Nafs – The Enemy Within

The human being is a walking laboratory designed for the purpose of observing and understanding Allah, who created him from the lowest of the low to the highest of the high. Man's animal nature, comprised of bodily functions and egoistic desires, is known as the nafs. The nafs is tied to the material world, and is therefore restricted by the temporary quality of all creation. The perspective from which the nafs perceives reality is itself. This self-biased aspect of the human being is part of the triad which describes him more thoroughly. For the purpose of simplification, nafs can be thought of as the outer man, ruh (soul; spirit) as the inner man, and aql, the composite faculties of rational discrimination and decision-making, as the bridge between the two.

The basic motivation of the nafs is survival, self-preservation. This inherent urge to stay alive and reproduce itself colors its behavior. Void of wisdom, the nafs is prone to conduct itself on a reactive basis, as higher knowledge is not within the realm of its operation. Although he has an animal nature, man is distinguished from and considered a higher being than an animal because of his rational and spiritual capacity, even though his actions far too often do not reflect that capacity.

In traditional Sufi lore nafs is likened to a donkey. The Sufi asks him- or herself: Am I riding the donkey, or is the donkey riding me? The method of Sufism is designed to help the murid, a student of Sufism, identify his nafs so that he can conquer it. The point is for the murid to gain control over the nafs, so that his or her actions and thoughts are Allah-based and not self-centered. When he succeeds, he achieves the optimum balance between his outer, material, self and his inner, spiritual, one. The Sufi’s intention is to be in a continuous state of vigilance vis-a-vis his own nafs. In that way, he proves to Allah that he is choosing Him and not nafs. For example, nafs might incite him to cheat on an exam in school, but when he chooses not to cheat he has shown Allah that His pleasure with his actions is more important to him than any temporary benefit derived from cheating. Having nafs is a natural and necessary part of the human condition; having one’s nafs under control is the condition of the insan-i-kamil (mature human being).

The intensity of the struggle with his nafs’ desires is the standard Allah uses to judge man and reward his efforts with closeness to Him. The more choices made for Allah’s sake, the closer man comes to knowing Allah. In exercising his free will in the right way, he learns to fulfill his destiny as a human being, to be a knower of Allah, His deputy, and, finally, His lover.

Life in the world can be seen as a long series of creating nafs-attachments, as our desires and expectations grow along with us. The Sufi murid quickly learns the considerable magnitude of his attachments, and the seemingly endless ways he has learned to put his trust in other than Allah. He realizes that he himself is the idol that must be broken in surrendering to the true God.

The nafs is a very stubborn idol, prone as it is toward self-preservation. Any attempt at tampering with its long-cherished habits is naturally met with extreme resistance. Therefore, in tasawwuf different apects of the nafs are tackled in sequence, starting from the roughest and most obvious, to the more subtle characteristics.