اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ بِجَمِیعِ مَحَامِدِه کُلِّهَا عَلَی جَمِیعِ نِعَمِهِ کُلِّهَا… اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ مالِکِ الْمُلْکِ مُجْرِی الْفُلْکِ مُسَخِّرِ الرِّیاحِ فالِقِ الاْصْباحِ دَیّانِ الدّینِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمینَ اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی حِلْمِهِ بَعْدَ عِلمِهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی عَفْوِهِ بَعْدَ قُدْرَتِهِ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ عَلی طُولِ اَناتِهِ فی غَضَبِهِ وَهُوَ قادِرٌ عَلی ما یُریدُ
و نشهد أن لا اله الا الله وحده لا شریک له، و أَنَّ محمداً عبده و رسوله ارسله بالهدی و دین الحق لیظهره علی الدین کله و لو کره المشرکون
اوصیکم عبادالله و نفسی بتقوی الله و اتباع امره و نهیه، و اخوفکم من عقابه
The eighteenth sign of the pious:
إِنِ اسْتَصْعَبَتْ عَلَيْهِ نَفْسُهُ فِيمَا تَكْرَهُ لَمْ يُعْطِهَا سُؤْلَهَا فِيمَا تُحِبّ
Whenever his concupiscence rebels in doing things it does not like, he will deprive it of what it likes.
We talked in the stages of the “relationship” , and we said that in order to practice this Qur’anic command, one must place conditions and plan the day at the beginning of each day, which is called “placing conditions”, and during the day, take control of himself, which is called “taking care”. And at the end of the day, look at his actions during the day and examine it, which is called evaluation. The fourth step in carrying out the Qur’anic command of the relationship is a practice called Mu’atabah (blaming).
Blaming and punishing
The word Mu’atabah literally means to blame someone, and the word Mu’aghibah means to punish someone. After it is observed in the self-calculation (evaluation) stage that the soul has disobeyed and acted against the obligation at the beginning of the day, he should not be confronted with peace and negligence, but should be rebuked and punished. Because if a person does not react to wrongdoing, the result will be reversed and will cause courage and boldness of the soul.
Ethicists have stated two steps for the stage after calculating and observing the rebellion of the concupiscence : rebuke the concupiscence (blaming), and punishment of it (punishment). And in this part of Hammam’s sermon, Imam Ali (PBUH) have mentioned: Whenever his concupiscence rebels in doing things it does not like, he will deprive it of what it likes.
Those who walk in the path God and are engaged in mystical conduct should also be like this against the rebellious concupiscence.
The Holy Qur’an attaches so much importance to this issue that it swears by ” blaming soul ” itself and says:
وَلَا أُقْسِمُ بِالنَّفْسِ اللَّوَّامَةِ (قیامه ۲)
And I swear by the blaming soul.
The soul of blame is the awakened conscience that rebukes its owner when he commits a sin, which is itself a kind of retribution and punishment. It is clear that self-punishment and punishment for wrongdoing has a hierarchy, which starts with blame and then leads to more severe stages such as depriving oneself of some pleasures of life for a certain period of time.
Three companions in the battle of Tabuk disobeyed the order of the Holy Prophet, and after returning from the war, the Prophet ordered Muslims to leave their relationship with them, until they repented and punished themselves. And then they left each other and engaged in prayers with God and repentance in complete isolation, after a while God accepted their repentance, and revealed this verse:
«وَعَلَى الثَّلَاثَةِ الَّذِينَ خُلِّفُوا حَتَّى إِذَا ضَاقَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ الْأَرْضُ بِمَا رَحُبَتْ وَضَاقَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ أَنْفُسُهُمْ وَظَنُّوا أَنْ لَا مَلْجَأَ مِنَ اللَّهِ إِلَّا إِلَيْهِ ثُمَّ تَابَ عَلَيْهِمْ لِيَتُوبُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيمُ؛ )توبه:۱۱۸(
Also towards the three who were left behind. Then, when the earth, as vast as it is, closed in on them, and their very souls closed in on them, and they realized that there was no refuge from God, except in Him, He redeemed them, so that they may repent. God is the Redeemer, the Merciful.
“Abul Baba Ansari”, a good companion of the Prophet, made a significant mistake and revealed the military secret of the Prophet to the enemies. He then became very remorseful and upset, came to the Prophet’s Mosque and tied himself to one of the pillars of the mosque, which is known today as the “Pillar of AbuBabeh” or the “Pillar of Repentance”, and swore not to open himself until God accepts his repentance. He remained in the punishment of the soul for a while, until verse 102 of Surah Tawbah was revealed and announced the acceptance of his repentance:
وَآخَرُونَ اعْتَرَفُوا بِذُنُوبِهِمْ خَلَطُوا عَمَلًا صَالِحًا وَآخَرَ سَيِّئًا عَسَى اللَّهُ أَنْ يَتُوبَ عَلَيْهِمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ
Others have confessed their sins, having mixed good deeds with bad deeds. Perhaps God will redeem them. God is Forgiving and Merciful.
Imam Ali says:
ذا صَعُبَت عَلَیکَ نَفسُکَ فَاصعُب لَها تَذِلُّ لَکَ
When the soul hardens on you (and does not easily submit to obedience to the command of the truth), harden on it (and withhold its desires from it) so that it submits to you!
And he also says:
مَن ذَمَّ نَفسَهُ أصلَحَها، مَن مَدَحَ نَفسَهُ ذَبِحَها
who condemns (and rebukes) his soul has provided the cause of its correction, and who praises himself as if he had slaughtered himself.
In the case of the great jurist of the Shiite world, the late Ayatollah Boroujerdi, it is narrated that whenever he became angry, and perhaps he was aggressive towards some of his students, although this aggression was like the aggression of a father towards his son, he immediately regretted this aggression and He would apologize and make amends, and according to his vow, he would fast the next day to make up for it, thus punishing himself for this small deed.
Mullah Ahmad Naraqi says that a person should be punished himself when he commits a sin against himself, for example, he should submit to heavy worship and almsgiving of his favorite property, if he eats a forbidden morsel, he should starve himself a little, and If the talked behind of a Muslim, he praises him or punishes himself silently, or compensates it by mentioning God.
If a person despises and insults the poor and needy, he should give him a lot of wealth, and he will also be compensated for other sins and transgressions.”