Brief Summary

Tibb al-Ruhani by Ibn al-Jawzi رحمه الله is a practical guide to mastering one’s hawa (desires) without breaking the soul.

Who Should Read The Book?

• Those feeling like their desires are in control.

• Anyone who keeps falling into the same bad habits, even when they really want to change.

• Ambitious but lazy people looking for ways to finally become consistent and disciplined.

Table of Contents

• What Is The Book About?

• Favourite Quote From The Book

• Summary Of Key Ideas

  • What Is Hawa—and Why It Rules You

  • Four Domains of Hawa

  • Practical Steps to Break Free from Hawa and Reclai …

  • Conclusion

• About The Author

What Is The Book About?

Tibb al-Ruhani is about mastering the nafs by understanding and restraining hawa (base desires), using both intellect and spiritual insight. It guides readers to identify personal flaws across emotional, behavioral, charater and spiritual domains, and offers a balanced approach to self-discipline. Rather than suppressing desires harshly, the author teaches how to manage them wisely so they don’t lead to harm.

Favourite Quote From The Book

Summary Of Key Ideas

What Is Hawa—and Why It Rules You

Hawa (desires) is a natural craving for self-gratification, often without regard for long-term consequences.

Left unchecked, it becomes a tyrant:

• You chase pleasure until it feels empty.

• You repeat behaviours that leave you ashamed.

• You enter a cycle of promise and regret: “Never again,” you say—only to fall back into the same habits.

When your desires override your better judgement, it will either lead you to do something haraam or to do a permissible action excessively—this manifests in four major ways.

Four Domains of Hawa

As you read below, identify in what way your hawa has dominated you. This is the first step to breaking free from your desires.

Domain 1: Emotional Dysregulation

• Excessive sadness over what has passed.

• Overthinking to the point of physical exhaustion.

• Grief over past misfortunes and anxiety over future ones.

• Excessive fear of illness and an unhealthy preoccupation with death.

• Excessive happiness that causes you to overstep the boundaries set by Allah.

Domain 2: Indulgent Behaviours

• Gluttony (sharah): Includes overeating, living to eat, and indulging in sexual desires—not out of need, but habit and self-pleasure. Also includes hoarding wealth by chasing more income despite already having enough, and extravagance in things like luxury clothing, cars, art, and similar indulgences.

• Laziness—preferring leisure and idleness.

• Reckless spending.

Domain 3: Corrupt Akhlaq

• Lying.

• Excessive anger.

• Spite: Holding onto the pain of how others hurt you.

• Stinginess: Withholding what is due to others even when giving wouldn’t harm you.

Domain 4: Heart Diseases

• Arrogance: Seeing yourself as better than others based on wealth, status, knowledge, or your acts of worship. It shows in pride, looking down on others, and loving praise.

• Conceit: Being self-impressed and blind to your own faults while easily spotting others’.

• Envy: Wishing for others to lose their blessings, even if you gain nothing from it.

• Passionate love (‘ishq): obsessive love towards someone.

• Riya’: insincerity or doing good deeds to show off.

• Craving leadership and authority.

Now that you've pinpointed how hawa has manifested in your life, let’s explore how to break its grip.

Practical Steps to Break Free from Hawa and Reclaim Control