Read this text carefully to understand who our real enemy actually is.
The word nafs (lower self) is a crucial and dangerous term that appears in many verses of the Holy Qurʾān. Allah says in Sūrah Qāf: {And We have already created man and We know what his nafs (lower self) whispers to him, and We are closer to him than his jugular vein.} (Qāf 50:16)
We believe in Allah, remember Him, pray, read the Qurʾān, and give charity. So why do we still fall into sin and wrongdoing?
Because we turned away from our real enemy and went after a weak one instead. As Allah says in the Qurʾān: {Indeed, the plot of Satan has ever been weak.} (An-Nisāʾ 4:76)
Our true enemy is the nafs (lower self). It is like a ticking bomb living inside every single person.
1⃣ Allah says in Sūrah Al-Isrāʾ: {Read your record. Sufficient is your nafs (soul) this Day as an accountant against you.} (Al-Isrāʾ 17:14)
2⃣ And He says in Sūrah Ghāfir: {This Day every nafs (soul) will be compensated for what it earned. No injustice today! Indeed, Allah is swift in account.} (Ghāfir 40:17)
3⃣ And He says in Sūrah Al-Muddaththir:{Every nafs (soul), for what it has earned, will be retained.} (Al-Muddaththir 74:38)
4⃣ And He says in Sūrah An-Nāziʿāt: {But as for he who feared the position of his Lord and prevented the nafs (lower self) from inclination...} (An-Nāziʿāt 79:40)
5⃣ And He says in Sūrah At-Takwīr: {A nafs (soul) will know what it has brought forward.} (At-Takwīr 81:14)
Notice how all these verses focus on the nafs (lower self). So what is it?
Scholars explain it this way: History's famous idols—like Al-Lāt, Al-ʿUzzā, Manāt, Suwāʿ, Wadd, Yaghūth, Yaʿūq, and Nasr—were all smashed and destroyed. But one false god remains today, still being worshipped alongside Allah.
Allah says: {Have you seen he who has taken his own desire as his god?} (Al-Jāthiyah 45:23)
When someone lets their selfish desires control them, they stop listening to religious guidance or moral advice. They just do whatever their heart wants.
When Qābīl (Cain) killed his brother Hābīl (Abel), Allah said: {And his nafs (lower self) encouraged him to kill his brother...} (Al-Māʾidah 5:30)
The Prophet Muḥammad (peace be upon him) used to pray in his opening sermon (khuṭbat al-ḥājah): "We seek refuge in Allah from the evil within our nufūs (lower selves) and the bad results of our actions."
He also told Ḥuṣayn ibn ʿUbayd (may Allah be pleased with him): "Accept Islam, and I will teach you words that will help you." Once Ḥuṣayn accepted Islam, the Prophet (peace be upon him) taught him to say: "O Allah, guide my mind and protect me from the evil of my nafs (lower self)."
If you do not protect yourself from your nafs (lower self), you cannot get close to Allah, because it stands directly between you and Him. People fall into two groups:
1⃣ Those who let their nafs (lower self) conquer them, rule them, and ruin them.
2⃣ Those who conquer their nafs (lower self) and master it until it follows what is right.
Allah describes both groups in Sūrah An-Nāziʿāt: {So as for he who transgressed and preferred the life of the world, then indeed, Hellfire will be his refuge. But as for he who feared the standing before his Lord and restrained the nafs (lower self) from desire, then indeed, Paradise will be his refuge.} (An-Nāziʿāt 79:37–41)
O Allah, grant our nufūs (lower selves) true piety (taqwā) and cleanse them. You are the best to cleanse them, and You are their Protector and Master. O Allah, protect us from the evil within ourselves and from the whispers of the devils.
O Allah, make the Qurʾān the joy of my heart, the light of my chest, the healer of my sadness, and the cure for my worries.
