The Essence of Islam – Volume III — Page 2
2 1 إِنَّ النَّفْسَ لَا مَّارَةُ بِالسُّوء. Essence of Islam-III. This means that it is a characteristic of Nafs-e-Ammārah that it incites man to evil-which is contrary to his excellence, and goes against his moral condition-and seeks to lead him to undesirable and sinful ways. Thus, to be drawn towards intemperance and evil is the natural state which dominates man until the moral state takes over and he begins to be guided by reason and understanding. Until that happens, he continues to follow his natural instincts in eating, drinking, sleeping, walking, anger and emotion etc. When, under the direction of reason and understanding, he begins to control his natural states and creates a balance, it is at this point that the three states cease to be natural and come to be known as moral, as we shall elaborate later. . The Second Source: The Self-Reproaching Self. The source of moral state, according to the Holy Qur'ān, is Nafs-e-Lawwāmah [the self-reproaching self. ] Allah says in the Holy Qur'ān: وَلا أُقْسِمُ بِالنَّفْسِ التَّوَّامَةِ 2. This means that: 'I call to witness the self which reproaches itself over misdeeds and all acts of intemperance. ". Nafs-e-Lawwāmah [the self-reproaching self] is the second source of human states; it gives birth to moral conditions and, at this stage, man is emancipated from his resemblance to animals. In the above verse, Nafs-eLawwāmah has been called to witness for the purpose of 1. Yusuf, 12:54 [Publisher] 2 Al-Qiyamah, 75:3 [Publisher]