Love Thy Self

[quote] Today, we're taught to loathe ourselves.

We are taught that the source of all evil

is the self. This isn't true.

 

Or rather, it need not be true.

 

And is primarily ONLY true because of the

self fulfilling prophecy of believing that it is true.

 

Islam came to free you and enrich your

self and spirit. Not to make you hate it.

Not to have you turn into a twisted

self-hating self-righteous sinner.

 

You might have heard that there are 3 types

of nafs (self):

 

- The commander of evil

- The blaming self

- The tranquil/secure self

 

And these are all mentioned in the Quran.

 

But. Here's the thing. I don't think that these

are meant as broad generalisations for you as

an individual.

 

So you get people who's nafs (self) commands

them to do evil with the opposite gender. But 

in the realm of charity and giving, it is 

tranquil/secure.

 

And in fact. If that person could work on themselves

such that they could elevate it to a tranquil self

in that context, then the problem would drop

and fall away.

 

But who teaches us that we ought to hate

ourselves? That hating ourselves is akin to

tazkiyah (self purification) ?

 

The people who teach us that are all wrong.

They need help. I'm serious.

 

Did you know that there are people. Famous

people. That believe in sadness as a way of

getting closer to Allah ?!

 

I won't mention any names. There's no need.

May Allah Guide us all.

 

I'm not talking about the need to be patient when

you are afflicted with difficulty/sadness. No.

 

I'm talking about people who say that in order

to get closer to Allah, you need to experience

sadness. To create it, even if you're happy.

 

As if life wasn't full of ups and downs by itself ! 

And what happened to being grateful to Allah !

 

They teach you how to depress

yourselves. All under the guise of 'spirituality'

 

And this is 100% wrong. Allah,

Subhanah wa Ta'ala says:

 

"Indeed, with the remembrance of Allah do

hearts find peace/tranquility" surah: Ar-Rad, verse: 13

 

And depression is not tranquility. Trust me.

Before I studied shariah, I was/am a therapist. 

I see depressed people all the time.

It's not a tranquil experience. Honest.

 

So going back to my question. What made Abdullah

ibn Umar want more bir ?

 

The simple answer is:

He loved himself.

 

Do you love yourself ?

 

Did you feel awkward just thinking about that ?

I wouldn't be surprised if you did. Not at all.

 

We're made to hate ourselves and that is wrong.

I have so many proofs for this. So many.

 

I'll use just one. Allah, 

Subhanah wa Ta'ala, 

entices us in the Quran with jannah. Why ?

 

He, swt, Scares us with hell. Why ?

He,swt, Calls to us: "oh you who believe?"

 

Because He, swt, loves us.

He, swt, wishes for us guidance and what's best.

 

So how can we hate ourselves when The Creator

Loves us ?!

 

We can't. It's not right. It's not righteous. And it

usually leads to more sinning.

 

So the big lesson is that you have to love

yourself.

 

If you don't, you won't want what's best for it (ie,

yourself). If you keep treating yourself like an

enemy, then it will keep fighting and resisting

you. It doesn't feel good and it doesn't work.[/quote]

AbdelRahman Mussa