Re: The Proven Sufi Way of Training a Good Habit
Peace Kish Mish
Yes … I am saying that … MashAllah you have good understanding. The nufs has three types of states …
- Nufs-al-'Ammara - Always taking us towards evil
- Nufs-al-Lawwaama - Swapping from good and evil
- Nufs-al-Mutma’inna - A state of contentment
If we are untamed then the our desires will constantly take us towards the evil ‘*type 1) above’ *… the best way to punish and diminish this trait is not just to ignore it and not listen to it, but to subdue it with the opposite of what it wants. It will tell us that doing “good deeds” is like torture and it will tell us to do bad things …
So if we do bad deeds we should punish our nufs by doing a good thing in order that it diminishes, (note: diminishing nufs of any type increases the nufs in other types) … and if we are doing good deeds already and our nufs is telling us to stop - we put more pressure on the nufs, by doing more good deeds to tame it … This is what it means to take ourselves to account.
Also, the sunnah prayers are a means to cater for the inefficiencies of our faraid … On the day of judgement the quality of our prayers will be counted and the slack will be added to by our extra sunnah and nafila …
When a person moves from being a Muslim to the Mu’min then I would say that his or nufs state has improving … probably on the higher part of nufs-al-lawwama where doing the sunnah and nafila has become easy or like a habit … and in order to reach the mutma’in stage 3) of the nufs, then the person will be doing the sunnah and nafila out of pleasure … it will be like eating ice-cream on a hot day for the Muhsinoon out there … no longer will sunnah and nafila be a punishment but a form of nourishment …
Let’s say doing good is an acquired taste … at first it is bitter and later on tastes quite sweet …