts (wasawis) best cured, but, God willing, spiritual progress also becomes certain. The precious pearls of tears are created in the heart, soul and eyes with a single purpose only, that they should be scattered, again and again, in the path of God with ardent and consummate love. You can reflect on the verses of the Qur'an relevant to giryah-u zari, and their interpretation and wisdom-filled allusions, particularly on verses (17:107-109; 19:58). Here the grand, exemplary and imitable deed of the Prophets and awliya' has been praised, that they used to prostrate in the exalted court of God with humility, effacement and annihilation, letting torrential tears flow down their chins.
8. Fear of God: When there is no fear of God in the heart of someone who is engaged in salat, `ibadat and dhikr, he necessarily encounters insinuations and disturbing thoughts in his heart. This is called the hidden shirk (associating someone with God). In such a case, the `ibadat cannot be so pure and sincere that it becomes extremely delightful and soul nourishing. Thus it is extremely necessary for every Muslim to have fear of God in his heart, so that due to its blessing, his `ibadat may be sincere and free of shirk (7:29; 98:5). When the heart of a person, abandoning every disturbing thought and false imagination of worldly fear and danger, temporarily becomes attentive of God (10:22; 29:65; 31:32), then how glorious is the miraculous effect of the greatness of the fear of God and the result of dhikr-u `ibadat! It should be remembered well that the main constituent of the electuary of the fear of God is knowledge (35:28).
9. Love for God, the Prophet and the Murshid: How can the darkness of the insinuation of the devil remain in the pure heart, in which the lamp of the blessed love of God is burning and shedding light. However it is true that love for God is not possible without a means and without an intermediary, and therefore the only means of it is the holy Prophet Muhammad. Similarly, the love for the holy Prophet can be attained through his noble representatives. Although the scope of Islamic love and brotherhood is very vast, nonetheless, the love for the Shaykh, or Murshid, or Imam, occupies the central position. For, it is only after annihilation in the Shaykh, that the path to annihilation in the Prophet is found. These stages can be traversed only through ardent love and obedience.
10. Ardent Love or `Ishq: God, the Omnipotent, has enriched man with the treasures of limitless and countless potentialities and powers. One of them is love, which is the most intense and most powerful, and is the chief of the powers. According to the Hadith "He who belongs to God, God also belongs to him", it is the special power, through which when the believing servant belongs to God, He too specially belongs to him. Further, it is the means through which mu'mins attain the rank of "ashaddu Hubban li'llah (stronger in love of God = `ishq, 2:165)" of the lovers of God. Here we should stop for a while and think seriously as to how great may be the bliss and happiness of those true servants of God, in whose heart the sacred love of God dwells! How difficult may this Heavenly and Divine love actually be, which seems so easy! Yes, it is very difficult, but not impossible. And when it is attained, all difficulties and diseases vanish.
11. How to hold fast to God or His Rope? In verse (3:101) we are commanded to hold firm unto God and in verse (3:103) to hold firm to His Rope, but the intellect is perplexed about what power man has, through which he can in any sense, reach God and hold unto Him firmly? Indeed, there is the Divine love which is a great power revealed by God and granted to His servants, one end of which is in the Hand of God and the other in the hand of His servants like the Rope of God. Since the Qur'an, Islam, and each and everything of religion is revealed to the holy Prophet, therefore, it is a fact, that the luminous rope of true love can also reach the hand of a fortunate Muslim through him, so that all spiritual diseases may be cured through Divine love.
Wa's-salam (Peace)!
Nasir al-Din Nasir Hunzai
24 Rajabu'l-Murajjab 1408 A.H./14 March, 1988.
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