This article will explore the issue of accounting oneself (Muhaasabat An-Nafs) according to the Tafseer of the Qur’an, the Sunnah of the Prophet (saw) and the statements of the Predecessors and Scholars
From the
Quran
Allah (swt) states:
"O You who believe! Have taqwa of Allah and
let each person (Nafs) look to what it has sent forward for tomorrow. Have
taqwa of Allah. Allah is aware of what you do."
[TMQ 59:18]
Ibn
Katheer (rh) states in his Tafseer of the Aayah: "and let each person (Nafs) look to what it has sent forward for
tomorrow": "It
means: Account yourselves before you will be accounted and look to that which
you have put down for yourselves in terms of righteous actions for the day of
your appointment and your presentation before your Lord and know that He is
knowledgeable of all of your acts and circumstances and that nothing at all is
hidden from Him".
And Allah (swt) states:
"No! I swear by the self-reproaching self (a
believer)."
[TMQ 75:2]
.
Al-Qurtubi (ra) said in
his Tafseer of the Aayah: "And
the meaning of An-Nafs Al-Lawwaamah i.e. the Nafs of the believer which you do
not see him except that he blames himself. He questions himself: What did I
intend by this? It is that you do not see him except that he is reproaching and
admonishing himself. This is what Ibn 'Abbaas, Mujaahid and Al-Hasan amongst
others said."
Al-Hasan
said: "It is, by Allah, the Nafs
of the Mu'min (Believer). The believer is not seen except that he is blaming
himself: What did I intend in my speech? What did I intend in my food? And what
do I want to achieve by talking to myself? And the Faajir (openly disobedient,
rebellious) does not account himself".
Mujaahid
said: "He is the one who blames
that which has gone by and is regretful and blames himself, asking himself in
regards to the bad: Why did I do that? And in regards to the good: Why did I
not do more of that? And it is said: It has blame attached to it. It is also
said: It (the Nafs) blames itself with that which other than it would find
blame. So it is upon these understandings that the Lawwaamah (the one
who blames himself a lot) is upon the meaning of Laa'imah (the blamer) and it
is (here) a praiseworthy attribute and description."
Allah (swt) states:
"That Day man will be told what he did and
failed to do. In fact, man will be clear proof against himself"
[TMQ 75:13-14]
Al-Maawardi (ra) said in
his Tafseer of the first of these two Aayaat: [There are three interpretations: One is that he will be a witness
against himself with the proof that has been brought against him like that
which Allah (swt) states:
"We have fastened the destiny of every man
about his neck and on the Day of Rising We will bring out a Book for him which
he will find spread open in front of him. 'Read your Book! Today your own self
is reckoner enough against you!'" [TMQ 17:13-14]
The second interpretation is that his limbs will
witness against him and his actions, which was the view stated by Ibn 'Abbaas
(ra) and this is in line with the meaning of the speech of Allah (swt):
"Today We seal up their mouths and their hands
speak to us, and their feet bear witness to what they have earned."
[TMQ 36:65]
The
third meaning is that he sees and is aware of the shortcomings and faults of
others whilst being careless of his own faults in relation to what is deserved
in terms of reward and punishment. The 'Haa' letter in 'Baseerah' is for the
purpose of emphasis.
As
for the following Aayah:
"In spite of any excuses he might offer."
[TMQ75:15]
There are five interpretations: One of them is that
its meaning is that even if he seeks to apologize and excuse himself on that
day, then it will not be accepted from him, and this was the view of Qataadah.
The second is that he will throw down his excuses i.e. that he will strip off his
clothing (stripped down), which was the view of Ibn 'Abbaas. The third is that
it means that he will present his argument which was the view of As-Saddiy and
the fourth meaning is that he will drop his coverings, and coverings (Sutoor)
in the language of Yemen means excuse or plea, which was the view of
Ad-Dahhaak. And a fifth meaning can be understood which is that if he leaves
the excuses and capitulates he will not be left].
From the
Prophetic Sunnah
The
Nabi (saw) indicated towards the
meaning of the Nafs Al-Lawwaamah i.e. the Nafs of the believer who always
reproaches himself when he stated the following Hasan Hadeeth recorded by
At-Tirmidhi and Ahmad.
Ahmad
in his Musnad and Al-Haakim in his Mustadrak related from An-Nawaas Bin Sam'aan
Al-Kilaabiy who said: The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: "Allah puts forward
the example of straight path: there are two fences with opened gates at its
sides and there are lowered curtains over the gates and there is a caller, at
the end of the path, says 'hold fast to the straight path and do not go astray'
and there is another caller above him, whenever he sees someone intend to open
one of these gates he says 'Woe to you, never open it; because if you opened
it, you would enter in it.'" So (in this example) the straight path
symbolizes Islam and the two fences are what are the limits set by Allah 'Azza
Wa Jalla and the doors are the prohibitions of Allah and the caller upon the
path is the Holy Qur'an and the caller that is above the path is Allah's
preacher in the Nafs of every Muslim."
And Anas bin Maalik (ra)
related from the Messenger of Allah(saw)said: "Al-Kayyis (the one who is
determined to gain as much from every opportunity) takes himself to task and
works for that which is after the death and the 'Aajiz (deficient/incompetent)
is the one whose Nafs follows its desires and he makes (fanciful) wishes upon
Allah (i.e. he says it's ok that I have done such and such because Allah is all-forgiving
etc...)" Al-Imaam Ahmad and At-Tirmidhi.
Umm Salamah (ra) said: The
Messenger of Allah(saw)said:
"When Allah wishes good for a servant he makes a Waa'izh (Admonisher/one
to remind) from the persons Nafs which commands him (to obedience) and forbids
him (from the acts of disobedience)"
As-Suyootiy in Al-Jaami' As-Sagheer.
Statements
of the predecessors and Scholars
Muhaasabat
An-Nafs means: Strictness in reproaching it (the Nafs) and monitoring it.
Abu
Bakr As-Siddeeq (ra) said: "Whoever abhors his Nafs for Allah, Allah
would make him safe from His abhorrence (i.e. the anger of Allah)"
Al-Imaam
Ahmad related from Abu Ad-Dardaa' (ra) that he said: "A man does not
reach full comprehension or understanding until he abhors people for Allah; and
he then returns to his Nafs and he abhors it with greater vehemence."
Ibn
ul-Qayyim (rh) said: "It
(accounting the Nafs) is distinguishing between what he has and what is upon
him (meaning the servant/slave) so that what he has accompanies him and he
performs that which is upon him because he is a traveller on a journey from
which he will not return".
And
he said: "Accounting the Nafs is
done until it is known what it has and what is upon it. He does not allow it to
be relaxed or abandoned in regards to these rights so that he wastes them and
becomes negligent of them.".
Al-Maawardi
(rh) said in regards to the meaning of Al-Muhaasabah: "That the person examines at night that which
he did of actions in the day. If they were praiseworthy then he continues upon
them, follows the same pattern and imitates that. If however they were not
praiseworthy then he redresses if possible and does not repeat its like in the
future".
In
regards to the Nafs Al-Lawwaamah Sa'eed Ibn Jubair and 'Ikramah said: "It means to blame (reproach) upon the basis
of the Khair and Sharr (Good and evil) and it does not mean that you have
patience in the good and bad times."
Qataadah
said: "Al-Lawwaamah is
Al-Faajirah (unrighteousness)" whilst Mujaahid said: "He regrets that
which has past and says: 'If only I had done...' or 'If only I had not done..."
