soulhastobeprotectedfromspiritual`dirt'anduncleanliness,otherwise
it will not be able to guide the person as rightly as before.
AfterswearingbythemostmajesticsignsofHiscreation,Allahsaysin
chapter91,verses1-10thatthepurehumansoulhastheabilitytounder-
standwhatisrightandwhatiswrongprovideditispurifiedanduncor-
rupted.Hemakesitclearthatthesoul,justlikethebody,iscapableof
becomingspirituallyimpureandunclean.Imam‘Ali(a.s.)hassaid,“The
human soul is a precious jewel; whoever protects it, enhances its
(effectiveness), and whosoever degrades it, decreases its (effectiveness).”
Theimpuritiesthat cancorrupta humansoularecollectivelyknown
as“sins”.Accumulationofsinscanindeedrenderthehumansoulspir-
itually ineffective and, in Qur'anic expression, `seize the heart'. Allah
says,“Whatever (sins) they have committed has seized their heart.”
(83:14)Bycommittingsins,notonlyisthesoulofaMuslimseizedbuthe
alsospiritually turns away from Allah.Sins createa distance between
God and man.
Canapersonrescuehissoulfromtheseizingofthesins?Canasinner
spirituallygetclosertoGod?Yes,indeed,asinfulpersoncanspiritually
returntoAllah.ReturningtoAllahmeansrepentingandaskingforgive-
nessfor your sins.Imam Muhammadal-Baqir (a.s.) hasexplained this
phenomenonasfollows:“Eachbelieverhasabrightsoul.Whenhecom-
mitsasin,adarkdotappearsonhisbrightsoul.Ifherepents,thedark
dot willdisappear. Butif he persists in his sins, the darkness will in-
creaseuntilitcoverstheentiresoul—thenthepersonwouldneverreturn
towards goodness.”[25]
Justasourbodiescanbecomeimpurebythephysicalthings,oursouls
canbecomeimpurebysins.Toridourbodiesofthephysicaldirt,weuse
water; similarly, to rid our souls of the spiritual impurities, we
usetawbah(repentance).Inshort,thehumansouliscorruptible;itiscor-
rupted by sins; the corrupted soul can be purified bytawbah.
After talking about ritual ablutionswhich are done bywater, Allah
saysthat“Helovesthosewhodotawbah”.BythisHeisdrawingourat-
tentiontothespiritualpurification.SowiththisinsightintotheQur'anic
verses,wheneveraMuslimdoestheritualablution,healsoremembers