From Qutu’l-Qulub

Three courts where we will be tried

On the day of reckoning, a person will be held accountable in three courts for every single deed. In the first of these courts, they will be asked: “Why did you do it?” in the second: “How did you do it?” and in the third: “Who did you do it for?”

These courts are places where people will be held accountable before their Lord as His servants. In the first court, the servant will be shown their deeds and asked, "Did you do this for the sake of your Lord, or did you do it for the pleasure of your nafs?" If a person acts because their Lord has ordered them, even though their ego does not want it, they pass this court successfully and move on to the second court. This is where knowledge is asked, and the servant is queried about how they did the deed. In the second court, the servant is asked, “You had to do this deed, and you did it. But did you do it on purpose, or did you do it inadvertently?” This is another vital point of question that we will be held answerable for because Allah does not accept any deed that is not done correctly. It is possible to do a deed properly by knowing its principles. Performing a deed rightly is only possible by learning the ilm required for its performance.

If the servant comes out of this trial safely, they are brought to the third court and asked: “Who did you do this for?” In this court, whether or not the servant acted with sincerity is questioned. Only those servants who have worshiped sincerely and are protected by Allah will come out of this trial safe and sound. Almighty Allah said about them: “[Iblis] said, “By your might, I will surely mislead them all, except Your chosen servants among them.” (Sad, 82-83)

It is a requirement of the word ikhlas (sincerity) to wipe away the ma siwa Allah, that is, everything other than Allah, from the heart. This is the meaning of the phrase “La ilaha illallah.” There is no fear for the servant who reaches this state of being while in this world. That servant will wait until the time of meeting with the Almighty Lord.

In the court where ikhlas is questioned, the servant is addressed as follows: “You knew how to do the deed, and you did it. But what was your purpose in doing it? Who did you do it for? If you did it for Allah, He has a reward for you. If you have done it for another person like yourself, go and get your reward from them. If you did it for worldly gain, you already took your reward while in the world. Or did you err and do this for the sake of your nafs? If that is the case, your deed was in vain and has no reward; your purpose was not to obey the order of your Lord while doing your deed. While doing it, you did not aim to gain Allah's approval. In that case, you deserve to be punished because you have incurred the wrath of Allah and failed to fulfill your duties because you didn't know your responsibilities towards Allah well enough, or you were acting ignorantly on this issue. You were a servant created by your Lord but turned to others, seeking to please them with your actions. You were eating the rizq (sustenance) your Lord gave but were working to please someone else.

Didn't you hear this command of Allah? “Surely, the religion (i.e.,the worship and obedience) is for Allah only” (Az-Zumar, 3). You should have obeyed Him alone. Unfortunately, you did not accept your Lord’s following command either: “Even though they were only commanded to worship Allah ˹alone˺ with sincere devotion to Him in all uprightness” (Al-Bayyinah, 5). Have you never heard this address made to mankind in the verse: “The things that you worship besides Allah have no power to give you sustenance: then seek your sustenance from Allah.” (Al-Ankabut, 17)

These are some of the examples in the Quran. Scholars know that these words contain warnings for them. Those who are wise comprehend the reminders made to them by thinking about them. This addressing is also a condemnation of Allah for those who are heedless. His harsh speech is more severe for them than the painful torment. Because Allah has made religion and worshipping only for Himself, He has not created any of His creations equal to Himself. He informed His servants of this: “Surely, the pure religion (i.e., the worship and obedience) is for Allah only.” (Surah Az-Zumar, 3) That is, the path that is free from shirk and is pure belongs to Allah only. Ikhlas is to cleanse the heart from the harmful desires of the nafs. The opposite of this is shirk. Shirk means seeing the wishes of the nafs or people’s approval as equal to Allah’s.

 Controlling Your Nafs or Being a Prisoner of Its Desires

For a murid (disciple) to be righteous, they must accept that divine attributes belong only to Allah and adopt the characteristics of a servant. They must abandon wicked habits and take on the qualities of believers, and they must rid themselves of the attributes of animals and gain those particular to spiritual beings, that being a person of dhikr and knowledge. Only then can they be one of the righteous who have been accepted into the divine presence. For one to reach this state, it is necessary to control their nafs.

If you want to control your nafs, you must subject it to stringent measures and not give it any opportunities because if you do not resist your nafs, it will prevail over you. If you can't control it, it will command you. So if you want to overcome your nafs, do not leave it to its whims and harmful desires. Resist its wasteful habits and foul urges. If you wish to stand firm against your nafs, block the paths to its desires, and leave it weakened. Otherwise, it will strongly oppose you and stand in front of you to fight you.

The first way to control your nafs is to always take it to task, keep it under control, and make good use of the thought that allows you to notice your secret desires. If your heart desires to turn to Allah, you must forge ahead on this path, to your death if need be, to practice it, and you must work hard not to let it slip from your grasp. However, if your heart's desire is for someone other than Allah, then you should make an effort so that it does not take root within your heart. If it has already settled there, you should try to remove it and change that thought. Because if you can't change it, it will change you.

Brief Words of Advice

The interpretation of the hadith, “Good deeds can extend one's lifespan” (Al-Tirmidhi, Al-Mustadrak, 394; Ibn Hibban, Sahih, 872), is like the following prayer that is famous among people: “May Allah give your life blessings; may your life be blessed.”

Having a blessed life means gaining in a short life the rewards that one cannot obtain in a long one lived in ghaflah. A spiritually awake person will do good deeds and, perhaps within a year, reach higher ranks that heedless people wallowing in ghaflah cannot manage in twenty.

Imam Mujahid (rahmatullahi alayh), one of the great Tabi'in, said: “Ibn Abbas gave me the following words of advice. Without a doubt, these words are more valuable than gold and silver. He said: ‘Never utter vain and useless words. Avoiding this will bring you peace. When you make a mistake, fear Allah and do not think you are untouchable. Never speak unless it is appropriate. Many people talk nonsense and do injustice to others by uttering inappropriate words. Thus, they are consigned to strife, violence, and distress. Do not get into a conflict with anyone because a decent person will embarrass you by not responding to your verbal jabs. And an uncouth person with a wicked tongue will hurt you with their words. Speak fondly of your brother when he is absent, just as you would love to be spoken of by him. Forgive him as you would love to be forgiven by him. Try to act knowing that if you do good, you will be rewarded, and if you do bad, you will be punished.’”

Ali Kaya