Tazkiyah — A Psychological Act

The attainment of tazkiyah is not possible through any kind of verbal repetition, neither is it related to any kind of physical exercise. Tazkiyah is wholly a psychological act and can be attained only at that level.

A psychological act means an act at the intellectual level. The human mind is at the centre of all kinds of human development. It is in fact the mind which is the deciding factor in shaping the human personality. The non-purified personality and the purified personality are both products of the mind.

It is a positive intellectual development which is actually required for tazkiyah. That is, one has to develop one’s conscious mind to such an extent that it may become discriminating, it may convert negative thoughts into positive thoughts, it may have glimpses of the Creator in His creation and may discover spiritual aspects in material events.

It may reject Satan’s temptations, it may rise above the temptations of the self, it may distance itself from fruitless actions, it may make out its real well-wishers, it may accept advice, even if that be against its nature, it may develop anti-self thinking, and be able to set the goal of spirituality for itself, rising above material goals. One who thinks along these lines will become hereafter-oriented.

All these developments take place at the psychological level, being the result of deep thinking. One who cannot engage in deep thinking will never attain high levels of tazkiyah. The process of tazkiyah can be initiated only in one who is capable of deep thought. Tazkiyah, in fact, is another name for psychological purification. First of all, tazkiyah is performed at the psychological level and only then is it possible for tazkiyah to be achieved at the level of the whole human existence.