AM: The Strength of Stillness, The Quiet Frequency of the Nafs
By Dr. Edrees Bridges, D.Min., APBCC-FR (Advanced Practice Board Certified Chaplain – First Responder)
Founder, SAGE Counseling and Consulting, LLC
Growing up in North Carolina, I have vivid memories of sitting in the car with my parents or grandparents, listening to their favorite gospel music on AM radio. The persistent static of the broadcast was interwoven into the syncopated melodies, which appeared to become part of the song itself. Though the sound quality was poor, the signal endured, moving across towns, fields, and winding country roads. Even then, I was curious about why it continued. Now, years later, I find myself discerning how that same persistence in sound mirrors the nature of energy and frequency in our religious and spiritual lives.
There is a frequency within every human being, a rhythm that hums quietly beneath the surface of our words, our thoughts, our prayers. It is the subtle vibration of the nafs, the inner self, the soul in its unfolding. As an Imam, chaplain, and spiritual care counselor, I have listened to this frequency in moments of pain and purpose, in hospitals, headquarters, barracks, and sacred spaces, and I have come to know that every human being is a living transmission of energy and meaning.
We, those who submit to the Creator’s Sacred Guidance, are attuned to truth; our hearts are transmitters, tuned to the signal of Divine remembrance. Like the AM frequency on the radio, our spiritual wavelength may carry through noise and distance, yet it endures because it is anchored in sincerity. Some signals are intense but short; others are faint yet far-reaching. Some vibrate with clarity and love, while others are marked by static and interference. Yet every signal, every life, has the potential to carry truth if tuned toward the Source.
In the world of radio, the AM signal carries sound by varying its amplitude, its strength. It may not have the sharp clarity of FM or the vast reach of satellite radio, yet there is something wondrous about AM: it travels farther at night. When darkness settles and the world grows quiet, the ionosphere, that unseen layer above the earth, bends and amplifies the signal, carrying it across oceans. Likewise, when the noise of life settles, the stillness of night becomes the atmosphere where the human heart hears most clearly.
The Sacred Qur’an states, “Indeed, the rising of the night is more effective for governing the nafs and more suitable for speech.” (Surah al-Muzzammil, 73:6) This verse is more than a reminder of prayer; it is a lesson in spiritual physics. The night amplifies what the day often distorts, and this reality reminds us that stillness is not absence; it is transmission without interference.
As I reflect on this through the lens of my work as a clinically trained chaplain and spiritual care counselor, I see how spiritual stillness becomes the foundation of emotional resilience and clarity. In law enforcement and military contexts, where pressure is constant and noise is unrelenting, the capacity to return to inner stillness, to tune back to one’s sacred frequency, is the essence of spiritual readiness. Yet beyond the ranks and uniforms, this truth extends to every human being who moves through the world’s constant demands. Whether in boardrooms, classrooms, homes, or hospitals, the ability to quiet the noise and return to one’s spiritual center becomes the anchor that steadies the soul amid uncertainty.
Our nafs transmit energy. When we cultivate gratitude, mercy, and patience, our frequency harmonizes with the Divine. When we cling to ego, anger, or control, our signal distorts, creating static in our relationships, in our teams, within ourselves, and throughout the ummah.
The Prophet (SAW) taught, “The strong one is not the one who overcomes others, but the one who controls himself when angry.” (Sahih Muslim) That is the work of amplitude, the modulation of emotion through consciousness. Strength is not noise; it is depth. Restraint is not weakness; it is alignment.
Like AM, the strength of the believer’s signal is not measured by volume, but by distance, by how far their sincerity, humility, and compassion travel into the lives of others.
When I counsel Soldiers, officers, or anyone who has faced hard times and trauma, I often remind them: the most potent healing occurs not in the noise of performance, but in the stillness of reflection. The heart recalibrates when the body is still. The nafs refines itself when silence becomes worship.
The Prophet (SAW) would rise in the quiet of the night, where faith vibrates at its purest frequency, beyond recognition, beyond ego, beyond the self. It is in these hours that the nafs al-lawwāmah, the self-reproaching soul, begins to listen to the nafs al-muṭmaʾinnah, the soul at peace.
The quiet frequency of remembrance is the sound of healing. It travels through the unseen layers of existence, like the AM signal riding the ionosphere, carrying prayers, forgiveness, and compassion far beyond what we perceive.
Each of us is a transmitter. Our habits are our antennas, and our intentions are the frequencies we emit. Through every act of kindness, we transmit mercy. Through every moment of prayer, we amplify love. And through every pause between words, we offer silence, the space where others can hear, see, interpret, and understand Allah’s (SWT) guidance.
The Sacred Qur’an also reminds us, “There is nothing that exists except that it glorifies Him with praise, but you do not understand their glorification.” (Surah Al-Isra, 17:44) This is the call of Al-Islam: to live as a conscious frequency of divine remembrance. The universe hums with dhikr, and so do we. To live awake is to live attuned. To lead others is to transmit clarity, compassion, and peace.
Let us, then, refine our frequencies. Let us be AM, strong, steady, enduring through the nights of hardship. Let our inner signal travel far beyond our immediate circles, touching lives unseen, healing hearts unknown.
Tune your nafs through remembrance, through reflection, through surrender. In a world that shouts, be the quiet that carries. Your presence is not small; it is sacred energy moving through creation. What you broadcast through sincerity and mercy becomes your legacy in the unseen.
Spiritual freedom is the flowering of what was seeded within. And as I think back to those long drives through North Carolina, the static-filled gospel melodies rising through the soft hum of AM radio, I now understand that what endured was never the sound itself, but the spirit behind it, the quiet strength that traveled farther in the night, whispering stillness into the hearts of those who listened.