8/2/2019 The Two Aspects of the Soul-Harun Yahya-Www.islamchest

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HARUN YAHYA"Pride is to reject the truth and to view other people with

contempt."  MOHAMMED (saas)

Allah commands justice and doing good and giving to

relatives. And He forbids

indecency and doing wrong and tyranny. He warns you

so that hopefully you will pay heed.

(Surat An-Nahl: 90)www.harunyahya.com

www.jesuswillreturn.com

he “soul”, (in

Arabic, nafs) as

commonly used in

the Qur’an, means

“ego” or “ one’s

personality.”

In the Qur’an, Allah explains the two

aspects of soul: the one inspiring eviland wicked deeds, and the other,

guarding against every inculcation of 

evil. As the Qur’an makes it clear in

Sur at’Ash-Shams:

By the Soul, and the proportion

and order given to it; And its

enlightenment as to its wrong and

its right; Truly he succeeds that

purifies it, and he fails that

corrupts it! (Ash-Shams, 7-10)

The information provided in the

verses about soul is of great

importance: in the creation process of 

man, Allah inspired wickedness in the

human soul. Wickedness, that is

‘ f u c u r’ in Arabic, means “tearing

apart the limits of righteousness.” As

a religious term it means “committing

sin and stirring up rebellion, telling

lies, disobedience, transgression,

adultery, moral corruption...”

Apart from the wicked side of the

soul, from the Surat Ash-Shams we

know that Allah also inspired in the

soul a conscience i.e. a sense of what

is wrong and right for it. In the

second part of the ayah we learn that

one who sincerely accepts the

wickedness of his soul and purifies it

by the guidance of the inspiration of 

Allah, will attain salvation for all

eternity. This is indeed a certain and

true salvation; earning the approval,

mercy and heaven of Allah. Those, on

the other hand, who fail to banish the

wickedness from their souls will face

a fearsome end.

At this point an important conclusion

may be drawn: every soul has

wickedness in itself; the only way to

purify it is to accept it and to observethe limits of Allah by the guidance of 

Allah.

The difference between believers and

unbelievers becomes quite clear at

this point. Only Qur’anic teaching

provides an inner understanding of 

the wicked side of the soul and the

ways to remedy it. Identifying the

evil of the soul and purifying it are

characteristic of the true religion and

the messengers communicating it.

From the foregoing we have a clear 

understanding of the “evil” side of the

soul. However, the soul is also open

to the instigation of righteousness, in

other words, to the inspiration of 

Allah. This inspiration makes a

person turn to himself and restrain his

soul from fulfilling lower desires.

This inspiration leading man to

righteousness, this faculty of judging

between right and wrong is

commonly referred to as

“conscience.”

Conscience is an infallible compass

within the human soul continuously

calling man to righteousness. On that

account, conscience is, in a way, the

whispering voice of Allah. Provided

that a person listens to this voice and

embraces the basic principles of the

Qur’an, he will always proceed in the

right way.

As long as the individual follows the

voice of his conscience, he will be a

model displaying the attributes of 

Allah in his personality. Allah is

infinitely compassionate and

merciful; a person submitting himself 

to Him will also have mercy on

others. Allah is infinitely intelligent,so that a believer who serves Him

will also be intelligent. The closer he

feels to Allah and the more he

surrenders himself to Him, the purer 

he becomes in the presence of Allah:

“Those who have faith and do

righteous deeds, they are the best of 

creatures.” (Al -Bayyina. 7)

People cannot change the destinydetermined by Allah, can they?

This is a distorted understanding of destiny which is prevalent

in our society. For instance, people make superficial statements

about a patient who returns from death’s door, such as “he

defeated his destiny”. No one is able to change his destiny. The

person who returned from death’s door, didn’t die precisely

because he was destined not to die at that time. It is, ironically, the

destiny of those people who deceive themselves by saying “I

defeated my destiny” that they should say so and maintain such a

mindset.

Destiny is the eternal knowledge of Allah and for Allah, Who

perceives time as a single moment and Who prevails over the

whole of time and space; everything is determined and finished asa matter of destiny. We also understand from what He relates in

the Qur’an that time is one for Allah: occurrences that are going

to take place after our death (from our point of view) are related

in the Qur’an as past events already experienced. Allah is not

bound by the relative time frame in which we are confined. Allah

has willed these things in timelessness: people have already

performed them and all these events have been lived through and

are at an end.

Quick Grasp of Faith

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