Assslamu Alykum! ~ Not every whisper comes from Satan, some are… your own?!

"You’ll lose your friends if you become too Islamic"

"You can just say 'Astaghfirullah' later"

"You're too young for this Islam thing, YOLO"

"No one's watching, no one will know"

There’s a quiet battle happening inside you.
Not between you and the world, but you and yourself.

In Islam, we call this inner self the ‘Nafs’. It’s the part of you that has desires and urges you to act on them. The nafs isn’t always evil, but it can be, depending on how you hone it. It’s your inner voice.

The Qur’an and the Islamic scholars describe 3 main types of nafs each of which represent a stage in your spiritual journey:

• The Commanding Soul (An-Nafs al-Ammārah) - urges you to follow every desire.
• The Self-Reproaching Soul (An-Nafs al-Lawwāmah) - battles back with guilt and reflection.
• The Tranquil Soul (An-Nafs al-Muṭmaʾinnah) - the rare, peaceful state of true and complete submission.

"Successful indeed is the one who purifies their soul and doomed is the one who corrupts it!"
[The Qur’an]

Let’s delve deeper into what exactly these ‘Nafs’ are and what The Qur’an says about them-

Type 1- Nafs al-Ammārah

"...indeed the soul is ever inclined to evil, except those shown mercy by my Lord..."
[Qur’an 12:53]

This is the worst kind of nafs to possess. The kind that doesn't rest until it personally sees you off to hell. The kind that doesn’t even let you feel fleeting guilt.

Some danger signs of Nafs al-Ammārah:

• Sins become routine + repentance becomes rare
• Dhikr feels boring+ scrolling feels fun.
• You keep justifying haram, "I deserve this lil bit of fun"
• You cant bring yourself to cry or feel a spiritual high
• 'Astaghfirullah'? What's that?
• You choose temporary gains and dunya over the akhirah. You simply don't care about morality.

But hold up! even this nafs isn't completely doomed- "except thise shown mercy by my Lord" - there's always redemption, albeit very difficult. Every saint has a past and every sinner- a future.

Type 2- Nafs al-Lawāmah

"And I do swear by the self-reproaching soul!"
[Qur’an 75:2]

This is the soul of the believer. Of an ‘abd. It blames itself for its sins and reflects deeply. It repents oft and holds itself accountable. It wrestles with guilt and has a loud conscience. The fact that Allah ta’ala swears by it is a testament that Allah honours this soul even though it has its own flaws. Subhan Allah.

When you’re fighting your desires and it shows-

• You hate how you keep falling back into that sin, again and again and again and again.
• "I can't believe i watched it again"
• You feel a little dead inside after sinning.
• You hate your sinning self and this self-hatred pushes you closer to Allah ta'ala.
• You go "Ya Allah, I’m so sorry, please forgive me" after sinning.

This is the kind of nafs that wants to see you in Jannah and juggles between hope and fear- hopeful of Allah's mercy and fearful of disappointing him.

Nafs al-Muṭmaʾinah

˹Allah will say to the righteous,˺ “O tranquil soul! Return to your Lord, well pleased ˹with Him˺ and well pleasing ˹to Him˺.”
[Qur’an 29:27-28]

Its a tranquil nafs and the most beloved to Allah- the one that has fought the temptations of this dunya and has WON. It is no longer attached to the dunya and is just a mere traveller that can't wait to reach its destination, the Jannah. It trusts Allah in hardships and knows that what has missed it was never meant for it in the first place. It craves prolonged sujoods and whispered duas. It doesn’t need validation from people so it does not place dunya over akhirah. Sins no longer feel pleasurable at all.

When Obedience Feels Sweeter Than Sin:

• Music is replaced by quranic recitations
• You dont get anxious when your plans fall apart, you know that Allah is the best of the planners
• You prefer peace, over proving a point.
• You prefer tahajjuds over late movie nights
• Quran brings tears to your eyes, it amazes you to no end
• You forgive even the ones who don't apologize
• “What would the prophet have done had he been in my place?”

But you don’t reach Nafs al-Muṭmaʾinnah without years of fighting Nafs al-Ammārah and Lawwāmah. You don’t arrive at a tranquil soul without first being broken by the commanding soul and then humbled through and through by the self-reproaching one.

Evaluate yourself.
Where do you stand?