Tazkiyah or purification, is a Quranic term. The Quran tells us that tazkiya is the means for human salvation (91: 9-10). According to the Quran (20: 76), only those people will be admitted to the world of Paradise who have purified themselves in this world.

The literal meaning of tazkiya is ‘purification’. Just as iron ore passes through various difficult stages and finally acquires the shape and form of a useful machine, a human being’s character passes through difficult stages and emerges as a purified soul.

What are these difficult stages? These stages are when we are faced with unwanted conditions. These unpleasant conditions are the situations that we need to pass through in order to develop our character. When our ego gets a beating and yet we remain firmly established in justice, when we feel angry but control our anger, when we get some position of honour but still remain modest, when we feel the fire of revenge burn within us but douse out the flames inside, when we experience hatred towards someone but still retain concern for his wellbeing, when we acknowledge others even though we are not compelled to, are a few examples of situations that serve to purify us. These are opportunities for our tazkiya. They build within us a lofty character.

Unpleasant conditions are the situations that we need to pass through in order to develop our character. Such opportunities cannot arise in normal conditions. They arise only in abnormal situations. According to the Quran (41: 35), in this examination, only those people succeed who are patient.

Source: Spirit of Islam June 2016