Holy war for self-control
By Haider Zaman
During the return march from the victories of Makkah and Hunayun, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said to some of his companions "We have returned from the lesser holy war to the greater holy war." And when one of them asked "What is the greater holy war?" He replied "it is the war against the soul (Nafs).
There is a message of fundamental importance for mankind in the above saying of the Prophet. People have waged and won wars, have acquired every kind of knowledge about the physical world and have conquered all physical hurdles in their ways. Yet they know very little about their inner-selves and are rather constantly losing control over their souls, the prime movers of all human actions. That's why despite all means of physical protection in place, the people never had such awesome and fearful life as they are leading today.
Despite the availability of all material provisions to meet their wants the people were never so discontented as they are today and despite having the means of all physical comforts at their disposal they never felt so uneasy and uncomfortable as they feel today. And that is why the Prophet termed the war against the soul, which in fact means struggle for the acquisition of control over the soul, as the greater holy war.
According to the Quran, every human soul has three inclinations. One is the inclination towards doing wrong, evil and sinful acts, termed as Nafs-i-Ammarah (12:53). The other is the inclination towards realisation and repentance i.e. to realise immediately if one does something wrong, that what he has done is wrong, and repent over it or rather reproach oneself for it, termed as Nafs-i-Lawwamah (75:2). The third is the inclination towards doing good and righteous deeds, termed as Nafs-i-Mutmainnah (89:27), also called the soul at peace because satisfaction and peace of mind are the natural outcome of doing good and righteous deeds.
The Quran also signifies the frailties and weaknesses common to all human beings that have close bearing on all the three inclinations of the soul in the sense that they either activate Nafs-i-Ammarah or suppress one or the other of the two other inclinations of the soul. They are: the inability to resist desire (4:27,28), leaning towards unfairness and injustice (14:34), hastiness (17:11), ingratitude (17:67), contentiousness i.e. not prone to easily accepting own's faults (18:54), niggardliness i.e. not prepared to part with what one has (17:100) and anxiety (70:19,20).
At the same time the Quran highlights the qualities that the human beings have been endowed with that can be of great help in making up or overcoming the said weaknesses or frailties. As it says "He gave you hearing, sight and heart that you may be grateful" (16:78).
In Arabic idiom, heart is considered as the centre of intelligence and affection. Hence, the word "heart" in the verse is to be understood as having reference to intelligence and affection. The word "grateful" in the verse implies making right use of the qualities mentioned therein. Human beings have also been endowed with the quality of conscience i.e. the ability to make distinction between right and wrong in regard to one's own conduct (91:8) and provided necessary guidance (76:3).
Of all the frailties common to human beings, the inability to resist desire is the main moving force of Nafs-i-Ammarah and hence the basic cause of the evils that the people are prone to. For example, if a person commits theft, it is not the thing stolen that has impelled him to do so but the desire that he wanted to fulfil by stealing that thing that impelled him to commit theft. Desire by itself is not a bad thing. It is a part of human nature and is the main source of motivation. It becomes a bad thing when it turns into lust and overpowers the faculties of reasoning and conscience.
The Quran says "and who goes farther astray than he who followed his lust without guidance from Allah" (28:50). And again it says "do not follow lust for it will lead you astray from the way of Allah" (38:26). The first wrong that the human beings committed soon after their creation was because of uncontrolled desire. It was desire that impelled Adam and Eve to do that which they were forbidden to do and because of which they were expelled from the gardens (7:20-24).
Likewise, the first murder committed on earth was because of envy, an off-shoot of uncontrolled desire, when one of the two sons of Adam killed the other (5:30). In one of his last sermons, the Prophet cautioned the believers thus: "I fear not for you that you will set up gods beside God but I fear for you this world, lest you seek to rival one another in worldly gains." The Quran also says "your craze for more and more and mutual rivalry for worldly gains has made you heedless" (102:1). Craze for more and more worldly gains and resultant rivalries are also the offshoots of lust.
With the aid of qualities and guidance that Allah has bestowed on the human beings, they can overcome or control their desires and thereby suppress Nafs-i-Ammarah to the desired extent. For example, a person wants to become rich which is not a bad thing by itself. He applies his mind and works out two options to achieve this object. One is to earn more by working hard and putting forth more efforts which could be a lengthy process indeed. The other is a short-cut i.e. to commit theft. Simple desire may impel him to adopt the short-cut if he can do it safely. But conscience will make him feel that even if he can do it safely and become rich overnight, it will still fall in the category of major sins for which he will be answerable to Allah Who sees everything.
The use of the faculty of reasoning becomes more effective and meaningful when it is complemented by the use of the faculty of conscience coupled with the fear of Allah. As the Quran says "O believers, if you fear Allah He will provide you with a criterion (to judge between right and wrong)" (8:29).
The term "Jihad" in essence means struggling or striving hard. When it is initiated for some noble cause i.e. for the prevention of something wrong or for the promotion or achievement of something right, it is termed as Jihad in the way of Allah, even if it does not involve any conventional fighting. And when the struggle is initiated with a view to acquire control over the soul, the prime mover of all human actions, good or bad, right or wrong, it could obviously and more appropriately be termed as the greater holy war as the Prophet termed it.
The other thing that we can learn from the above quotations is that the cause of many ills besetting the human society these days lies in the very souls of the people. The earth will become a place truly worth living when, following their normal pursuits, the people do not become unmindful of keeping their souls in control for which the Quran prescribes an excellent prescription.
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