hate the sin wholeheartedly, with every fibre of our being. How do we do this? To this end, Imam Ghazali رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه prescribes a beautiful remedy. He says, “The method of gaining taqwa, is to maintain critical supervision over these five body parts: The eyes, ears, tongue, stomach and heart.”^[1]

The eyes should be saved from films, dramas and other sins related to them. The ears should be saved from songs, listening to backbiting, indecent speech and other forms of sin. The tongue should be saved from backbiting, slander, lying and other sins. The stomach should be saved from consuming Haram. In the same way, the heart should be saved from jealousy, arrogance, self-centredness, ostentation and all other similar sins. In this way, slowly but surely our hearts shall become pure, become free from impurity and ultimately, we shall develop a hatred for sins in our hearts, اِنْ شَــآءَالـلّٰـه.

If we are successful in learning about sins in order to avoid them, and whilst saving our body from falling into sin, we are able to develop hatred for them, then اِنْ شَــآءَالـلّٰـه, we shall be fortunate enough to receive the treasure of taqwa.

صَلُّوۡا عَلَى الۡحَبِيۡب                 صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلٰى مُحَمَّد

The second admirable quality: Ghinaa (غِنَا) - Independence

The second quality found in the beloved servants of Allah, as explained by the Messenger of Allah صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم, is the quality of ghinaa/independence. اِنَّ اللہَ یُحِبُّ الْعَبْدَ التَّقِیَّ الْغَنِیّ - “Allah indeed loves a servant who is righteous, independent…”