Of the greatest causes of this affliction is the heart's turning away fr om Allah for when the heart senses the taste of worshipping Allah and sincerity towards Him, nothing will be more tasty to it than that; and nothing will be more delightful and enjoyable than that. A human being will not leave a lover excep t to replace him with another lover more beloved to him than the former, or he c an leave a lover fearing some harm. Verily, the heart will turn from a corrupt l ove to a righteous love, or from fear of imparting harm.

Allah Taaala said concerning Yusuf:

Thus (did We order) that We might turn away from him e vil and al-Fahshaah (illegal sexual intercourse)3

Thus, Allah turns away from His abd (servant) that which could be evil for him from the inclination towards images and the attachment to them. He also turns al-Fahshaah (the blatant sin) away from him when he is sincere to Allah. H ence, before he tastes the sweetness of al-Uboodiyah (Enslavement) to Allah and sincerity for Him, he will be forced by his soul to follow it's own passion. Bu t once he obtains the taste of sincerity and becomes strong in his heart, then h is passion will submit to Him (Allah) without any effort. Allah Ta aala said:

Verily, As-Salaat (the prayer) prevents the committing of Al-F ahshaah (the obscene, blatant sin) and al- Munkar (the evil) a nd the Remembrance of Allah is the greatest.4

Indeed, in As-Salaat (the prayer) there is repulsion of harmful things, i.e. Al-Fahshaah (the obscene blatant sin) and Al-Munkar (the evil conduct) and there is attainment of a beloved thing, the remembrance of Allah. The attainment of this beloved thing is greater than the repulsion of the harmful things. Veri ly, the remembrance of Allah is, by itself,a worship of Allah; and the heart's w orship of Allah is sought for itself, whereas the repulsion of evil from the hea rt is sought for other than itself. Instead, it is needed for something else. Th e heart has been created loving the truth, seeking it and striving for it; but w hen the will of evil confronts it, then the heart demands the repulsion of the e vil will because the latter spoils the heart as a plantation is spoiled with wee ds. That is why Allah Ta aala said:

Indeed he succeeds who sanctifies it (his own soul) a nd indeed he fails who corrupts it (his own s oul).5

And He, Azzawajal, said:

Indeed he shall achieve success who sanctifies himself and brings to mind the name of Allah and performs salaat (praye r).6

And He, Azzawajal, said:

Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and to protect their private parts from sin. That is more sanctifying for them...7

And He, Azzawajal, said:

And had it not been for the grace of Allah and His mer cy upon you, not one of you would ever have been sanctified. 8

Thus Allah Ta aala made the lowering of the gaze and the protection of the sexual organs from Az-Zinaa (fornication) as the strongest sanctification of the soul.

He also showed that avoiding blatant sins is a part of the sanctification of the soul. The sanctification of the soul comprises keeping away from all ev ils including blatant sins, injustice, shirk (associating partners with Allah Az zawajal) and lying.

The same is true for one who is seeking leadership and dominion on eart h. His heart is a slave to those who help him with his aim although he, in appea rance, is their leader and the obeyed one among them. In reality he has hope in them and fears them. He would offer them wealth and countries, and would overloo k what they have wrongly commited so that they would obey and help him with his aims. In appearance he is an obeyed leader while in fact he is their obedient sl ave.

The fact of the matter is that both of them manifest worship for each ot her and both of them have gone away from the actual worship of Allah. Moreover, if their mutual help is for an unjust dominion on earth, then they are on the le vel of those who mutually help each other to commit al-Faahishah (the blatant sins) or to cut off the way. Hence, each one of them, who originally was a slave a nd obsessed by his passion, becomes subdued by the other.