In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
By Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah
Just as the
heart may be described in terms of being alive or dead, it may also be regarded
as belonging to one of three types; these are the healthy heart, the dead
heart, and the sick heart.
The Healthy Heart
On the Day
of Resurrection, only those who come to Allah with a healthy heart will be
saved. Allah says:
"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)"
In defining
the healthy heart, the following has been said: "It is a heart cleansed
from any passion that challenges what Allah commands, or disputes what He
forbids. It is free from any impulses which contradict His good. As a result,
it is safeguarded against the worship of anything other than Him, and seeks the
judgement of no other except that of His Messenger . Its services are exclusively
reserved for Allah, willingly and lovingly, with total reliance, relating all
matters to Him, in fear, hope and sincere dedication. When it loves, its love
is in the way of Allah. If it detests, it detests in the light of what He
detests. When it gives, it gives for Allah. If it withholds, it withholds for
Allah. Nevertheless, all this will not suffice for its salvation until it is
free from following, or taking as its guide, anyone other than His Messenger ." A servant with a healthy
heart must dedicate it to its journey's end and not base his actions and speech
on those of any other person except Allah's Messenger . He must not give precedence to
any other faith or words or deeds over those of Allah and His Messenger, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace. Allah says:
"Oh 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
This is the
opposite of the healthy heart. It does not know its Lord and does not worship
Him as He commands, in the way which He likes, and with which He is pleased. It
clings instead to its lusts and desires, even if these are likely to incur
Allah's displeasure and wrath. It worships things other than Allah, and its
loves and its hatreds, and its giving and its withholding, arise from its
whims, which are of paramount importance to it and preferred above the pleasure
of Allah. Its whims are its imam. Its lust is its guide. Its ignorance is its
leader. Its crude impulses are its impetus. It is immersed in its concern with
worldly objectives. It is drunk with its own fancies and its love for hasty,
fleeting pleasures. 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
shayton. Life angers and pleases it, and passion makes it deaf and blind (1) 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 with life in it, as well as illness. The former sustains it at one
moment, the latter at another, and it follows whichever one of the two manages
to dominate it. It has love for Allah, faith in Him, sincerity towards Him, and
reliance upon Him, and these are what give it life. It also has a craving for
lust and pleasure, and prefers them and strives to experience them. It is full
of self-admiration, which can lead to its own destruction. It listens to two
callers: one calling it to Allah and His Prophet and the akhira; and the other
calling it to the fleeting pleasures of this world. It responds to whichever
one of the two happens to have most influence over it at the time.
The first
heart is alive, submitted to Allah, humble, sensitive and aware; the second is
brittle and dead; the third wavers between either its safety or its ruin.
Footnotes:
1. It has been related on the authority of Abu'd-Darda' that the Messenger of Allah said, "Your love for something that makes you blind and deaf." Abu Daw'ud, al-Adab, 14/38; Ahmad, al-Musnad, 5/194. The hadith is classified as hasan
1. It has been related on the authority of Abu'd-Darda' that the Messenger of Allah said, "Your love for something that makes you blind and deaf." Abu Daw'ud, al-Adab, 14/38; Ahmad, al-Musnad, 5/194. The hadith is classified as hasan
Source: kalamullah.com
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