Curing the Heart

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim,

Assalam o allaikum Wr. Wb.

Alhamdulillahi rabbil aalimeen, Wal Aaqibatu Lilmutaqeen, Wasalatu Wassalam o ala Rusulihil Kareem.

All praises to Allah SWT who is the master of this universe and salutations be to the last messenger Mohammad SAW and his rightly guided companions.
Prophet SAW said,

"There is in the body a clump of flesh - if it becomes good, the whole body becomes good and if it becomes bad, the whole body becomes bad. And indeed it is the heart." [Bukhari]

There are two ways a human being judges right from wrong. One element is the Zaahir, which in this case is Knowledge of Halal and Haram and ther other element is Baatin which is the state of the heart. If the heart is good, then it makes good use of the knowledge and it avoids what is prohibited. If the heart is bad, then the knowledge is of no benefit and he will indulge in what is prohibited.

Allah SWT says in Quran,

Inna Akramakum Indallahi Atkaakum – Verily, the best among you is the one with taqwa.

And Prophet SAW on Jummatul Wida, said among other things that ‘Taqwa is in the heart.’

We see time and again that in Islam the stress has been made on the heart – that the heart is the part of the body that Allah SWT has favoured over other parts.

When your baby is sick, or you have an assignment due that you have not started yet, or you have made a promise to someone and you forget about it and realize later, a feeling of fear comes in our heart. This feeling makes us realize that something is not right and somehow we are responsible for it. This feeling is a system of Allah SWT to keep his slaves on the right moral path, a path where they have some accountability. A person who has lost such a feeling is disconnected with his responsibilties towards himself and others and above disconnected from the responsibilities towards Allah SWT.

Thinking about and trying to understand meanings of the Glorious Quran, which Allah (SWT) has sent down for His slaves to clarify all things and as a Light that He gives to whom He wills among His slaves. Indeed, the Quran contains tremendous medicine for all ills of the heart, as Allah said,

وَنُنَزِّلُ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ مَا هُوَ شِفَاءٌ وَرَحْمَةٌ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَلا يَزِيدُ الظَّالِمِينَ إِلا خَسَارًا

" And We sent down from the Quran that which is a healing and a mercy to those who believe, and a loss for the unjust."

The Quran contains clear instructions for us in the deen; Allah’s promises, warnings and commandments; stories of previous nations; and codes of the best conduct and behavior.
These various subjects in the Quran have different effects on the heart. For the believer it is a mercy and a healing and for the unjust it causes a loss in their life.

Some Surahs (chapters) of the Quran reveal more that might be frightening to us than others.
For instance Rasul Allah (SAW) said, about Suah Hud, that "...it and its sisters have brought me white hairs before their due time." Hud and its sisters brought white hairs to the Messenger of Allah because of what they contain of matters of Iman. These Surahs, and the rest of the Quran, showed their effect on the Messenger of Allah and his companions, exactly as they were ordered in the Quran.

The companions would also be deeply moved with emotions when they recited the Quran. Abu Bakr, for example, who was a soft-hearted man, used to cry while reciting the Quran when leading Muslims in prayer.

Once, Umar became ill as a result of his reciting the Ayah,

فَاسْتَقِمْ كَمَا أُمِرْتَ وَمَنْ تَابَ مَعَكَ وَلا تَطْغَوْا إِنَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ

"Therefore stand firm (in the straight Path) as you are commanded,- you and those whom with you turn (unto Allah); and transgress not (from the Path): for He sees well all that ye do.”

On another occasion, Umar wept when he was reciting the Ayah,

قَالَ إِنَّمَا أَشْكُو بَثِّي وَحُزْنِي إِلَى اللَّهِ وَأَعْلَمُ مِنَ اللَّهِ مَا لا تَعْلَمُونَ

"I (Prophet Jacob) only complain of my grief and sorrow to Allah."

and he (Umar) was clearly heard (weeping) by those who were standing behind him. This is the way to really understand the Quran in the deepest sense. So much so that it effects the heart and the emotions. Take the Quran personally. Let it seep into your deepest depths.

Furthermore, Uthman Ibn Affan said, "If our hearts were pure, they will never have enough from reciting Allah’s Speech (the Quran)."As for later generations, Ayyub said,

"I heard Sad Ibn Jubayr recite the Ayah,

وَقَالُوا لَنْ يَدْخُلَ الْجَنَّةَ إِلا مَنْ كَانَ هُودًا أَوْ نَصَارَى تِلْكَ أَمَانِيُّهُمْ قُلْ هَاتُوا بُرْهَانَكُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ


"And guard yourselves against a day in which ye will be brought back to Allah...” repeating it more than twenty times, “...Then every soul will be paid in full that which it hath earned, and will not be dealt with unjustly.”

This is the last Ayah that was revealed to the Messenger of Allah. It is both a promise and a warning for those of us who believe and who consider its meaning. Also, Ibrahim Ibn Bashshar said that,

وَلَوْ تَرَى إِذْ وُقِفُوا عَلَى النَّارِ فَقَالُوا يَا لَيْتَنَا نُرَدُّ وَلا نُكَذِّبَ بِآيَاتِ رَبِّنَا وَنَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ

“And if you could see when they are made to stand before the fire, you would hear them say: If only we were sent back, and we would not reject the communications of our Lord and we would be of the believers” was the Ayah that Ali Ibn al-Fudhayl died while reciting.

Ibn Al-Qayyim said with regards to what one should do to cure his weak Iman using the Quran,

"First you should remove your heart from the life of this world and settle it in the Last Life. Then, pay your full attention to pursuing the meanings of the Quran, and try to comprehend and understand them and what they were sent down to accomplish. Then, offer these meanings to the sickness that your heart feels, and when they touch the disease, they will cure the heart, Allah willing."

My dear respected Brothers and sisters, Pray to Allah SWT that he gives us the abilitity to guard our hearts from the sharr and evil so that the rememberance of Allah SWT can have effect on us internally in the form of our morals, judgement, humility, humbleness, rahma, shafqa etc… and externally by our deeds and dealings towards other people.

Wama Taufiqi Ilallah Billah…

January 05, 2007