Taking account of oneself (muhasabat al-nafs)

The Sheikh says that a person's limbs work for his heart, the heart being the king or manager that directs their movement. ¹ He relates that the Great Wall of China was breached only a few times in history, and that each time it was through a bribe paid to some corrupt guards, and by analogy Satan enters the heart only through a 'bribed' limb (needs_source: the historical report as the Sheikh tells it). ^{1 2 3}

He asks: does Satan enter through the eye that does not lower itself from the forbidden or from people's faults; through the hand that takes what is doubtful, noting that whoever eats the doubtful for forty days finds his limbs disobey him; through the hand of a writer or journalist who writes what sets people, groups and schools against each other; through the tongue; or through feet that do not walk to mosques, to reconciliation and to funerals? ^{3 4 5 6 7}

He proposes that at dawn prayer one set conditions for one's limbs: eye, do not look at the forbidden; hand, do not reach for the doubtful; foot, do not go where God is displeased; then watch them through the day; then sit for a few minutes before sleep and take account of the good and bad one did, increasing the good and seeking forgiveness for the bad; then reproach the limbs. ^{8 9 10} He holds that in this way a person is freed from 'servitude to clay' and lights the 'garment of light' within him. ^{10 11} See also: watchfulness.

The Sheikh proposes something simple: to sit for three minutes on the prayer mat after each prayer, taking account of oneself for the time since the previous prayer, and to sleep owing nothing to anyone, because on the Day of Resurrection obligations can be paid only in good and bad deeds; he mentions the Prophet ﷺ's call to Banu Hashim not to let others come with good deeds while they come with burdens, and holds that one should weigh one's deeds before they are weighed. ^{12 13 14 15}