One of the greatest benefits of self-purification is that it gives the ones who practice it happiness in this life before the afterlife. Ibnu-Jawzi says, “He who seeks to purify his conditions must seek to purify his deeds.”
Allah says,
“If they had followed the right path, We would have provided them with abundant rain (provision)." (TMQ, 72:16).
Ahmad and Al-Hakim narrated in the Divine Hadith, “Had my servants obeyed me I would have provided them with provision at night and sun at day and would not have let them hear the sound of thunder.”
Al-Darani said, “He who is pure finds purity and he who is muddled finds muddle. He who does well at night is rewarded in the morning and he who does well in the morning is rewarded at night.”
Our forefathers used to go around the gatherings saying, “He who seeks to have a lasting health let him fear God.” Allah also says, “He who purifies it will indeed be successful, and he who corrupts it is sure to fail." (TMQ, 91:9-10).
The importance of self-purification
for man:
1) Allah swears by self-purification in His Book eleven times and He swears that those who miss it will be the losers.
He says, “By the sun and its rising brightness"
(TMQ, 91:1).
2) Your “soul” is your worst enemy because it always keeps tempting you to oppress, to love life and to add on all the ailments of the heart. That’s why Rasulullah ﷺ would always seek refuge in Allah from the evils of the soul (4) like in the narration of Abu Hurayra who said that Abu Hatem heard the Prophet reading,
“And inspired it [with discernment of] its wickedness and its righteousness,” (TMQ, 91:8)”.
Then he said, “Oh Allah, inspire my soul with its righteousness and purify it. You are the best to purify it! You its guardian and its master.”Ibnul-Qayem, may Allah have mercy on him, said, “The scholars, as different in their methods as they were, have all agreed that the soul can stand between the heart and reaching Allah, and that no one will reach Allah unless he vanquishes his soul and wins it over.”
3) Self-purification is the pathway to paradise.
Allah says, “but one who fears to stand before his Lord and restrained himself from base desires, shall dwell in Paradise."
(TMQ, 79:40-41).
4) The human being is always
seeking perfection and so he must seek to purify and educate himself. These
“souls” get sick with the very same ailments our bodies get sick with. They
need constant nourishment and care, they need constant follow-up and they always
need goodness just the same ways our bodies keep packing on energies and
knowledge. That’s why we always need to keep an eye on ourselves because they
are the “pots” of our faith and the most valuable item we have is faith; our
lives are useless without it. So we have to keep developing our faith and
growing it through self-purification.
