Every time we do something wrong we blame Satan, and we forget about an enemy that resides inside ourselves. That enemy is our nafs.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Islam, you have an enemy inside you, eats with you, drinks with you, sleeps with you. It is your nafs, your own nafs.

Indeed, the nafs is inclined to evil except the one whom Allah has mercy on.

The best person who ever achieved servitude to Allah, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), at the beginning of all his speeches, he would say:

And I seek refuge with Allah from the evil of my nafs.

This is the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), what about you and me?

When Abu Bakr Siddiq asked the Prophet (peace be upon him) about words that he can say in the morning, and words that he can say at night, the Prophet told him certain words and in these words:

And I seek refuge with you oh Allah from the evil of my nafs. (At-Tirmidhi)

Brothers and sisters in Islam, a lot of Muslims are unaware of that enemy, and they blame Satan all the time.

Have you ever heard somebody saying:

“I have been trying to give up this sin, but I cannot!” You know why? Because he cannot tell his nafs “No”

Have you ever heard this person saying:

“I promised Allah to repent from this sin, and I did for a week, and then I went back to it.”

Do you know why? Because of his nafs.

Don’t you see sometimes some people in the masjid, and by all the sudden they disappear, and then they come back maybe later on in a year or so, and then they disappear again?

It’s because of their nafs.

Don’t you hear some people saying: “I cannot give up that sin, I can’t”?

It’s because of their nafs.

The first arena of jihad is your nafs. You must wage war against your nafs in order to make it.

Ibn al Qyyim said:

“Nafs is a mountain in your way to Allah. Imagine you are traveling to Allah and there is only one way to Allah. In the way, there is a huge mountain. That mountain is your nafs. If you want to continue traveling to Allah, you must climb that mountain in order to make it. If you don’t, you will not make it to Allah.”