To perform self-purification

 

How to perform self-purification:

Before going into the details of how to perform self-purification we must know that it can never be attained except through the methods explained by Rasulullah ﷺ.

Allah tells us;

 “It is He who has raised among the unlettered people a messenger from among themselves who recites His revelations to them, and purifies them, and teaches them the Book and wisdom, for they had formerly been clearly misguided-"

(TMQ, 62:2).

Ibnul-Qayim tells us;

 “Self-purification can only be attained through the methods of the Prophets. Allah Rabbul Jalil sent them for the very purpose of self-purification and He entrusted them to this mission so they can invite people to it, teach it, explain it and show us how to do it. They have been sent to cure the souls of the nations because purifying the souls is much more difficult than curing the bodies.

So those who tend to cure themselves through sports and seclusion are only like the patients who cure themselves depending on their own views; and where will those views stand from the professional opinions of doctors? The Prophets are the doctors of the hearts and there is no way to cure those hearts except through them, at their hands and through submitting to them. May Allah Rabul Jalil aid us all.

 Self-purification can be achieved through many things and most important of which are:

1)    Monotheism: Allah Rabbul Jalalluh calls it in His Book,

“And woe to those who associate others with Allah - Those who do not give zakat, and in the Hereafter they are disbelievers."

(TMQ, 41:6-7).

The word ‘zakat’ here is interpreted by Al-Bahr Ibn Abbas  meaning, “They do not testify that there is no God but Allah.”

Ibnul-Qayim said,

“This verse is about monotheism ‘testifying that there is no God but Allah and believing in Allah’ with this the hearts are purified because they deny the presence of any other deity but Allah; this is indeed the essence of ‘zakat’ and growth if nothing else… The original thing that purifies the hearts and souls is monotheism.”

Allah describes polytheism as being an abomination and impurity in saying, “Then shun the abomination of the deities and shun all falsehood."

(TMQ, 22:30),

 and, “Believers, know that the polytheists are impure..."

(TMQ, 9:28).

 Both verses explicitly mean that purity and cleanliness can only be achieved through monotheism and that’s why Moses said to the Pharaoh, “…and say, "Will you reform yourself? Do you want me to guide you to your Lord, so that you should fear Him?"

(TMQ, 79:18-19).

 2)    Praying: One of the best acts of worship that help with self-purification. Allah says,

“He who purifies himself, who remembers the name of his Lord and prays, shall indeed be successful."

(TMQ, 87:14-15).

3)    Rasulullah ﷺ told us that purifying our souls through prayer is just like purifying our bodies with water. Abu-Hurairah RA narrated that Rasulullah ﷺ said;

“Imagine that there was a river at your doorstep and that you bathed in it five times a day, would that leave any dirt in your body?” They answered, “No, nothing at all!” So he said, “This is exactly like the prayers you perform five times a day. They wash out your sins the very same way.”  Jabir Ibn Abdullah RA narrated that Rasulullah ﷺ said,

“The five prayers are like a river running at your doorstep and in this river you wash yourself five times daily.”

4)    Charity: Allah Rabul Alamin  says,

“Take alms out of their wealth to cleanse them and purify them, and pray for them; your prayer will be a comfort to them…"

(TMQ, 9:103)

 Sheikh Al-Saady said,

“This means that no one can be purified until he pays the zakat that purifies him and nothing else but the zakat can accomplish this part because the purification that comes by the zakat can never be accomplished unless we pay it.

 5)    Abandoning sins and forbidden acts: Allah Rabul Jallaluh says,

“He who purifies it will indeed be successful,"

(TMQ, 91:9),

and, “and he who corrupts it is sure to fail."

(TMQ, 91:10).

Sheikhul-Islam says, “Same goes for the soul and the actions; they are not purified till whatever contradicts with them is removed. No man will be purified except if he abandons evil because it corrupts his soul.” Ibnul-Qayem also said, “So the cleansing of hearts hinges on their purity just the same way the cleansing of bodies hinges on expelling everything corrupted and bad.” Allah Rabul Jalalluh  says,

“…But for the grace of Allah and His mercy upon you, not one of you would ever be purified; but Allah purifies whom He pleases. Allah is all hearing and all knowing."

(TMQ, 24:21).

This verse was mentioned just after Allah forbid fornication, defamation of married women and marrying the fornicators. This means that self-purification can be achieved by forbidding all this.”

 

6)    Holding ones’ self-accountable. Ibnul-Qayim said, “Purifying the soul and cleansing it hinges on holding it accountable and this is the only way to do it… By holding it accountable we can realize its shortcomings and we can hence seek to fix them.”

 

7)    Calling Allah. We must call Allah Rabul Jalalluh  and implore Him to help us purify ourselves. Rasulullah ﷺ used to pray, “O Allah! Grant me the sense of piety and purify my soul as You are the Best to purify it. You are its Guardian and its Protecting Friend.”