By Sheikh Bassam Obeid
Tazkiyah, brothers, and sisters; It means to purify your soul, purify your behavior. Akhlak is manners and behavior. Tazkiyah is a big portion of Islam. Tazkiyah is like the spirit for the body, without it, your body is dead. Another example, tazkiyah is like oil for your car engine. If there is no oil in the engine, the engine will break down. Tazkiyah, in your nafs and your behavior, leads to dealing with kindness towards people. Without it, there will be big problems when dealing with others. Deen is not only ibadat (worship), it is also mua-malat (character). Allah (SWT), in surat-ul-jummah, mentions tazkiyah before hikmah (wisdom). This is because, even if you are knowledgeable, it will be very hard to deal with people if you do not have tazkiyah and good character. This is a problem. That is why tazkiyah is important for everybody.