The Five Steps To Purify Your Soul

The Five Steps

To

Purify

Your Soul

OMER SULAYMAN

Copyright © 2022

In the Name of Allaah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy

Table of Contents

Introduction

Step 1: Purification of Faith

Step 2: Treatment of heart disease and removal of bad qualities

Step 3: Doing good deeds and improving our character

Step 4: Remembrance of death

Step 5 – A cleaning program

Points for reflection and contemplation

Introduction

All praise is due to Allah. We praise Him, seek His help and forgiveness, and we seek refuge in Him from the evil of our souls and our misdeeds.

I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah alone. He has no partner. I also bear witness that Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is His slave and messenger.

This book is based on the teachings of Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim Al-Jawziyah, Imam Ibn Rajab Al Hanbali, Imam Ibn Taymiyyah, Imam Ibn Qudamah Al-Maqdisi, and Shaykh Abdur-Razzaq-al-Badr. It explains in detail how to purify the soul, heal the heart, and remove heart (spiritual) diseases according to the Qur’an and Sunnah

New Muslims and beginners are eager to know the purification process in Islam. I hope this book will fulfill this purpose and help them understand this beautiful process to purify their soul and their heart.

Everyone is made of three essential components - the body, the soul and the intellect. They all work together to give us our character. The soul or ‘nafs’ is the most important thing.

You should be concerned about the health and well-being of your soul just as you are concerned about the health of your body. The soul has requirements that it needs to make it healthy. We should not neglect them, or we will suffer from diseases of the heart (not the physical heart, but the spiritual heart).

The purification of the soul in Arabic is called tazkiyyah. It sounds like zakah (obligatory charity). In the same way that we purify our wealth and increase it when we give zakah, tazkiyyah takes care of the nafs (soul), purifying it and cleansing it. We cleanse our soul from heart diseases and bad qualities. With tazkiyyah our souls grow in status and closeness to Allah.

The origin of the word ‘Tazkiyah’ is from a word that has the meaning of ‘development’ or ‘to increase and become more in number’. It refers to developing the soul, fixing it with exalted qualities, noble manners and righteous actions. Tazkiyah increases the good deeds and praiseworthy qualities of the soul. A person who wants to purify his soul should protect it from unworthy traits and despicable character.

Our journey in this world is a trial and our success lies in returning to Jannah (Paradise). Every day we struggle to clean up our soul and get better is a day well spent. It is a day that was profitable. If we cleanse and purify our soul every day, it will lead to our success in the hereafter. Our hearts often become rusty and need to be cleaned again and again. With purification you learn how to renew your Iman (faith). With the purification of the soul, you will taste the sweetness of faith.

Purification of the soul should be our main concern. This is not an ordinary task. We must purify our souls and pay attention to this purification process. This is critical as spiritual diseases can destroy us. So we have to take care of them and treat them. It is important to study the purification of the soul and know how to do it. It is important to control the soul.

The soul or nafs is like a mount or a horse. It’s like a wild animal. If a person does not have control over the mount, he will not be able to travel on it. The beast will take him where it will. But if the person takes control of the animal, trains it, then this animal will know who is the owner and will obey him. Similarly, if a person does not train his soul, he will follow his nafs and do the evil deeds that the soul desires. He becomes the slave of the soul, and the soul becomes his master. But if he trains his soul and refuses to obey every whim and demand of the soul, then he will keep his soul in check and this will lead him to paradise.

Imam Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The nafs is like a strong horse. The goal is not to kill it but to tame it. It is good if you have a strong and powerful horse, but you must have control over it, and not the other way around.

Allah took eleven oaths in the Quran before saying that the successful are those who purify their souls. Allah swears to emphasize the seriousness of something, and in this case it is the fact that the person who purifies his soul is successful. The burden of purification is upon us, and we should make an effort to purify ourselves and be among those who succeed.

We should pray to Allah to help us in this purification.

Allah purifies us in many ways. One of the ways is by testing us. Allah allows a person to struggle and go through some hardship to cleanse him from sins. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Allah will continue to test the believer or try them until he cleanses them of all his sins, until he meets Allah like a newborn baby."

Someone may ask, ‘Why can’t I benefit from the Qur’an? Why can’t I wake up for morning prayer? Why is everyone else in the mosque crying except me?’ It is because of our sins that our hearts are eaten away and we do not find peace and enjoyment in our worship. The heart is made to naturally love Allah and obey Him, but sins prevent it from realizing this potential.

It is obligatory for us to purify our soul.

At the moment of death, there is a sudden change in currency. All the dollars or dirhams you have in your pocket will become worthless. The only things that matter after death are your correct beliefs, good deeds, and sound heart. Success in the hereafter depends on the conditions in our hearts that we carry with us. On the Day of Judgment, neither wealth nor children will be of any use. Only those who come before Allah with a pure heart will be saved.

To cleanse our souls, we should recognize the diseases that harm our souls. After recognition we should get rid of these diseases. Along with this treatment, we should decorate our soul with the qualities that give it strength. So, to purify our souls, we should worship Allah based on the Qur’an and Sunnah, remove our bad qualities, treat heart diseases when they are present, and acquire good qualities. For example, if your soul is a garden, in order for it to be fruitful and grow beneficial plants, you should first remove the weeds (heart disease and the bad qualities). Later, you need to use fertilizers, which are the good properties to further purify your soul. Along with this you should increase your worship of Allah.

Ibadah (worship) is a comprehensive word meaning a state of submission and humility to Allah. It is combined with absolute love and worship of Allah. Worship includes all words, actions and avoidance of bad things that we do to