Quranic Verses on Struggling with the Self

Quranic Verses on Striving Against the Self

Numerous Quranic verses highlight the importance of striving against one’s self. Here are some of these verses:

  • Allah the Exalted states: (Indeed, those who have believed and emigrated and struggled in the cause of Allah, they can expect the mercy of Allah. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful).
  • Allah the Exalted also says: (Or did you think that you would enter Paradise while Allah has not yet made evident those of you who fight in His cause and made evident those who are steadfast).
  • Furthermore, Allah proclaims: (March forth, whether equipped lightly or heavily, and strive with your wealth and your lives in the cause of Allah. This is best for you if you only knew. If it had been an immediate benefit and a short journey, they would have followed you, but the distance was too great for them. They will swear by Allah, “If we could, we would have gone out with you.” They destroy themselves, and Allah knows that they are lying).
  • Allah states: (Allah has forgiven you; why did you grant them permission until it becomes distinct to you who are truthful and you know who are the liars? Those who believe in Allah and the Last Day do not ask for permission to strive with their wealth and their lives, and Allah is Knowing of the righteous. The ones who ask for permission are those who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day, and whose hearts are in doubt, and they, in their doubt, waver).
  • Allah asserts: (Not equal are those believers who remain seated, except for those who are disabled, and those who strive in the cause of Allah with their wealth and their lives. Allah has granted a privilege to the strivers with their wealth and their lives over those who remain behind, by a degree. And to all Allah has promised the best; but He has preferred the strivers over those who remain behind with a great reward).
  • Additionally, Allah states: (Indeed, those who have believed and emigrated and struggled with their wealth and their lives in the cause of Allah, and those who gave shelter and helped – they are allies to one another. And those who have believed but have not emigrated, you will not have any guardianship over them until they emigrate. And if they seek your help in religion, you are obliged to assist them, except against a people between whom and you is a treaty. And Allah is Seeing of what you do).
  • Allah questions: (Or did you think that you would be left alone while Allah has not yet made evident those who strive among you and take not other than Allah, His Messenger, and the believers as allies? And Allah is All-Aware of what you do).
  • Allah declares: (And whoever strives only strives for the benefit of himself. Indeed, Allah is Free from need of the worlds).

Prophetic Sayings Regarding Striving Against the Self

There are various hadiths that discuss the concept of self-striving, including:

  • The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) stated: (I was commanded to fight the people until they bear witness that there is no deity but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah. When they say it, their lives and properties become protected from me except in the right of it, and their reckoning is with Allah).
  • Sahl ibn Saad al-Saaidi (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: (The Messenger of Allah -peace be upon him- said: “A day of guarding in the path of Allah is better than the world and what is in it; and a place where one of you would have placed his whip in Paradise is better than the world and what is in it. And a morning or evening spent by a servant in the path of Allah is better than the world and what is in it).
  • The Prophet (peace be upon him) noted: (Every dead person’s deeds are sealed except for the one who is stationed in the path of Allah; for his deeds are increased until the Day of Resurrection, and he is protected from the trial of the grave).
  • He also remarked: (Two eyes will not be touched by the Fire: an eye that wept from the fear of Allah, and an eye that spent the night guarding in the cause of Allah).
  • The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) asserted: (One month of guarding is better than fasting for a year. And whoever dies while guarding in the cause of Allah will be secure from the greatest terror, will be provided for on the day of judgment, and will continue to receive the reward of a guardian until Allah -the Exalted- resurrects him).

Insights on Striving Against the Self

Many early scholars have offered wisdom on the topic of self-striving, including the following remarks:

  • Someone once asked Abdullah ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) about jihad, and he responded: “Begin with yourself and strive against it, and then begin with your soul and fight it.”
  • Sufyan al-Thawri (may Allah have mercy on him) stated: “I have never dealt with anything more difficult than my own self; sometimes it is with me, and sometimes against me.”
  • Al-Hasan (may Allah have mercy on him) remarked: “No wild animal is in greater need of a bridle than your own self.”
  • Yahya ibn Muadh al-Razi proclaimed: “A person’s enemies are three: his worldly affairs, his devil, and his own self. Guard yourself from the world by being ascetic, from the devil by opposing him, and from your own self by abandoning desires.”
  • Ibn al-Mubarak (may Allah have mercy on him) commented: “The statement of the Prophet (peace be upon him): ‘Indeed, victory comes with patience,’ encapsulates victory in both forms of jihad: the visible enemy and the hidden enemy. He who endures in both will be victorious and have power over his enemy, while he who does not endure and panics will be subdued and become a captive or victim to his enemy.”

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