Inner and Outer Struggle

 Importance of Fighting for the Cause of Allah

 

Alhamdulillah-ir-Rabbil Aalameen – Praise be to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds, the One Who has set order in creation and the One Who has given life to everything.

 

In an era filled with confusion and disorder, it is essential to remember that the noblest struggle for a sincere believing Muslim is against his own Nafs, against his own ego and passions – such a Nafs that seeks to divert him from the path of Allah. The Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) said after an expedition: “We have returned from the lesser Jihad to the greater Jihad” (Bayhaqi); that is, the struggle against oneself, against desires that lead to disorder/ chaos (fitna).

 

Allah tells us in the Qur’an: “And as for the one who fears to stand before his Lord and restrains his soul from passions, Paradise will be his refuge.” (An-Nazi’at 79: 41-42). This shows that the first duty is inner discipline, that is, to set a barrier against temptation and arrogance.

Battles of the Heart

The Struggle between Divine Will & Ego’s Wish 

In daily life, every person finds themselves confronted by an inner struggle; a battle not visible to the naked eye, yet very real within the heart and mind. It is not a war fought with swords or guns, but a silent conflict – a battle between good and evil; between light and darkness. It is a clash between divine guidance and personal desires; between what Allah has commanded and what the Nafs (the passionate soul) yearns to do. This struggle does not begin in the streets or in society; it begins within the heart itself. It is a constant battle; it starts from childhood and lasts until death. Whoever triumphs in this struggle achieves true success.

 

The Holy Qur’an describes the Nafs in various ways. There is the Nafs that inclines towards evil, known as “an-nafs al-ammarah bis-su’,” as mentioned in Surah Yusuf, Verse 54: “Indeed, the soul commands evil, except for the one upon whom my Lord has mercy.” This state is dangerous, for it normalises sin; it justifies disobedience; it turns what is forbidden into pleasure. Yet Allah, in His mercy, grants the opportunity to purify this Nafs, to transform it into a tranquil soul (an-nafs al-mutma’innah), as mentioned in Surah Al-Fajr: “O soul at peace, return to your Lord, pleased and pleasing.”