The human heart is prone to crime. But if this criminal mind is not punished, he gets exposed. Allah the Almighty says, ‘… the human mind must be prone to evil deeds. But he is not, my Lord has mercy on him.
When the believer takes stock of his nafs or mind, he will see that the mind has committed some sin, or has shown slackness in worship. As a result, it is his duty to punish the mind for the remedy of what has escaped. So that this does not happen again in the future and the mind becomes active.
If you do not keep the mind active, if you do not take account and do not punish the mind will not be straight. Surprisingly, man sometimes punishes his family members and servants for character defects or some other misconduct, but he does not punish himself if he commits any evil deed. But punishing oneself is a good and prudent deed. Sometimes it is seen to give neglect and concession in the name of punishment. However, the main purpose of punishing oneself is to keep one’s mind loyal to Allah and to engage oneself in good deeds which have not been done before. Such was the method of the predecessors in punishing the mind. Here are some examples:
Once the congregation of ‘Asr Salat of’ Umar ibn al-Khattab (ra) ran away. He donated a piece of land as punishment for that. The value of which was two lakh dirhams! (Umdatul Kari: 12/173)
Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) used to spend the whole night in worship when the congregation of any prayer was missed! (Ihyau Uloomiddin: 4/406)
Once the Maghrib prayer of Omar bin Abdul Aziz (Rah.) Was delayed so much that two stars could be seen in the evening. That is why he freed two slaves, although the time for Maghrib prayer is not over yet! (Ibn Taymiyyah, Sharhul Umdah: 4/210)
Ibn Abi Rabia (R.H.) once missed two rak’ats of Fajr Sunnah. In that grief he freed a slave. (Ihyau Uloomiddin: 4/406)
When Ibn Aun was called by his mother, he responded to her call. But then his voice became a little louder than his mother’s. That’s why he freed two slaves! (Hilayatul Awlia: 3/39)
Therefore, the predecessors used to call it punishment to use the mind for good and to keep busy in jikir-azkar and doa-ajifa. The hadiths which mention many rewards in a short period of time are also helpful in punishing the nafs.
Abdullah bin Amr bin As (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said that the name of the person who recites 10 verses (in the night prayer) will not be written in the list of the careless and lazy. And the name of the one who recites one hundred verses (in the night prayer) will be written in the list of ‘Kanitun’ or devotees. And he who recites one thousand verses (in the night prayer) will be listed as ‘Mukantarun’ or the Abundant. (Abu Dawood, Hadith: 1396)
If a Muslim pays close attention to this hadith and other such hadiths, he will feel remorse at the thought that so many moments of his life have been wasted and that he has been deprived of so many rewards just to relax his body. And such a short period of time will make you engage in more rewarding work.
The amount of devotion and sacrifice that the devotees of the past have accepted in the way of Allah is a perfect example of pious people like them in today’s age. Abu Darda (RA) said, “I would not have liked to live for one day without three things.” One. To be thirsty for Allah in the midday sun (It is fun to endure the heat of the desert for the purpose of preaching the religion of Allah and jihad) and to be thirsty).
Two. To prostrate in the middle of the night (it is fun to perform tahajjud prayer and recite Qur’an in it).
Three. Opportunity to get up and sit down with people who collect good things like picking the best results. (Ibn al-Mubarak, Az-Juhad, p. 26)
Tabei Masruk’s wife said that Masruk used to pray for such a long time that most of the time his legs were swollen due to standing. By God! Out of pity for her, I often sat behind her and cried. (Ibn al-Mubarak, Az-Juhad, page 95)
