(Continued)
Some people are in a constant struggle with themselves. Sometimes, their heart, which is the locus of knowledge and faith is victorious and controls the soul, and at other times the soul defeats it. Therefore, he is obedient sometimes and disobedient another other times. He is in a constant struggle with himself defeating his soul one time and being defeated at other times.
Other people are overcome by themselves. Their soul has defeated and imprisoned the heart, and thus it remains sorrowful for what it sees and knows while it is powerless to do anything in that kingdom. Thus, it is said: "A captive is the one who is captured by his passion and whose heart is jailed away from Allah." When the heart is overcome by the pleasures of the worldly life, faith within the heart is also jailed and turns captive so that it can neither get out nor control other physical organs. It knows the harms of forbidden deeds and it forbids other organs not to do them but they do not surrender to it. The soul which is a persistent enjoiner of evil enjoins, forbids and completely controls the kingdom and the physical organs are submissive to it. Such a man is fully aware of himself and realizes that he does not observe the limts of Allah The Almighty and does evil deeds and acts of disobedience, yet he is powerless because he is addicted to disoebdience. When you remind him to fear Allah The Almighty, he expresses his weakness to abandon the act of disobedience and he is always overcome by the whispers of his soul.
The long captivity by the desires of the self reverses the position of the heart from resisting against evil and differentiating the truth from falsehood to considering evil as good and good as evil. Such a heart has been reversed and it has become a hypocritical heart, as the Prophet, described. The result is that there will be two types of hearts: "A black and dusty heart, which is like an uneven vessel that neither recognizes good nor rejects evil, except the desires that are impregnated into it ….." [Muslim]
It no longer recognizes what is good as good or what is evil as evil. Rather, it considers the whispers of the soul as the truth – this is where the real danger lies. It is not a state of reverse as long as one recognizes the truth even if he is unable to achieve it. However, the true danger lies in seeing the truth as falsehood; when a person views adherence to religion as evil; considers reciting the Quran and reading the books of knowledge as harmful. What should one do in such a situation, which is clearly deviation and the essence of heresy?
Ramadan is a great opportunity to control ourselves. It is a time when each one of us should ask himself: What is your position? Are you one of those who control the self, which is a persistent enjoiner of evil? Have you tasted the pleasure of worship? Or do you still force yourself to worship? When you perform the voluntary night prayer one day, do you abandon it for ten days? When you fast a day, do you abandon fasting for a month? Thus, your self always overcomes you, and you neither spend for the sake of Allah The Almighty nor tire your body to learn, teach, call to Allah The Almighty and worship Him. Thus, each one of us is certainly aware of the position of his soul and who is the victorious side in its battle with the desires of the self.