PURIFICATION OF THE SELF
The Most Noble Task

PURIFICATION of the self (Tazkiyah in Arabic) is another name for a religious and spiritual development of a person. This act of personality development is not performed through a self-devised course, but it is accomplished by employing the approach mentioned in the Quran and Sunnah (practical model of the Prophet Muhammad). The word Tazkiyah means purification. What does it mean to purify?

One of the sayings of the Prophet informs us that God creates a human being exactly in accordance with nature. Then, he begins to be influenced by his environment. This process goes on till it makes him a completely conditioned person. When he reaches a mature age, his nature has been affected to such an extent that the person who was born as Mr Nature becomes Mr Conditioned. At the time of birth, he was a simple person, but later he becomes a product of his environment due to the influence of the environment.

It is necessary that a person becomes his own conscience-keeper. He should protect himself from the conditioning of the environment, he should develop the ability of selfintrospection, and thus maintain himself in his original nature.

The task of purification of the self is the kind of action that man himself has to do. When a man has a negative thought, when he starts to deviate from the path of nature after being influenced by some temptation, then his internal keeper should immediately alert him, and he should return to his nature again. The name of this action is Tazkiyah. It is this action that turns a man into a purified soul. This purified soul will find an eternal place in Heaven.