Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Disiplining The "Nafs" (Self, Psyche, Ego, or Soul)

Nafs is an Arabic word (cognate of the Hebrew word "Nefesh" נפש ) which occurs in the Qur'an and means self, psyche,[1] ego or soul. In its unrefined state, "the ego (nafs) is the lowest dimension of man's inward existence, his animal and satanic nature."[2] Nafs is an important concept in the Islamic tradition, especially within Sufism and the discipline of gnosis (Irfan) in Shia Islam. Nafs means inner self - the evil side of your soul. It varies for every person. Tradition states it is a little black spot on the area where the person's heart is and it is mentioned in the hadith that the prophet Muhammad had this spot removed.


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