When the Nafs Becomes a God [45:23]

From Yusuf’s story we learn what it looks like to be in command of Nafsul Ammarah. Many of us are not as much in control of ourselves when faced with strong urges and so it is very easy to fail the test of temptation. 

In this verse from Sura Al Jathiya, the Quran talks about such people:  

أَفَرَأَيْتَ مَنِ اتَّخَذَ إِلَهَهُ هَوَاهُ وَأَضَلَّهُ اللَّهُ عَلَى عِلْمٍ وَخَتَمَ عَلَى سَمْعِهِ وَقَلْبِهِ وَجَعَلَ عَلَى بَصَرِهِ غِشَاوَةً فَمَن يَهْدِيهِ مِن بَعْدِ اللَّهِ أَفَلَا تَذَكَّرُونَ 

[45:23] Have you then considered him who takes his low desire for his god, and Allah has made him err having knowledge and has set a seal upon his ear and his heart and put a covering upon his eye. Who can then guide him after Allah? Will you not then be mindful?

In this verse, the Quran is inviting us to observe. To reflect on a person who lets their desires control them. Whatever their feelings tell them to do, they do. They may not literally worship their feelings, but they surrender to them. Their actions are in the service of removing discomfort and feeling good in the moment. 

In context of our discussion on Nafs Ul Ammarrah, we could say that when someone gives in to the whisperings of his lower self, and submits and surrenders to his lusts and desires, he would fall in the description of this verse. 

The word used for desire (hawā) refers to the soul’s inclination toward passion and lust. The root of the word carries meanings like “to blow” or “to fall.” Scholars explain that this suggests something that tosses a person around, like wind, and ultimately causes them to fall or tumble. It can overthrow a person and lead them into ruin. A related word from the same root describes falling into an abyss in the Hereafter. The same root is also used to describe emptiness, such as the empty hearts of disbelievers on the Day of Judgment.

The Prophet [saw] is reported to have said: “The intelligent person is one who takes his soul to account and works for what comes after death. The foolish person is one who lets his soul follow its desires yet continues to hope in God.”

What Does It Mean to Take Desire as a God?

A god is something that:

•         We obey without question
•         We submit to
•         We prioritize above everything else
•         We organize our lives around
•         We sacrifice for

When someone takes his hawā (his desires, impulses, whims) as his god, it means that desire becomes the ultimate authority. Instead of letting values, guidance or better judgment drive decisions, actions are in response to the question:  What do I feel like right now?

Now here’s the thing: Allah [swt] has created desires and impulses within us. They are not evil within themselves. However, desire was always meant to be a servant, not a master.

The scary things is that modern culture has so normalized giving into desire. Statements like this are everywhere: 

“Follow your heart.”
“Do what feels good.”
“Live your truth.”
“You deserve it.”

So what happens when feelings become your lord? When desire becomes the decision-maker of our actions? 

Modern psychology would call this “The Tyranny of Impulse”

We know that feelings, impulses and cravings can be very intense. They can be so strong that they can hijack our brain and cloud our better judgement. [have you ever wondered, “I don’t know what came over me or I cannot believe I did that”] 

Another thing about feelings is that they are not always in line with our better judgement, our values or our goals [my goal may be health and my cravings for chocolate are not in line with this goal]

Feelings however are temporary. They rise and they fall. Research on urge surfing and impulse control shows that cravings peak and fall like waves. If we don’t act immediately, they pass.

However, when we give in and obey every impulse, what we are doing is strengthening the neural pathways and training the brain to expect instant gratification. We weaken self-regulation and literally allow ourselves to be “tossed like the wind” according to our temporary whims. The more we give into momentary cravings and temptations, the stronger they become so our mind is simply lying to us when it tells us: just this once.

The insight from psychology helps us understand the statement in the verse which says Allah leaves such a person astray. This does not mean that God misguides people arbitrarily. The Qur’an explains elsewhere that God misleads only those who persist in wrongdoing. Going astray is the result of a person’s own choices and iniquities. Because of repeated wrongdoing, their hearts become veiled, covered, or sealed, preventing true understanding. Many verses describe hearts being sealed or covered so they can no longer grasp spiritual truth.

When someone follows their vain desires and treats their cravings like something sacred, those desires become a covering over their hearing, sight, and heart. As a result, words of truth no longer affect them. In this state, they are no longer worthy of guidance, and so they remain astray. Their neural pathways have become very habituated towards giving into temptation. It now happens on auto-pilot. 

Scholars explain that God has provided every person with the means to find guidance. But when someone wrongs themselves and insists on following error, they deprive themselves of that guidance. It is not that God wills misguidance for them; rather, their deprivation of guidance is the natural result of their own choices. Is this making sense now?

So guidance does not disappear. Our capacity to hear and respond weakens. We now have an addicted brain. We are blinded and made deaf by the strength of our desires. We keep giving in. We are enslaved to our temptations against our own better judgement. 

But Islam came to liberate us from slavery, including slavery to our own impulses. Islam explains that true freedom is not doing whatever we want in the moment. True freedom is having the ability to choose what is right [and in our long term best interest] rather than over what is easy in the moment. 

The verse ends by asking: “Will you not then remember?” This is one of the Quran’s many invitations to reflect, to think deeply, and to awaken spiritual understanding before it is too late.

Learning to pause:

One of the most powerful spiritual and psychological practices is incredibly simple: Create a pause between stimulus and response. 

When an urge or temptation arises:

•         Pause.
•         Name it
•         Notice it
•         Breathe

Research shows that even six seconds of pausing gets our better judgment back on track. Six seconds of awareness weakens the illusion that desire is a god which needs to be submitted to. Yes 6 seconds. 

Can we practice pausing for 6 seconds today before we react or give in to anything today?