Khatarat

(The Dangers of thoughts)

When a seeker sets on a journey to God and makes intention for good deeds and wants to tame his lower self with remembrance and spiritual practices, his lower self (Nafs) and Satan who are in ambush aim to divert him from the straight path. Thoughts produced as a result are called Khatarat in sufi terminology.

Thoughts can be of four types.

Satanic :

The devil aims to instill disbelief in God. He prevents the remembrance of God through amusements and games, so that a servant loses focus of God Almighty.

Lower-Self (Nafs) :

It is all about eating, drinking, resting, good clothing, marrying and rejoicing. It distracts you from the right path through these attributes. However, it can be trained to work for good deeds.

If a wild horse does not allow one to ride, it is tamed with some effort. Soon it is trained enough to respond with the sound of a trumpet.

Similarly, you can train your Nafs to wake up in the late hours of night. After an initial effort, you will notice that it becomes easy to wake up.

The thoughts of Satan and Lower-self create Nafs-e-Ammara (Self commanding soul).

Khatra-e-Malaki:

Angelic thoughts prevent one from evil doings. It helps us differentiate right from wrong. Later it forms Nafs-e-Lawamma (self-reproaching soul).

Khatra-e- Rahmani:

These are Divine thoughts which enrich one with knowledge of Allah. As a result, one attains Nafs-e-Mutmainnah (Peaceful Soul).

Khatrat (Dangerous thoughts) come and go. When one makes a determination for an action, it does not remain a Khatra, it becomes an Azm (intention).

Thoughts are forgivable, however, Azm or intention is reprehensible.

If one makes an intent to perform a bad deed but could not do so due to certain circumstances, he will be sinful. It would lead to punishment however, less than an actual evil deed. However, there is no reprehension of thoughts. Thus, Azam (intention) is punishable but Khatra (harmful thought) is not.