Tazkiyah

This refers to the process of transforming the nafs (carnal self or desires) from its state of self-centrality through various spiritual stages towards the level of purity and submission to the will of God.

[1] Its basis is in learning the shariah (Islamic religious law) and deeds from the known authentic sunnah (traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad) and applying these to one's own life, resulting in spiritual awareness of God (being constantly aware of his presence, knowledge omniscience, along with being in constant remembrance or dhikr of him in thoughts and actions).

It is rather the task of giving form to the act of righteous living itself: treating every moment of life with remembering one's position in front of God.

When the term is applied to the human personality, it means to beautify it and remove from it all evil traces and spiritual diseases that are obstacles to experiencing God.

Technically, it conveys the sense of checking oneself for erroneous tendencies and beliefs, turning them to the path of virtue and piety (fear of God's displeasure), and developing them to attain the stage of perfection.

[a] Anas Karzoon said tazkiyah al-nafs: "is the purification of the soul from inclination towards evils and sins, and the development of its fitrah towards goodness, which leads to its uprightness and its reaching ihsaan.

"[10] The initial awakening to purification refers to recognition that the spiritual search is more important and meaningful than our previously valued worldly goods and ambitions.

[15] Similar to the process of maintaining physical health, any lapse in the regimen can cause one to lose their previous gains, and thus caution must always be used to not deviate from the path.

Regarding this, it has been related that Imam Muhammad al-Busayri asked Shaykh Abul-Hasan 'Ali ibn Ja'far al-Kharqani (d. 1033) about the major seventeen negative psychological traits or mawāni' (impediments) which the sālik must avoid in their struggle towards purification.

Known as al-Akhlaqu 'dh-Dhamimah (the ruinous traits), they are also referred to as the Tree of Bad Manners:[16] There are three principal stations of nafs or human consciousness that are specifically mentioned in the Qur'an.

[Quran 12:53] Here he is explaining the circumstances in which he came to be falsely imprisoned for the supposed seduction of Zuleikā, the wife of the King's minister (ʻAzīz, Qur'an (12:30[21])).

Tranquillization of the soul means an individual's knowledge is founded on such firm belief that no vicissitudes of distress, comfort, pain or pleasure can alter his trust in Allah and his expecting only good from Him.

Similarly, the foundations of deeds are laid in such firm character that no temptations, in adversity, prosperity, fear or hope, removes him from the shar'iah, so he fulfills the demands made by Allah and thus becomes His desirable servant.

Traditional Muslim philosophers believed that without ethics and purification (tazkiah), mastery over other sciences is not only devoid of value, but obstructs insight.

The search for God (irāda, ṭalab) and the wayfaring (sulūk) on the path (ṭarīq) involve a gradual inner and ethical transformation through various stages.

One of the finest accounts of maqāmāt in Sufism is the Forty Stations (Maqāmāt-i Arba'in), written by the eleventh century murshid Abū-Sa'īd Abul-Khayr.

[32] In order to combat and train the lower-self, Sufis practice fasting (ṣawm), food and drink deprivation (jūʿ'), wakefulness at night for the recitation of Quranic passages (qiyām al-layl), periods of seclusion (khalawāt), roaming uninhabited places in states of poverty and deprivation, and lengthy meditations (murāqaba, jam' al-hamm).

Another practice that is often associated with Sufism is the spiritual concert, or "listening," samā', in which poetic recitations, music and dances are performed by the participants, sometimes in states of ecstasy and elation.

Most Sufi ṭuruq have established graded programs in which initially every new seeker (murīdūn) is educated in the ritual known as zikr-al-lisani (zikr with the tongue) and is finally taught zikr-al-qalbi, which is practiced from the onset.