The definition of nafs has many meanings. It has meanings such as life, soul and essence. Since going into detail would take us far away from the purpose of our narration, let us briefly define the attributes of the nafs in seven ways.

  1. Nafsi emmâre (commanding soul)
  2. Nafsi levvâme (condemning soul)
  3. Nafsi mülhime (inspired soul)
  4. Nafsi mutmaine (satisfied soul)
  5. Nafsi raziyya (contented soul)
  6. Nafsiyyah merziyyah (contented soul)
  7. Nafsi safiye (purified soul)

1- Nafs-i Emmâre: It means the nafs that constantly orders bad deeds. It sees bad deeds as beautiful and pulls the heart in that direction all the time. It thinks of its pleasure, lust and comfort. It does not recognise any boundary between halal and haram for its purpose, and sees every way as permissible.

Allah (swt) says:

Verily, the soul always commands evil. Except for those whom my Lord pities and protects[48].

2- Nafs al-Lawwâma: Although he first enjoys and does the evil he commits, he regrets it afterwards, condemns himself and decides not to do it. For this reason, this attribute of the nafs is called the nafs that condemns itself, the nafs that denigrates itself.

ALLAH (swt) says:

I swear by the Day of Resurrection and by the soul that condemns itself all the time[49].

3-Nafs-i Mülhime: It means the soul that has been inspired. It obeys the voice of its heart through inspiration. It chooses good and evil.

ALLAH (swt) says:

(“And to the Nafs and to Him Who moulded it in an orderly fashion” and then inspired it with its transgression (unrestrained sin and evil) and its abstinence from it.[50]

4-Nafs-i Mutmainne: It means the soul that has found peace, its doubts and doubts are gone and it is satisfied. It obeys all divine orders with love along with the peace coming from the heart. It aims only for the pleasure of Allah Almighty. It surrenders to Him. Its obedience is uninterrupted and continuous.

Allah (swt) says:

O soul that has reached peace and tranquillity with Allah! Return to your Lord, you being pleased with Him and He being pleased with you. Enter among My righteous servants; enter My Paradise.[51]

5-Nafs al-Rāziyya: The soul that reaches this quality submits itself to the will of Almighty Allah. It loves for Him, gets angry for Him, lives for Him. It seeks divine consent in everything bitter-sweet and preserves decency. He is a mercy to everyone, he does not give trouble to anyone. He looks at people with compassion.

Allah (swt) says:

You will not find any people who believe in Allah and the Last Day having love for those who are enemies of Allah and His Messenger, even if they are their fathers, sons, brothers or their own kin. Allah has written faith in their hearts and has supported them with a spirit from Himself. He will admit them into Gardens beneath which rivers flow and in which they will abide forever. Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Allah. These are they who are on the side of Allah. Know well that those who are on the side of Allah are the ones who will attain salvation.

6-Nafs al-Merziyya: It is the soul with which Allah Almighty is pleased. The owner of this nafs has been so honoured that whatever he does is in accordance with Allah’s pleasure.

Allah (swt) says:

As for those who believe and do righteous deeds, they are the best of the creatures. Their reward in the sight of their Lord is Gardens of Adn beneath which rivers flow, abiding in them forever. Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him. This is for him who fears his Lord with a trembling heart.”[53]

7-Nafs-i Safiye: It means perfect, mature, immaculate, pure soul. The owners of the nafs in this station are the most distinguished and special servants of Allah.

Allah (swt) says:

The believers have indeed found felah. They are the ones who are in awe in their prayers. They are “completely empty”. who turn away from things. They are the ones who fulfil (their promises and duties) with regard to zakat. And they are the ones who guard their chastity. Except their behaviour towards their wives or those whom their right hands possess; in this they are not condemned. But whoever seeks beyond that, they are the transgressors. (Again) They are the ones who honour their trusts and their covenants. They are the ones who guard (scrupulously) their prayers. It is they who will inherit (the dominion of the earth and the blessings of the Hereafter).

After dealing with the attributes of the nafs superficially, the branch we will focus on is the Nafs Emmare. This nafs wishes to be listened to with respect and to be brought to the highest levels with love. It wants to make the best use of the available opportunities of the time in which it lives. It lives a life that knows no limits in halal and haram, constantly commands evil, has no thought of death and no concern about torment. In order not to be so mindless and miserable, the servant must carry the fear of Allah into every aspect of life. This is really very important. In order to live without being a slave of the nafs, the fear of Allah (swt) must be placed in the heart. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to know Allah (swt) well. The fact that any uncertainty related to the future, such as the world of rizq, death, jinn and the grave, returns to the human being as fear is due to the fact that the fear of Allah (swt), which should be felt due to the lack of full knowledge of Allah (swt), is distributed to the issues. If Allah is feared, these matters will not be feared. Allah (swt) can only be feared if He is known and avoided if He is feared. Fear of Allah (swt) is the antidote to all matters to be feared.

Allah (swt) says:

“… Do not fear them, but fear Me, and I will complete My favour upon you, in the hope that you may be guided.” [55]

Those are they who convey the Message of Allah, and fear Him with trembling in their hearts, and fear none but Allah. Allah is sufficient as the Reckoner.[56]

If Allah (swt) is not feared, then the mentality of “I believe, but He cannot interfere in my affairs” and “Why should I be afraid, I love Allah (swt) too much” arises. While the source of all fears is unknown, only Allah (swt), as He is recognised and known, can be feared.

Allah (swt) says:

Only those who know fear Allah among His servants.[57]

In the absence of a felt fear or a set measure, the desire for what is desired makes the Nafs itself the mechanism that wishes to take possession of the Nafs by force or by devilish tactics.

Allah (swt) says:

Have you seen the one who takes his own desires and passions as a god? Will you now be his representative against him?[58]

When institutions or organisations are socialised with this aim, the desire, in general, after a certain period of time, turns into the establishment of authority. Authority is the legitimate power of a person or group over other persons or groups. This component of legitimacy is vital to the concept of authority and is the key element in distinguishing it from the concept of power in general. Power can be exercised by force or violence. On the other hand, authority requires people to accept the obligation to take orders or directives from those above them.

If we exemplify the right information between today’s people and the people who are recognised to have lived in an ancient time, it would be more appropriate for our purpose to consider people living in a time of authority. For this purpose, it would be more appropriate to examine what happened between Nimrod, who established his authority in the form that exists today, and Hz. Abraham, a servant of Allah who was sent to cleanse Shirk. There is an event that took place between Nimrod and Abraham, which is reported by the Qur’an.

Allah (swt) says:

Did you not see Nimrod, who was spoilt because Allah had given him property (rulership and wealth) and disputed with Abraham about his Lord? Then Ibrahim said: “My Lord is He who gives life and slays”. He said: “It is I who gives life and kills”. Ibrahim said: “Allah brings the sun from the east, so bring it from the west.” Thereupon the disbeliever was stunned. Allah does not guide the wrongdoers.[59]

The conversation develops as follows:

  • Nimrod: “What does your Lord do?”
  • Ibrahim (a.s.) : “He kills and resurrects.”
  • Nimrod : “Bring me two slaves.” (The slaves are brought, he kills one of them and sets the other free.) So I kill and resurrect, I killed one of them and resurrected the other by sparing his life.
  • Ibrahim (a.s.) says: “My Lord brings the sun from the east, so bring it from the west and let us see”…
  • ???

What is the difference between the authority of Nimrod and the authority of America, which is described as the super-state of today, except that the means have changed…

While Nimrod, who was after authority, claimed to be the Lord in the Qur’anic terms by killing one of two people and pardoning the other, today’s America, in Iraq, which it entered supposedly to stop the production of chemical weapons, pardoned those who survived the bombs and declared its claim to be the Lord over those who died.

For people, this state of affairs ends only with the identification of evil. Since the recognition of persons or authorities as evil leads to being contented with that knowledge only, the messages that should be received in reality cannot be received because of this.

The world needs a villain, and his name is: “AMERICA”

Now you can say whatever you like to the evil one. He will continue to go about his own business for his own purpose without taking it upon himself.

If other lessons had been learnt from the imperialist[60] formation of America, the people today who are devoted to the Qur’an, who affirm the truth of the Qur’an and believe in it, would not be scattered like garbage, to use the Prophet’s expression, although they number in the billions.

The Prophet (PBUH) said:

  • “It is near that people will unite against you as those who eat will flock to the big plate.”

-When asked, “Will we be few in number then?”

  • “No, on the contrary, you will then be many in number. But you will be scattered like rubbish carried away by the flood. Allah will remove your fear from the hearts of your enemies, and He will put wahn in your hearts.”
  • When asked, “O Messenger of Allah, what is Wahn?”
  • “Love of the world and fear of death.”[61]

If Muslims had received the messages that they should have received, we should have taken a stand of resistance against the atrocities in the country that America claims to have entered to stop the production of chemical weapons, like Ibrahim (as) who said to Nimrod, who claimed to be Lord, “Bring the sun from the west”.

For today’s Muslims, Religion is seen as a belief that can be lived in their individual lives without the obligation to present it to the outside world, as it is perceived as a situation where it is not necessary for anyone to hear or know, like a song that is repeated silently.

The mentality that it is enough to give me happiness prevails…

This is what vehn is. If we take this incident as an example and think about it, it will be easier for us to perceive the lessons to be learnt, the subtleties in the incident and the wisdom dimensions of the incident. We can briefly list them as follows:

1- The nafs commands evil, it is not evil itself.

The nafs we call the nafs emmare, which comes to the forefront in the cases of Nimruds killing innocent people to ensure authority and giving directives to the survivors, is evidence of this. We do not come across any information showing that the nafs, which is divided into purified, condemning, satisfied, inspired, contented and contented, is bad at other levels. By obeying the nafs that only commands evil deeds, a portrait that does not recognise halal and haram is created.

As seen in the example of Nimrud, what is important for the soul that commands evil is that the purpose is served. Neither the one released nor the one killed is of any importance. When the goal is achieved, the ego withdraws itself and after a certain period of time, it creates an agenda again for another desire. A person who carries such a nafs (ego) becomes irregular and shapeless, like a fabric cut without measure. The only cure for this disease is to keep the fear of Allah in the heart.

2- Following the path of the person in charge and being a supporter of the person in charge are in the same sense.

The reason why his soldiers are as guilty as Nimrod is that a Nimrod without them is unthinkable. The fact that they support the oppression by keeping silent throughout their lives with ideas such as “Who am I…”, “If I resist…”, “If I do not serve…” as a result of individual life, even if their deaths are not important, they have served Nimrod’s purposes points to this situation. The soldier’s saying “What can we do, we are under orders” does not exonerate him. This is why the Qur’an contains as many verses about tyrants like Nimrod and Pharaoh as it does about their soldiers. The fact that those who are killed or persecuted are disregarded even for the sake of a small goal and that they cannot achieve the goal without them is sufficient evidence.

3- Even if a person’s words do not match his purpose, his purpose is determined by what he does.

Since Nimrod’s aim was to establish authority and to prove his “LORD-ness”, he could not find a solution to the statement “Then come on, bring the sun from the west” directed to him. Because his aim is not to prove his discourse, but to have his actions accepted. In this sense, the political dimension of the matter has always been different from what has been said. This will always be the case. Just as America entered the region in Iraq to bring peace.

In such cases, the tactic of going after the discourse and the speaker is a tactic that, although it is known to be a lie, is constantly accepted out of fear or because it does not contradict interests.

4- No matter what worldly goal you accept as true, individually, you are no different from a spider’s unprotected house.

The situation of Nimrod’s soldiers is like that of a spider who builds its house in an unprotected place against dangers. Just as a gust of wind at any moment can be the end of the spider’s house, the same is the case for Nimrod’s soldiers who are slaves of their ego. Nimrod can sacrifice all his soldiers for the realisation of his ego’s wishes. Without them he has no chance of becoming strong, and the soldiers are of no importance to him because they are individualised. The fact that the soldiers have been deprived of their ability to reason during their lifetime and are only waiting for commands and aiming to serve until death reaches them is sufficient proof that they are no different from the house of the spider, which is individually unprotected.

Allah (swt) says:

The example of those who take other guardians besides Allah is like the example of the spider who makes a house for itself. Verily, the most flimsy of houses is the house of the spider, if they only knew.

A purposeless action has no importance in life. But every work has to serve something, even if it is purposeless. If you do the service alone, you will not achieve the purpose you have achieved, as well as limiting the scope of the service. Whatever the service, to whomever or to whomever it is rendered, it is difficult for the person or institution you serve to accept the fact that you do it as an individual and do not socialise it. It is like saying “I see” when you look at someone whose soul is separated from his body. You see, but what you see is no longer what you know. Doing the requirements of your faith alone does not bring it to the desired goal in this way. You may think that you have done it, but you have not achieved it. This is what makes the world truly globalised and ideologised for its administration. Knowing that they cannot achieve their goals on their own, today’s authorities present people with the misconception that “Everyone can do whatever they want” under the name of freedom.

5- Your belief must have a supporter and an accepted version.

It is unacceptable for the Nimrods of the past or the present to establish authority by force or fraud, to claim to be the Lord by taking their support from the people, to have no real power, to deceive people with coercion and false promises, and to make discourses different from their purposes. It is obvious that these are all unrealistic claims. It is unacceptable for your supporter to be an enemy to you when he should be a friend, and for you to accept such an enemy as a friend and serve him. Allah (swt) is sufficient for those who want a friend.

After dealing superficially with the subtleties that should be drawn from the examples of Nimruds, we will need to see who those who stand against them are, why and how they take a stance. Since every existing group has embraced the truth, beauty, goodness, brotherhood and the fight against injustice at all times, it is necessary to determine who these groups are in the best way with accurate information.

We should know that the purpose of Prophet Ibrahim (as), who did not even have a systematic army in his time, and all the Prophets who walked on the path of truth like him, was to lead people out of the position of servitude to the servant and to become servants of Allah. Otherwise, we accept them as officials sent only to describe the way of worship. In order not to be a servant to man, it is necessary to determine the requirements and conditions of servitude well. For this, it is necessary to know the Nimrods well. Throughout history, there have been many people who have served as soldiers for Nimrod on the one hand and worshipped the Creator on the other. Looking at religion from this perspective will be the first stop to bring life together with its true meaning and to add value to life. The concepts of worship and servitude will be discussed in detail in the next chapter.

When we look at history from this perspective, we see that those who have always rebelled against oppression, endeavoured to give personality to human beings, expected help only from the Creator and constantly adhered to the requirements of faith, were the servants who were chosen as officials and the people who tried to apply the examples in their lives to their own lives. These are the Prophets. And their true ummahs who follow in their path…

We need to make an explanation here immediately. It is known that people with communist ideology have taken sides against oppression in the course of history. People of this belief may say, “Many actions, hunger strikes, etc… situations, aren’t these struggles?”. In reply we say to them that the aim of communism is not the peace to be brought to the whole humanity. The aim is only to provide more comfortable opportunities by taking part in the struggle for freedom of the proletariat[63]. The method for this is an administration based on the principle of equal sharing of the people’s resources and a superior state. This cannot exactly be called justice.

Because it is based on the principle that the dividend reaches more vital opportunities, oppression is responded to by oppressing oppression, and the workers’ rights are realised in this way. This is an ideology that is defended not to add value to humanity, but for workers to become rulers. Karl Marx, the founder of this ideology, elaborated on this in his book Das Kapital. For the first time, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin[64], after overthrowing the Russian tsarism and establishing the Soviet Union on 7 November 1917, applied what was written in this book as a form of government by making the necessary adaptations. As a result of his own actions, he realised that it was impossible to achieve revolution without bloodshed. That is why it is not called justice, but retaliation for oppression with oppression.

This system envisaged the seizure of monasteries, churches and other property from the landowners and its equal distribution to the people. One hundred and fifty million hectares of land were distributed to the peasants and all their debts were cancelled. One-class decisions based on the principle of social and economic equality led people all over the world to be attracted to this ideology as a view of justice. However, the seeming justice of the mechanism does not mean that those who operate it will be just. For this reason, according to the Islamic religious system, not only does it stipulate that everyone must obey the ruler, but also the sine qua non conditions to be sought in the person who will be in that position are observed. Conditions such as the ruler being a Muslim, knowing the religion well and observing the right are sought. Because only in this way can a ruler who does not manage his position for his own ego and who is not oblivious of the day of reckoning to Allah be realised in a just manner. A ruler with this understanding will approach the people not as a dictator who is a slave of the ego and oppresses his people, not for the purpose of establishing authority, but with an understanding that is burning with the concern of the day of reckoning and sees the people as the trust of Allah.

And Communism is a one-sided way of life. It completely ignored the spiritual aspect of the person. Life, which should be peaceful and just, is based on materialism in this system. The Muslim, on the other hand, creates his life by considering both sides in every action. He organises his life by thinking about the world and the hereafter. For this reason, Marx had to deny the Creator of the worlds while putting forward his ideology. As a meeting point with science, he gifted his thought to Darwin, who was originally a theologian (religious scholar) but had not the slightest knowledge of Islam. This is an indication of nothing but the need of the idea to be accepted in practical life. It is obvious that the intention is not to be just, but the illegitimacy of taking rights by force. However, Islam has sufficiently analysed this issue, i.e. the mechanism of justice that should operate between the employer and the employee, in the relevant sections of the books of Islamic law.

I believe that the mentality that considers increasing the number of security forces as a solution to the insecure environment in which a society devoid of the fear of Allah is living, reveals the rottenness of its ideology and one of the reasons why Allah should be feared.

None of the Prophets transmitted their ideology through coercion or by resorting to rhetoric such as “I will do it” when they did not do it themselves; on the contrary, each of them implemented it primarily through their own actions, without any discrimination of religion, language, race or sect, and without any excuse. This is because they have obliged themselves to be abd[65] to the Creator, and they have brought the Creator to the place where He should be in their own lives, that is, to the position of divinity. Ulohiyyah is to take the servitude from every created creature and hand it over to the Creator without any share or compromise. The origin of the word “abduhu”[66] in the Word of Shahada comes from servitude. Otherwise, it is obvious that the Messenger of Allah is also His servant, which makes it meaningless to use the two in the same sentence. However, the fact that the prophets, despite their chosenness, both embraced their duty of servitude more than anyone else and put it into practice without taking any action contrary to their own discourse until their last breath, is presented to us in a way that clarifies the importance of the word “abduhu” and shahada.

This is because servitude must be abstracted from every created being and surrendered to Allah (swt) alone.

Ashhedoo an la ilaha illallah wa ashhedoo anna Muhammad ‘an abduhû wa rasûlühü…[67]

Which is the right knowledge to aim for?

Is the ideology of the Prophets, who did not discriminate between religion, language and race under any circumstances and who, despite being chosen, lived and offered to live subject to the best of servitude until the last moment of their lives, for the good of humanity?

Is the ideology of the capitalist order, which defends the oppressed hard workers and aims to ensure their welfare wherever and however it can be achieved, and which considers every means to achieve this goal as permissible, for the good of humanity…

Or is it an ideology based on oppression and the destruction of morality, which allocates a small amount of money to its employees from the money fund earned on others, claiming that this is sufficient, and even seeking how to reduce this expense even further, saying “We provide jobs and make the biggest contribution to the growth of the country”?

Allah (swt) says:

Ask not of Me that of which you have no knowledge. Indeed, I give you advice so that you may not be among the ignorant. “My Lord, I seek refuge in You from asking You for that of which I have no knowledge. And if You do not forgive me and have mercy on me, I shall be among the losers.”[68]

[48] Surah Yusuf, Verse 53

[49] Surat al-Qiyamah, Verses 1-2

[50] Surat al-Shams, Verses 7-8

[51] Surat al-Fajr, Verses 27-30

[52] Surat al-Thaka, Verse 22

[53] Surat al-Bayyine, 7-8. Verses

[54] Surat al-Buminun, Verses 1-10

[55] Surat al-Baqarah, Verse 150

[56] Surat al-Ahzab, Verse 39

[57] Surat al-Fatir, Verse 25

[58] Surat al-Furqan, Verse 43

[59] Surat al-Baqarah, Verse 258

[60] It is the attempt of one state or nation to exert influence over another state or nation for its own interests.

[61] Sunan Abu Dawud translation and commentary, Shamil Publishing House, 14/421

[62] Surah Ankebut, Verse 41

[63] Heavy labour

[64] Russian socialist politician (b.1870-1924, Moscow)

[65] Servitude

[66] Kulu

[67] I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.

[68] Surah Hud, Verse 47