The Types of Heart Chapter 3

يَوْمَ لَا يَنفَعُ مَالٌ وَلَا بَنُونَ Types of Heart The heart can be described as being alive or being dead. It can also be described as being healthy or sick. The Healthy Heart Those who come to Allah on the day of judgment will be saved. يَوْمَ لَا يَنفَعُ مَالٌ وَلَا بَنُونَ إِلَّا مَنْ أَتَى اللَّهَ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِيمٍ Allah states, “The day on which neither wealth nor sons will be of any use, except for whoever brings to Allah a sound heart. (26: 88-89) It is a heart cleansed from any poison. It is a heart that does not challenge or dispute what Allah commanded and forbade.

The Healthy Heart Continued… It safeguards itself against worshipping anything other than Allah. It seeks to be judged by non other than Allah. When it loves, it loves in the way of Allah. What it hates, it hates in the way of Allah. When it gives, it gives for Allah seeking His pleasure and mercy. Its speech and actions are only in accord with what was brought by the Messenger of Allah. يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُقَدِّمُوا بَيْنَ يَدَيِ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ Allah states, “O You who believe, do not put yourselves above Allah and His messenger, but fear Allah, for Allah is Hearing, Knowing. (49:1)

The Dead Heart It is the opposite of the healthy heart. It does not know and recognize its Lord. It obeys itself and disregards Allah. It obeys others and disregards Allah. It follows its whims and desires with no care of consequence on the day when it will meet Allah. It loves for other than Allah. It gives for other than Allah. Its desires are its Iman. Its lust is its guide. Its ignorance is its leader.

The Dead Heart Continued… It is called to Allah and the akhira from a distance, but it does not respond to advice, and instead it follows any scheming, cunning shaytaan. Life angers and pleases it. Passion makes it deaf and blind to anything except what is evil. To associate and keep company with the owner of such a heart is to tempt illness: living with him is like taking poison, and befriending him means utter destruction

The Sick Heart This is a heart that has life in it, as well as illness. The life keeps it going, but the illness keeps it having to work hard to remain healthy, and this type of heart tends to follow whichever one of the two (life or illness) that manages to dominate it. It has love for Allah, faith in Him, sincerity towards Him, and reliance upon Him, and these are what gives it life. It also has craving, lusts, and desires, and it prefers them and tries to experience as much of them as it can.

The Sick Heart Continued… It is full of self admiration and this can destroy it. It listens to two callers: One calling it to Allah and His Prophet, and the Akhira. The other is calling it to the fleeting pleasures of this world which is lead by devils calling them to this life and all that is in it. Abdullâh ibn Mas’ûd radiallâhu ’anhu said: The Prophet sallallâhu ’alayhi wa sallam drew a line for us and said: “This is Allâh’s Straight Path.” Then he drew lines to its right and left and then said: “These are other paths. Upon every one of them there is a devil calling towards it.” Then he recited: “Indeed this is My Straight Path, so follow it. And do not follow other paths, they will separate you from His Path.”

Healthy Heart The first heart is alive and it submits to Allah. It is humble, sensitive and aware. The Dead Heart The second heart is brittle and dead. The Sick Heart The third heart wavers between safety and ruin.

Symptoms of the Heart’s Sickness & Signs of it’s Health Chapter 4

The signs of a sick heart A servants heart may be ill, and seriously deteriorating, while he/she remains oblivious of its condition. Their heart may even die without them realizing it. Symptoms of its sickness or signs of it approaching death is that its owner is not aware of the harm that results from the damage caused by wrong action, and it is unperturbed by his ignorance of the truth or by his false belief. It turns away from good food to harmful food. From remedies to shameful sicknesses. The most beneficial medicine for a sick heart is the Quran.

The signs of a healthy heart For the heart to be healthy it should depart from this life and arrive in the next, and then settle there as if it is one of its people. It is in this life as a traveler only taking with them what they need on their journey to their real home in paradise. The prophet said, “Be in this world as if you were a stranger or a traveler on a path.” The healthy heart continues to bother its owner until he returns to Allah, and is at peace with Him. He needs nothing other than Allah. He desires to meet no One more than Allah

The signs of a healthy heart continued… If this heart misses reading the Quran, invoking Allah, or completing a prescribed act of worship, then its owner is distressed. He is more worried than a man who lost his money. This heart longs to serve Allah, just as a famished person longs for food and drink. This heart has only one concern: that all its actions, and its inner thoughts and utterances, are obedient to Allah. It is more careful with its time then people are with money. When it enters into prayer all its worries worldly and otherwise vanish and it finds complete comfort and bliss in adoring its Lord.

The Cause of Sickness of the Heart The temptations that one exposes the heart to causes it to become sick. Hudayfah ibn Yaman said, “Temptations are presented to the heart, one by one. Any heart that accpets them will be left with a black stain, but any heart that rejects them will be left with a mark of purity, so that hearts are of two types: a dark heart that has turned away and become like an overturned vessel, and a pure heart that will never be harmed by temptation for as long as the earth and the heavens exist. The dark heart only recognizes good and denounces evil when this suits its desires and whims.”

The Cause of Sickness of the Heart Continued… 2 things happen when it is exposed to temptation It absorbs it like a sponge that soaks up water, leaving a black stain in it. It continues to absorb until it is darkened and corrupted. When this happens two dangerous sicknesses take over: It confuses good with evil. It does not recognize the good and it does not denounce the evil. Its desires become its judge, over and above what the Prophet taught, until it is enslaved by its desires. A pure heart which the light of faith is found bright in it. When temptation is presented to this heart, it opposes it and rejects it.