“The soul is a temptress and loves to look at beautiful forms and the eye is the guide of the heart. The heart commissions its guide to go and look to see what is there and when the eye informs it of a beautiful image it shudders out of love and desire for it. Frequently such inter-relations tire and wear down both the heart and the eye as it is said:

When you sent your eye as a guide for your heart one day, the object of sight fatigued you for you saw one over whom you had no power neither a portion or in totality, instead you had to be patient.”

~ Imam Ibn ul Qayyim al Jawziyyah, rahimullah (May God’s Mercy be upon him)

The following passage made me really happy because of the bold emphasis that science and religion do not clash.

“Conflict between religion and science was virtually unknown In Islamic Intellectual history.  The harmony between the two is epitomized in the life and work of the brilliant ninth century Muslim Chemist Jabir Ibn Hayyan, who repudiated alchemy as a valid science and laid the empirical foundations of chemistry.  His religious devotion earned him the spiritual designation of “the sufi.”  Ibn Hayyan began one of his renowned works on chemistry, The Book of Seventy (Kitab al-Sab’in), with the words: “Certainly the mention of God is more noble, majestic, and great than what follows.”  He opened the book with a lengthy discussion on the imperative of purifying the soul from ostentation and other spiritual defects as a prerequisite to the pursuit of scientific learning.

                Islam produces an array of religious scholars who also excelled in the rational and empirical sciences.  Ibn Rushd (Averroes), the learned Andalusian judge and legal scholar, left an influence on Islamic law that is felt even today.  His commentaries on Aristotle affected the course of European intellectual history.  He composed more than fifty works ranging from his primary fields of law and philosophy to medicine, psychology, zoology, and astronomy.  It is said that his medical opinions were as eagerly awaited in Muslim Spain as his interpretations of the law.  Likewise, Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, a noted Qur’anic commentator, theologian, and legal theorist, mastered the rational and empirical sciences of his age and compiled The Consummation of Ancient and Modern Ideas, in which he summarized the philosophical, theological, and scientific thought of prominent ancient and latter-day thinkers.”

Wow—I really like the line that I bolded.  Imagine…one needs to purify his heart/soul before embarking on scientific study!  It makes so much sense, and it embodies perfect adab (manners)!  I LOVE this.  Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could take a course on Tazkiyyat-un-Nafs (purification of the soul) before we had to take Chemistry and Biology? 

Then people would REALLY be studying for the sake of Allah!

This reminds me…I really need to be studying physics.

 <3 humanity fi-sabeelilah (for the sake of Allah)

The “eye” of any storm is always peaceful.  A storm rages and rebounds between calmness and severe thunder, lightning, and rain.  In the case of a hurricane, there are violent winds and ocean waves that have the ability to destroy.  The events of our daily lives cause us to recoil between calmness and complete anxiety and rage.  This rage can eventually create our downfall.  Thus, the soul of a human is similar to the storm because it is continually bouncing between peace and strife.  The goal is to permanently break free from the storm, for surely a believer is always content–even during times of tribulation.

The eye of the storm is like the fitra of the human being.  The fitra is the natural inclination within every human to believe in the Oneness of God, and thus we all have the ability to believe in Him and do good things.  There is a hadith that says, “Every child is born according to fitra.  Then its parents make it into a Christian, a Jew, or a Zoroastrian.”  The fitra is like the “eye” of the storm because it is pure and free from the corruption of the storm.  The purpose of life is to expand and nourish the eye so that it overtakes the storm or to break completely free from the storm and remain outside of it forever.  The fitra helps us to develop ourselves into Muhsineen (those who act beautifully, perfectly)–the highest spiritual level of a Muslim.  Once you are a Muhsin, YOU control the storm, instead of IT controlling you.  When strife comes to greet you, the Muhsin greets it with open arms because he/she has realized that it is actually a blessing, a purification, and a test from Allah.  Who can refuse a gift from Him, except one who is ignorant?  InshAllah we will all die as Muhsineen.  Ameen.

Three types of souls (The Arabic terms come directly from the Qur’an)

1. Soul that commands to evil (Nafs Al-Ammara)
This soul is obedient solely to the desires of the flesh, whether these desires are in accordance to God’s laws or not.  It seeks instant gratification.  These souls are heedless of God.

2. Blameworthy soul-(Nafs Al-Lawwama)
This soul obeys the desires of the flesh, but then feels guilty.  It rebounds between peace and strife (just like my description of the “soulstorm”).  These people struggle on the path to God.

3. Soul at peace-(Nafs al Mutma’inna)
This soul only desires God.  It obeys Him and does so willingly and enthusiastically.  This person is willing to sacrifice the desires of his/her flesh for the sake of God.  But then again, these sacrifices are actually what they want because…their only happiness is in pleasing God.  So in the end, you win!

The three types of souls match up with the three types of hearts.  I found a good article on the three types of human hearts: http://www.jannah.org/articles/purific3.html.

Peace…and may the eye (the good one) be with you! :)