You Need to Read (Islamic Lectures Collection)

The three types of nafs (inner self)

Allah has mentioned in Quran three types of nafs. First type of nafs is called Nafs e Ammara. Indeed this nafs commands a person, takes full control over a person. Complete take over. For example, if a person has a feeling of lust, the person obeys his lust. If a person gets angry, the anger will take over him. He may use foul language, issue divorce, say terrible things. Greed will make a person do lie, fraud, deceit. Or he might simply fantasize about making more money. He gets duped and deceived into trying to make more money. This nafs commands a person so strongly, that during committing the sin, there is no hesitation, remorse, regret or sadness. However, if a person with iman has nafs e Ammara, then after the nafs makes him do that sin, the iman makes him feel regret. Iman is in the heart, it makes the person cry. The heart can do nothing about it, because the person has chosen to be a slave to the nafs.

Second type of nafs mentioned in Quran is Nafs e Lawwamma, sometimes nafs takes control of them, but while they're sinning, they incriminate themselves, they view themselves to be criminal in the act. They feel blame, shame, pain while doing that sin. After the sin they feel even more shame. They make even more firm tawbah. The person who has Nafs e Ammara doesn't make tawbah, he feels so little shame that he doesn't even go on the path of tawbah. Don't think anybody and everybody can do tawbah, this is a gift from Allah.

When they make tawbah, means they seek Allah's forgiveness, make niyyat never to do it again, but the nafs draws them again into sin. The nafs captures them again and again, after the sin they make tawbah.

Third type of nafs, Nafs ul Mutmainnna. This nafs, third nafs, is the culmination of tazkiyah. This is the nafs the person gets after tazkiyah. Before tazkiyah, nafs e Ammara, during tazkiyah, nafs e Lawwama, after tazkiyah, nafs e Mutmainna. Mutmain means happy, content. Happy means happy with whatever pleases Allah. The nafs still has passions, pleasures and desires, but only what Allah has allowed. To align your nafs with the will and wish of Allah swt. To make your personality, your temperament, your outlook, exactly aligned with what Allah has expressed in Shariah. Such a nafs dislikes what Allah dislikes. Second type of itmenan it gets is no tension, no friction with Shariah or deen. A sign of this is: no sinning. A sin is a kink in the system. This is the process of tazkiyah.

(Traps of Shaytan and Steps of Tazkiyah, talk by Shaykh Mufti Kamaluddin Ahmed on 20th November, 2015).