Do Not Follow Your Desires

And the very, very important thing for the leader: wa lā tattabiʿi al-hawā — do not follow your desires. Our problem now with Islamic work is that we always deal with others based on our desires. I have a certain problem with you; I continue with that problem, and I try to justify it from an Islamic point of view. So it is not Islam that is instigating my dealing with you; it is my hatred towards you, and then I am using Islam to fulfil it. No — we should instigate our actions based on Islam, and then we push our desires to follow the direction of the sharia. Wherever Islam goes, that is where we push our desire.

And this is the jihad al-nafs. You do not do things according to what you want; you do things according to what Allah wants. You do it Allah's way, not your way. And that is a very difficult discipline, and that is a very difficult and important jihad: the jihad of your soul, to fight these internal conflicts that are going on in your heart, to follow the law of Allah (swt), and to follow what Allah wants from you. And that is the meaning of the word Islam: to submit to Allah. That is what it means — submission. So you submit your will to Allah; you follow what Allah wants from you. Samiʿnā wa aṭaʿnā — we listen and we obey.