The Causes of Guidance and the Purification of the Self

Question:
A listener says, Muhammad Madin from Sudan, Port Sudan, asks and says: How does a person seek the causes of guidance? And how does he purify his self? This is what I would like you to clarify for me. May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
As for the causes of guidance, Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) facilitates them. One asks his Lord for success, saying: “O Allah, guide me to the straight path,” “O Allah, rectify my heart and my deeds.” In his recitation: [al-Fatihah:6], he is sincere, seeking from his Lord in the recitation of al-Fatihah, and so on. In his prostration, he asks his Lord that Allah guide him, expand his chest for the truth, and he learns knowledge, asks the scholars, reads the Qur’an and reflects upon it, asks his Lord for success and guidance, and so on. These are the causes of guidance: supplicating to Allah, seeking His guidance, and being sincere when you read: [al-Fatihah:6], you read with sincerity and devotion, and you ask the scholars about what is difficult for you, you read the Qur’an with reflection; so that you may be enlightened, and so that your chest may be expanded. These are the causes of guidance. Yes.

The presenter : We seek help from Allah.
And as for the purification of the self? May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : As for the purification of the self, do not purify your self. Do not say: “I, I, I” except when there is a need. If the need arises, for example, if a person accuses you of not being good at buying and selling; you say: No. I am good at buying and selling, praise be to Allah, I know buying and selling. A person accuses whom? A doctor, and accuses him saying: No, you are not a doctor. He says: No. I have a license .... Praise be to Allah, I am a doctor in such and such and such. He informs him of the reality, not with the intention of self-praise, but with the intention of clarifying the reality, making the truth clear.
A person says to you: You—for example—do not complete fasting, you do not care about fasting, and that you backbite people, and that you do such and such. You say: No. I made a mistake, my brother! I, praise be to Allah, fast my fast, and I guard my fast, and so on. This is from the category of defending oneself. Yes.

The presenter : May Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good. This is from the category of defending oneself. And what about purifying the self, Your Eminence the Shaykh?

The Shaykh : Purification is by obeying Allah. He purifies his self by obeying Allah and His Messenger, by being upright upon the religion of Allah. He purifies the self. The purification of the self is by obeying Allah [al-Shams:9], [al-A'la:14], meaning: by obeying Allah, [al-Shams:10], meaning: by sins.
As for saying: “I am so-and-so, I am the man, I am the noble one, I, I,” praising oneself, no. Allah says: [al-Najm:32], and also it may lead to arrogance. Therefore, it is not befitting for a person of intellect to say this, praising himself for the sake of boasting and arrogance. No.
But for the need, as mentioned before: for the need that he clarifies the truth which others do not know. He says: You are not a doctor. He says to him: I am a doctor, I know such and such, and I know such and such, and I specialize in such and such. He says to him: You buy and sell with betrayal. The merchant says: No, I am not free from Allah. I, praise be to Allah, seek the truth, and so on. Yes.

The presenter : Good, may Allah reward you with good, and may He do you good.