IN THE NAME OF ALLAH THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE MOST MERCIFUL
Ibn Al-Qayyim:
“The five heart corrupters are: Excessive socialising, wishful thinking, attachment to others besides Allaah, eating to ones fill, and sleep.”
[Madaarij as-Saalikeen vol. 1, p, 443-9]
These five things extinguish the light of the heart and weaken its will to tread the path of truth .
NEW KNOWLEDGE
Yes, the heart has nerves that send information to the brain, which can affect how we think and feel:
- The heart’s nervous system
The heart has its own nervous system, sometimes called the “little brain” or “intrinsic cardiac nervous system”. It contains about 40,000 neurons that are similar to those in the brain.
The heart if the most significant organ for us to receive Allah’s Guidance. When we face Allah on the Day of Judgment, Allah Reminded us that nothing can save us except those with a clean heart:
يَومَ لا يَنفَعُ مالٌ وَلا بَنونَ
إِلّا مَن أَتَى اللَّهَ بِقَلبٍ سَليمٍ
“The Day whereon neither wealth nor sons will avail, Except him who brings to Allah a clean heart [clean from
Shirk (polytheism) and
Nifaq (hypocrisy)].” 26: 88-89
Important hadith:
“Listen carefully! there is a piece of flesh in man’s body, if it is healthy then the whole being is healthy and if it is corrupted then the whole being is corrupted. Beware! That piece of flesh is the heart.”(Bukhari)
The heart was also mentioned when Allah described the disbelievers and hypocrites at the beginning part of surah al Baqarah:
خَتَمَ اللَّهُ عَلىٰ قُلوبِهِم وَعَلىٰ سَمعِهِم ۖ وَعَلىٰ أَبصارِهِم غِشاوَةٌ ۖ وَلَهُم عَذابٌ عَظيمٌ
“Allah has set a seal on their hearts and on their hearings, (i.e. they are closed from accepting Allah’s Guidance), and on their eyes there is a covering. Theirs will be a great torment.” 2: 7
Can a person who called himself/herself a “Muslim” become a disbeliever? We discussed last week what can make a person to be out of Islam. For example committing shirk, disbelieving in any verse of the Qur’an, disbelieving and mocking the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the sunnah, etc. So a disbeliever is not just a person whose name is John or Mary who has not reverted to Islam, but also a person whose name is “Muhammad” or “Aishah” but who is arrogant and disbelieves in some verses of the Qur’an. We make du’a that Allah will Protect us from being among these people.
WHY THE HEART?
- Heart (Qalb) is the Centre of Intellect
Allah says in the Quran:
أَفَلَم يَسيروا فِي الأَرضِ فَتَكونَ لَهُم قُلوبٌ يَعقِلونَ بِها أَو آذانٌ يَسمَعونَ بِها ۖ فَإِنَّها لا تَعمَى الأَبصارُ وَلٰكِن تَعمَى القُلوبُ الَّتي فِي الصُّدورِ
- Have they not travelled through the land, and have they hearts (Qulub) wherewith to understand and ears wherewith to hear? Verily, it is not the eyes that grow blind, but it is the hearts (Qulub) which are in the breasts that grow blind. (Al-Hajj 22-46)
The parallelism in this (among many other) Ayah is self evident. Just as ears and eyes are for hearing and seeing respectively, it is the function of the heart (Qalb) to know and understand metaphysical realities. Hence it is the real centre of intellect.
أَفَلا يَتَدَبَّرونَ القُرآنَ أَم عَلىٰ قُلوبٍ أَقفالُها
- Do they not then think deeply in the Quran, or are their hearts locked up (from understanding it)? (Muhammad 47:24)
- Qalb is the Place for Taqwa (Piety)
أُولٰئِكَ الَّذينَ امتَحَنَ اللَّهُ قُلوبَهُم لِلتَّقوىٰ
- ….they are the ones whose hearts Allah has tested for piety….. (Al-Hujrat 49-3)
The messenger of Allah (SAW) said in a Hadith, reported in the Sahih Muslim that, “Taqwa is here”, and he pointed to his chest.
Hence proved that the heart is the place whereupon Taqwa or piety depends. It is the condition of the heart that determines to what extent one can obey his or her true Master.
- Qalb is the Place where Wahi Descends
وَإِنَّهُ لَتَنزيلُ رَبِّ العالَمينَ
نَزَلَ بِهِ الرّوحُ الأَمينُ
عَلىٰ قَلبِكَ لِتَكونَ مِنَ المُنذِرينَ
- And truly, this (the Qur’an) is a revelation from the Lord of the ‘Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that exists),Which the trustworthy Ruh[Jibrael (Gabriel)] has brought down; Upon your heart (O Muhammad ) that you may be (one) of the warners,
(Ash’shu’raa 26: 193/194)
hence proved that the Wahi or divine message is addressed to the Qalb, because this is the organ that has the
capability to distinguish between right and wrong. All the rest of the organs are under the command of the Qalb.
إِنَّ في ذٰلِكَ لَذِكرىٰ لِمَن كانَ لَهُ قَلبٌ أَو أَلقَى السَّمعَ وَهُوَ شَهيدٌ
- Verily, therein is indeed a reminder for him who has a heart or gives ear while he is heedful. (Qa’af 50: 37)
- Reward and Retribution depend on the acts of the Qalb
وَلٰكِن يُؤاخِذُكُم بِما كَسَبَت قُلوبُكُم
- …but He will call you to account for that which your hearts have earned (Al-Baqarah 2: 225)
- Ignorance and Negligence are Acts of the Qalb
خَتَمَ اللَّهُ عَلىٰ قُلوبِهِم
- Allah has set a seal on their hearts (Al-Baqarah 2: 7)
وَقالوا قُلوبُنا غُلفٌ
- and the say their hearts are wrapped (Al-Baqarah 2: 88)
كَلّا ۖ بَل ۜ رانَ عَلىٰ قُلوبِهِم ما كانوا يَكسِبونَ
- Nay! But on their hearts is the Ran(covering of sins and evil deeds) which they used to earn. (83: 14)
لَهُم قُلوبٌ لا يَفقَهونَ بِها
- they have hearts with which they understand not (Al-A’raaf 7-179)
All these Ayaat clearly prove that the centre of ignorance and negligence is indeed the Qalb.
The above Ayaat from the Quran clearly show that it is indeed the heart that is the receiver of divine message (Wahi). It is the heart that has the capacity to keep the secrets of Allah’s cognizance, and the secrets of the unseen. It is gifted with the faculty to receive Allah’s Light, and the potential to have visions of the unseen (Kashf-wa-Ilham). It is a treasure well beyond the reach of mind or worldly wisdom.
Allah has placed only one heart in each persons breast. It is purpose-built for receiving Allah’s Lights and hence Allah does not like the heart to be possessed by anything other than Him. And when it becomes inhabited by Allah’s Lights, all negative traits have no other option but to leave the person’s character.
- Kings, when they enter a country, despoil it, and make the noblest of its people its meanest (Al-Naml 27-34)
So when the heart is reformed, it is not inspired by anything other than Allah, and a person at this stage spontaneously exclaims,
أَلَيسَ اللَّهُ بِكافٍ عَبدَهُ
‘Is not Allah Sufficient for His slave?’ (Az-Zumr 39-36)
It is the heart that goes blind and deaf because of sins, but a true spiritual master cures the illnesses of the heart and turn it into Qalb-e-Saleem.
يَومَ لا يَنفَعُ مالٌ وَلا بَنونَ
إِلّا مَن أَتَى اللَّهَ بِقَلبٍ سَليمٍ
- The Day whereon neither wealth nor sons will avail. Except him who brings to Allah a clean heart. (As-Shu’ra 28-88/89)
The heart has no true pleasure or bliss except in the intimate knowledge of Allah, His love, contentment through His remembrance, delight in His closeness, and eagerness to meet Him. This pleasure of the heart is akin to an early Paradise. Similarly, there is no bliss or happiness in the eternal hereafter except in Allah’s company, which is the promised
Jannah. There are two gardens, and none enters the second (eternal) one without entering the first (the one in this world.)
I have heard Shaykh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah—may Allah honor his soul—say,
There is a Paradise in this world, and the one who does not enter it, will not enter the Paradise in the hereafter.
A knower of Allah once said, “Sometimes my heart is in a state (of bliss) such that I say to myself, ‘If the people of Paradise were to be in a state like this, they would be happy people.’”
Some among those who love Allah say that the poor people of this world pass through it without ever experiencing its most blissful thing. When asked what that is, they say, “love of Allah.” Anyone with a live heart would testify to the truth of these statements.
The following five things, however, prevent the heart from experiencing this bliss:
- The Company of Worldly People
The heart becomes blackened by the company of the [worldly] people of this life. It causes the heart’s confusion, bewilderment, worry, grief, and weakness. The heart becomes negligent of its own true interests and bliss, and becomes distracted by the demands and expectations of such people.
The company that one keeps for the sake of this world betrays and abandons him sooner or later—as Allah says,
وَيَومَ يَعَضُّ الظّالِمُ عَلىٰ يَدَيهِ يَقولُ يا لَيتَنِي اتَّخَذتُ مَعَ الرَّسولِ سَبيلًا
يا وَيلَتىٰ لَيتَني لَم أَتَّخِذ فُلانًا خَليلًا
لَقَد أَضَلَّني عَنِ الذِّكرِ بَعدَ إِذ جاءَني ۗ وَكانَ الشَّيطانُ لِلإِنسانِ خَذولًا
And that day the wrongdoer will bite his hands in regret, saying “Woe to me, would that I had chosen the path of Allah’s Messenger, would that I had not taken so and so for a friend—alas, he distracted me from the reminder after it had come to me.” [Surat Al-Furqan, 25:27-29]
Allah Almighty also said,
The best friends on that [Judgment] Day will be each other’s enemy—except for the Allah-fearing. [Surat Al-Zukhruf, 43:67]
Allah’s
Khalil or Friend, Ibrahim, said to his people:
You have taken idols other than Allah as the basis of love among you in the life of this world— but on the Day of Judgment you will deny each other and curse each other—and your abode will be the Hellfire, and you will find none to help you. [Surat Al-Furqan, 29:25]
This is the truth of all relationships that are of this world and for this world alone. They last only so long as their interests coincide, and leave behind them nothing but regret, grief and pain.
The rule of thumb is to mix with people only in benevolence and goodness, such as the Friday and daily congregations, the two Eids, the Pilgrimage, and circles of learning and teaching, Jihad, and when giving sincere advice. And to avoid the company of those involved in sinful deeds — and even the company of those participating in too much of permissible deeds when they are not beneficial.
If one finds oneself in the company of people engaged in some vice, one must never approve of it. Rather, one must voice one’s disapproval, and be patient over the discomfort or pain that it may cause. Such people will never leave alone one who dissents from their evil ways and does not have much power; so one must be patient. Even the discomfort or pain [of rejection] that one bears is likely to bring him honor and the love of believers, and most importantly of the Lord. On the other hand, acquiescing in their misdeeds will result in humiliation and rancor, even though at first it appears to be the easy way out— and worse yet, it will bring the wrath of the believers and of the Lord of the creation.
If one finds oneself in the company of people engaged in permissible but fruitless deeds, one should try to change it to a gathering of obedience to Allah and encourage people in that way. At the same time, one must also strengthen one’s heart and not be dissuaded by the trap of Satan through such occasions, when he tries to cast doubts in one’s heart by suggesting that one’s attempt to remind people of Allah is nothing but self-righteousness and ostentation of one’s knowledge. One must anticipate and fight such insinuations, seeking Allah’s help, and not be dissuaded from encouraging people, as much as possible, to do good.
If none of this works, and people persist in their heedlessness, and if one is compelled to stay in their company, then one must then remove one’s heart from that company—so much so that one sees them but does not look at them, one hears them but does not listen to them—one’s body may be in their company, but one’s heart and mind is with Allah.
- Endless Wishes – WISHFUL THINKING
The wishes of this world are an endless ocean that drowns the heart. On the other hand, [the Allah-fearing heart] will desire the Hereafter and the knowledge, faith and deeds that elevate one towards Allah. In fact, this [attitude] is praised by the Messenger of Allah himself, who said that the one who truly wishes to do good deeds but lacks the capability to do so gets the same reward received by the one who actually does them. (Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Ahmad)
- Attachment to Other-than Allah
There is no greater destroyer of the heart than this one. The strongest version of this ailment is
shirk, or association of partners with Allah in worship.
(Given that the significance of this subject is well-known to all Muslims, the translation of this section is being omitted here.)
- Excessive Eating
Excess in eating, even of permissible things, leads to laziness towards worship and a myriad of other problems. A gluttonous person is concerned with filling his stomach with favorite foods until he overfills it—and then he suffers from its after-effects, such as stomach ache, heaviness, sleepiness, and, most of all, increased lust. Whoever eats much, sleeps much—and thus loses much. A report from the Messenger of Allah says,
A son of Adam fills nothing worse than his own stomach. It is sufficient for him to eat enough to support his back. And if he must fill it, let a third of it be for food, a third for drink, and a third to breathe with ease. (Ahmad)
- Excessive Sleep
The fifth corrupter of the heart is excess in sleeping, for it dulls the heart, makes the body enervated and heavy, wastes time, and breeds laziness and heedlessness. Sleep is most useful and efficient when it is needed. Sleep during the first part of the night (after
‘Isha’) is more commendable and beneficial than during the last part of the night (closer to
Fajr), while sleep during the middle part of the night is more beneficial and satisfying than that during the beginning or the end.
Sleeping after Fajr (dawn) until sunrise is also disliked, even for those who have spent the night awake in worship, for this time is an opportunity. The worshippers of Allah particularly value this time, for the first part of the day is its key, in which there is
baraka (divine blessing or spiritual grace). One ought to avoid sleeping during this time unless it is unavoidable. Sleeping during the first part of the night (after
Maghrib, that is) is also harmful, both for health and for one’s
din, for it leads to missing of the ‘Isha’ Salah.
The best time to sleep, then, is the middle of the night (just after ‘Isha’ until sometime before Fajr), which is a total of eight hours, as recommended by the physicians. Any more or less than this affects one’s agility and efficiency during the day.
Finally, just as too much sleep is harmful, so is too little sleep, for it leads to even bigger problems, such as irritability, distractedness, and inability to think and perform efficiently. A healthy existence is based on balance.
And Allah is the one whose help is ever sought.
