Tazkiyah

Tazkiyah, also transliterated as tazkiyyah, is an Arabic term meaning purification or cleansing. It is a central concept in Islamic thought and is generally understood as the purification of the heart and soul from moral and spiritual defects, together with the cultivation of virtue, piety, sincerity, humility, and God-consciousness (taqwa). In Qur’anic usage it is associated with self-purification and reform; a well-known verse says, “Indeed, he who purifies has succeeded” (Qur’an 87:14). In Islamic ethics and Sufism, tazkiyah refers to an ongoing process of inner purification through repentance, remembrance of God (dhikr), self-scrutiny (muhasabah), self-discipline, and ethical conduct, with the aim of aligning inner states with outward behavior.

A related dimension of the term concerns personal moral refinement. Tazkiyah involves cleansing the nafs (the self) of traits such as arrogance, envy, hypocrisy, and selfishness, while cultivating sincerity (ikhlas), compassion, justice, and humility. In Sufi and reformist writings, the purification of the self is described as moving through stages—from the commanding self (nafs al-ammārah) toward the reproachful self (nafs al-lawwāmah) and, ultimately, the tranquil self (nafs al-mutma’innah).

In Islamic scholarship, tazkiyah also has a technical sense within hadith studies: tazkiyat al-rijal, or the purification of narrators, is a methodological discipline used to evaluate the credibility and reliability of transmitters in determining the authenticity of reports.

Across traditions, tazkiyah is regarded as a foundational aspect of Islamic practice, linking inner spiritual states with outward actions, and it remains a subject of study in theology, ethics, mysticism, and the sciences of hadith.