A person’s inner world contains openings inclined toward goodness, but it also has openings—called the nafs—that are exposed to evil. If the eyes, ears, tongue, and similar faculties are not kept under control, and if our actions do not seek Divine approval, then the channels through which Satan can infiltrate are left wide open. In the hadith, these openings and windows are referred to as the “satanic entry points” (lümme-i şeytaniye).

[1] It is through these gaps that Satan releases his arrows, slipping into the human heart. He sends countless waves of whisperings. At times he pushes a person toward indulgence, at times he stains their worship, and at times he casts doubts into their mind about faith. If we do not want to give room to the evils of the nafs and Satan, we must do our best not to leave even a thin crack through which they can enter.

The nafs is like a child; if you do not wean it in due time, if you do not restrain it at the right place, it will block your path for a lifetime. Even if you walk on the path of the Prophets, it will not leave you alone. It will keep troubling you at every turn. Yet if we honor our moral will and purify and refine the nafs, we can be freed from its harm. The nafs, which functions like Satan’s command center within our nature, can be transformed into the command center of the subtle spiritual faculties (lataif al-rabbaniyya) that connect us to the Divine. We can journey toward transforming the nafs al-ammāra (the soul that commands evil) into the nafs al-radiyya (the soul content with God). When we close the doors that are open to Satan’s influence, no matter how hard he tries to mislead us, he will collide with those sealed doors and retreat each time.

Why, then, has God placed such a formidable enemy—the nafs—within our very being? He placed it there so that, by possessing it, we would feel the need to stay alert against its attacks and take measures to protect ourselves. We spend our lives in constant struggle with this enemy that lies in ambush, waiting for a chance to make us slip with its countless tricks. To remain upright, we continually turn to God with remembrance, worship, and prayer, seeking His help. By taking refuge in Him, we strive to be safe from the harm of the nafs al-ammāra, which pushes us toward all kinds of evil. For this reason, we must remain in a constant state of vigilance and self-supervision; through discipline, spiritual striving, abstinence, asceticism, remembrance of God, the spiritual journey, and worship, we attempt to train and purify the nafs, entering the sphere of piety to protect ourselves. Considering how many good outcomes this struggle produces, one could even say that the nafs deserves a prayer of mercy for the virtues it ultimately helps us gain.

The Age of Ego and Hypocrisy

We are living in an age of ego, and the nafs has become more unrestrained than ever. Ours is a time when people are merely a drop in reality, yet they want to appear like an ocean. Though they are but a speck, they set their hearts on becoming like the sun. And if they rise to high positions, their ambitions grow even larger. They want to be welcomed with applause wherever they go, and they want people to stand before them in full deference. They enjoy it when others rise to their feet, show them respect, and shower them with admiration. They look down on others, seeing everyone else as nothing more than their attendants. God forbid, the only thing left unsaid is that they claim divinity for themselves. In fact, some may even harbor this thought deep inside but cannot voice it openly. In ancient times, Pharaoh had the audacity to declare it publicly; yet the elites of this age, being ego-driven and hypocritical in character, cannot bring themselves to say it out loud.

Some of these individuals—Muslims engaged in sacred rituals—can be seen pressing their faces to the Multazam[2] in the Kaaba, weeping, or rubbing their hands and faces against the Black Stone while begging God with deep emotion. But at the very moment they do these acts, their hearts may be as dark as the heart of Abu Jahl: even as they appear closest to God, they crave being seen, known, and admired by people. They do not hesitate to use their most sacred values—their religious symbols and beliefs—as stepping stones for personal gain. This makes it extremely difficult to recognize their true nature or to understand their emotional and mental world. If you fail to discern this, you may find yourself stabbed in the back. Since you cannot look into someone’s heart, you may easily be deceived by people who utter “God” at every turn and constantly speak about religion. For this reason, while maintaining goodwill toward people, we must not neglect the principle of cautious trust. We should not turn our backs on anyone before testing them, before filtering them through several trials.

Indeed, when a person sees themselves as pure, superior, and elevated, they fall into sins so great that even Satan would be left behind. The tragic part is that even after committing the gravest wrongs, such people still regard themselves as believers destined for salvation. They claim to believe in God, yet they unknowingly chase countless temporary idols, driven forward like racehorses. They think they are worshipping God, but in reality, they worship the world—its indulgence, bodily pleasures, sensual desires, and human impulses. In this sense, you can find many similarities between them and those who once worshipped idols such as Lat, Manat, Uzza, Isaf, or Naile.[3]

Someone who cannot break free from their own whims or let go of their caprices and expectations cannot fully be a servant to God. Deliverance from worshipping many idols lies in true servanthood to God. One who can genuinely serve Him pushes aside all idols tied to worldly allurements and temptations with a single sweep of the hand.

Everything Is from God

Those who recognize that everything comes from God ultimately succeed—while still honoring the role of human will. Those who attribute things to themselves, however, suffer loss after loss at the very moment they think they are winning. A person should avoid saying “I,” move from “I” to “we,” and then learn to behold “Hû.” Letting go of the “I” and embracing “we” is important because unity and harmony depend on it. Yet even the Divine graces that flow from unity and harmony come from Him alone. In other words, although saying “we” has its own value, the matter ultimately rests on “He.”

The pronoun Hû (“He”), with its sense of absoluteness, points to all the Divine Names and Attributes. At the same time, it hints that the Divine Essence is beyond human comprehension. If He had not granted us permission to address Him with “You” when we supplicate and plead before Him, using such an address would have been disrespectful.

A person can only be delivered from certain pitfalls, or overcome the problems they face, by recognizing their own nature, acknowledging their weakness, and correctly determining their position before God. If someone cannot know themselves and remains blind to their own reality, they begin to imagine greatness in themselves or claim virtues they do not possess. Yet even our existence is not our own. It is He who creates and sustains us. We are, we live, and we endure only through His creation and the blessings He continually creates and bestows—ever anew.

It is said that after serving God in worship for thirty years, Sufi Bayazid al-Bistami heard this call from the unseen: “O Bayazid! God’s treasures are filled with acts of worship. If your aim is to reach Him, then see yourself as small at His door and be sincere in your deeds.” Seeing oneself as small and acting with sincerity is more virtuous than going on pilgrimage every year, spending a lifetime in fasting, or performing a thousand units of prayer each day. A person with such sincerity finds it sufficient that God sees and knows their worship and good deeds; they do not try to display themselves or make their voice heard. Such a person begins for God, works for God, speaks for God, and seeks God’s pleasure in everything they do.

True Knowledge Is Knowing God

It is a painful truth that these realities are among the least known in our time. Unfortunately, today’s person cannot read themselves correctly; they cannot discover who they truly are. Because they do not know themselves, they cannot recognize their Lord properly. One who is not an arif of their own inner world—one who does not know themselves—cannot become an arif of God when looking outward to the world. Even many Muslims today do not know God as He should be known and do not revere Him as He should be revered. When they say “God,” when they say “I am a Muslim,” or even when they recite the testimony of faith, they unknowingly speak falsely. Since they do not understand their own nature and do not engage in inner contemplation, they cannot come to know God.

Because today’s person constantly directs their gaze outward, they fail to see their own flaws and shortcomings. They busy themselves with the faults of others, yet never turn back to examine themselves. But a person who hunts for flaws in others will spend their entire life committing faults of their own. One who does not self-reflect, who makes no effort to mend their own cracks and deficiencies, falls into mistake after mistake—each deviation followed by another. Can such a person truly be said to know God?

True knowledge is knowing God—marifatullah. True knowledge is admitting that neither sight nor insight can encompass Him, that He cannot be grasped according to His ultimate reality. True knowledge means that as one reflects on existence—from one’s inner world to the furthest reaches of the universe—one anchors every thought in the truth of “Hû.” A person who can look at creation through the lens of God has stepped onto the path of knowing. And God does not abandon such a seeker to their own ignorance. He teaches them what they need to know.

[1] Ahmad ibn Hanbal, al-Musnad, 3/121.

[2] The Multazam (Arabic) is the area between Hajar al-Aswad and the door of the Kaaba where pilgrims make supplications. It is believed to be a place where prayers are answered.

[3] Pre-Islamic idols: In the pre-Islamic era, idols were numerous, with the Kaaba in Mecca famously housing 360 of them, including Hubal and the prominent goddesses al-Lat, al-‘Uzzā, and Manāt. These idols represented various deities, natural forces, or tribal heritages and were carved from materials such as dough, bones, stone, and wood.