The battle to rid oneself from the influences of the nafs ‘ammarah bi-su’, one’s lowly desires, and the influence of Satan and his devils is a spiritual jihad, known as mujahadah. The Prophet ﷺ said, “The one who wages jihad is he who wages jihad against himself.”[7] ‘Umar ibn Abdul Aziz رحمه الله said, “The best jihad is the jihad against desires.”[8] And Sufyan al-Thawri رحمه الله said, “The most courageous of people are the strictest in controlling their desires.”[9] The most important fight in this world is not against other people, but against our own desires and the devils who manipulate them.

Our most precious possession in this fight is our sincerity to Allah (al-ikhlas), the very essence of our faith. Hence, it is ultimately Satan’s primary target, the veritable king on the chess board. Ibn al-Qayyim asserts:

For among the most difficult things for the self at rest is to purify its deeds from Satan and the nafs ammarah for the sake of Allah. If even a single deed of it was accepted as it should be, He would be generous to him. But the nafs ammarah and Satan refuse to let even a single deed reach Allah.[10]

He then quotes an aphorism from an unknown spiritual master “who had knowledge of Allah and of himself,” indicating that knowledge of the psychological self is itself an important branch of divine gnosis. The spiritual master said, “By Allah, had I known that just one action of mine had reached Allah, I would be more excited for death (and thus Paradise) than a long-absent person is excited to return to his family.”[11] This is not to say one should wish for death, but only to illustrate the importance of sincerity.

From here we will examine various virtues and inward good deeds to demonstrate how the nafs ammarah bi-su’ and Satanic whisperings can corrupt our spiritual state, changing something righteous into something evil. Identifying these subtleties will help us uncover the enemy’s stratagems in the jihad within, thereby giving us an edge over them. This knowledge allows us to engage in the internal spiritual conflict consciously and deliberately, to go on the offensive rather than merely playing defense, which greatly increases our chances of a decisive victory, with Allah’s help.