Al-Nafs al-lawwama

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Ethics

Moral Verses
Ifk Verses • Al-Ukhuwwa Verse • Al-It'am Verse • Al-Naba' Verse • Najwa Verse • Verse of Trusts • Al-Sulh Verse

Moral Hadiths
Hadith of qurb al-nawafil • Hadith Makarim al-akhlaq • Hadith of Mi'raj • Hadith Junud al-'Aql wa l-Jahl

Moral Virtues
Humility • Contentment • Generosity • Controlling Anger • Truthfulness • Hilm (forbearance) • Asceticism • Bravery • Chastity • Insaf (Equity) • Silat al-Rahim • Wara' • Islah dhat al-bayn

Moral Vices
Hubris • Greed • Envy • Lie • Backbiting • Namima (Talebearing) • Miserliness • Disobedience to Parents • 'Ujb (self-conceit) • Sum'a • Cutting blood relation • Spreading grave sins • Ingratitude • Hypocrisy • Tabdhir

Moral Terminologies
Jihad with the self • Self-critical soul • Commanding Soul • Soul at peace • Self-reckoning • Muraqaba • Musharata • Sin • Morality lessons • Istidraj

Scholars of Ethics
Muhammad Mahdi Naraqi • Ahmad al-Naraqi • Sayyid 'Ali Qadi Tabataba'i • Sayyid Rida Baha' al-Dini • Sayyid 'Abd al-Husayn Dastghayb • Muhammad Taqi Bahjat

References of Ethics

Qur'an • Nahj al-balagha • Misbah al-shari'a wa miftah al-haqiqa • Makarim al-Akhlaq • Al-Mahajjat al-bayda' • Tanbih al-khawatir wa nuzhat al-nawazir • Jami' al-sa'adat • Mi'raj al-sa'ada • Al-Muraqabat

Al-Nafs al-lawwāma, (Arabic: النَّفْسِ اللَّوَّامَةِ) or the self-critical soul, is a psychological state in which one criticizes oneself, or feels guilty, for his or her wrongs. The term is derived from the second verse of Qur'an 75. Muslim scholars have provided different accounts of the self-critical soul in their exegeses of this verse.

The self-critical soul is contrasted to commanding soul and soul at peace. According to Muslim scholars, man has just one identity. When he or she follows reason, their self is known as self-critical, and when they act against reason, the same self is known as commanding, and when they achieve peace, it will be characterized as being at peace.

The Notion

The self-critical soul is, according to Murtada Mutahhari, a stage of the soul higher than the commanding soul and lower than the soul at peace.[1] Muhammad Taqi Misbah Yazdi suggests that it is a state of the soul in which one regrets his or her wrongdoings, feeling guilty about them.[2] The term appears in Qur'an 75:2: “And I swear by the self-critical soul.”

The self-critical soul has been identified with the so-called “conscience” which blames one’s own self after committing a wrongdoing, leading to guilty or troubled conscience.[3]

The Difference from the Commanding Soul and the Soul at Peace

The self-critical soul is contrasted to the commanding soul and the soul at peace.[4] The commanding soul is a state of the soul in which one does not comply with his or her reason, turning to wrongdoings.[5] The soul at peace is the state in which one develops the habit of compliance with reason and arrives at peace.[6]

The Compatibility of Different Souls with the Oneness of Human Identity

According to Muslim scholars, the fact that man has different souls such as self-critical, commanding, and at peace, is not in conflict with the fact that man has the same soul or identity. They believe that man has only one soul or identity, and these notions denote different stages and states of the same soul.[7]

According to Muhammad Taqi Misbah Yazdi, the soul sometimes commands wrong deeds, in which case it will be characterized as the commanding soul, and it sometimes blames or criticizes itself for its wrongdoings, in which case it will be dubbed self-critical.[8]

Murtada Mutahhari suggests that man does not have two “I”s or two “selves.” Indeed, he has one self with different degrees. He is sometimes at its lowest where he does not comply with reason—the commanding soul—and sometimes at higher levels where he is more vigilant, criticizing oneself for his wrongdoings—the self-critical soul.[9]

The Self-Critical Soul in Exegetical Books

In exegetical books, different conceptions of the soul are presented, such as the following:

  • The soul of all people, both righteous and evil-doers, on the day of resurrection, since on that day evil-doers will blame themselves for having failed to be pious, and the righteous will blame themselves for having failed to worship more frequently in this world. This is attributed to 'Abd Allah b. 'Abbas.
  • It is the sinner's soul on the day of resurrection, because on that day they will blame themselves for their sins.
  • It refers to pious people who will blame the sinners on the day of resurrection.[12]

Notes

  1. ↑ Muṭahharī, Majmuʿa āthar, vol. 3, p. 595-596.
  2. ↑ Misbāḥ Yazdī, Āʾyīn-i parwāz, p. 26.
  3. ↑ Maḥfūzī, Nafs-i lawwāma, p. 12.
  4. ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 67, p. 37; Muṭahharī, Majmuʿa āthar, vol. 3, p. 595-596; Misbāḥ Yazdī, Āʾyīn-i parwāz, p. 26-27.
  5. ↑ Misbāḥ Yazdī, Āʾyīn-i parwāz, p. 27; Muṭahharī, Majmuʿa āthar, vol. 3, p. 595-596.
  6. ↑ Misbāḥ Yazdī, Āʾyīn-i parwāz, p. 27.
  7. ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 67, p. 36-37; Muṭahharī, Majmuʿa āthar, vol. 3, p. 595; Misbāḥ Yazdī, Akhlāq wa ʿirfān-i Islāmi, p. 8.
  8. ↑ Misbāḥ Yazdī, Akhlāq wa ʿirfān-i Islāmi, p. 8.
  9. ↑ Muṭahharī, Majmuʿa āthar, vol. 3, p. 594-596.
  10. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, vol. 20, p. 103; Fakhr al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-ghayb, vol. 30, p. 720.
  11. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, vol. 20, p. 103.
  12. ↑ Fakhr al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-ghayb, vol. 30, p. 720-721.

References

  • Fakhr al-Rāzī, Muḥammad b. al-ʿUmar al-. Mafātīḥ al-ghayb. Beirut: Dār al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1420 AH.
  • Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Biḥār al-anwār al-jāmiʿa li-durar akhbār al-aʾimmat al-aṭhār. 2nd edition. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1403 AH.
  • Maḥfūzī, ʿAbbās. Nafs-i lawwāma. Māhnāma-yi Pāsdār-i Islām. No 206. Winter 1377 Sh.
  • Misbāḥ Yazdī, Muḥammad Taqī. Akhlāq wa ʿirfān-i Islāmi. Maʿrifat, No 127, 1387 Sh.
  • Misbāḥ Yazdī, Muḥammad Taqī. Āʾyīn-i parwāz. 9th edition. Qom: Intishārāt-i Muʾassisa-yi Āmūzishī wa Pazhūhishī-yi Imām Khomeiniī, 1399 Sh.
  • Muṭahharī, Murtaḍā. Majmuʿa āthar. Tehran: Intishārāt-i Ṣadrā, 1389 Sh.
  • Mawlawī, Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad. Mathnawī maʿnawī. Daftar-i panjum, part 81. Ganjūr website. Accessed: 2021/09/04.
  • Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn al-. Al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. 5th edition. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, 1417 AH.
  • Shabistarī, Maḥmūd. Kanz al-ḥaqāʾiq. Ganjūr website. Accessed: 2021/09/04.
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