The Healthy Heart (Part 3)

[Mohammed Hjaoua]

So far, we have seen the importance of a healthy heart, how the (collective) hearts of the people affect the society and that devil is our open enemy. The reset of this text stresses on some of the characteristics of a healthy heart.



Let's first look at some of the characteristics of a Dead Body. A dead body is:

Hard - Stiff
Senseless
without a Soul
Similar to a dead body, a dead heart is hard, senseless but with a soul that is made inattentive. In contrast to a dead heart, an alive heart is quite like the heart of new born baby: Pure, Satisfied, soft, attentive.



[ Pure Heart ]
æÇÒáÝÊ ÇáÌäÉ ááãÊÞíä ÛíÑ ÈÚíÏ ¤ åÐÇ ãÇÊæÚÏæä áßá ÇæÇÈ ÍÝíÙ ¤ ãä ÎÔí ÇáÑÍãä ÈÇáÛíÈ æÌÇÁ ÈÞáÈ ãäíÈ

Paradise shall be brought close to the righteous, which will no more be a distant thing, ¤ and it will be said: "Here is what you were promised. It is for every penitent faithful person, ¤ who feared the Compassionate (Allah) without seeing Him and will come before Him with a devoted heart." Al-Quran [ ÓæÑÉ Þ (Qaaf) - 50:31-33]


æäÝÓ æãÇÓæÇåÇ ¤ ÝÇáåãåÇ ÝÌæÑåÇ æÊÞæÇåÇ ¤ ÞÏ ÇÝáÍ ãä ÒßÇåÇ ¤ æÞÏ ÎÇÈ ãä ÏÓÇåÇ ¤ ßÐÈÊ ËãæÏ ÈØÛæÇåÇ

And by the soul and Him Who perfected it ¤ and inspired it with knowledge of what is wrong for it and what is right for it: ¤ indeed successful will be the one who keeps it pure, ¤ and indeed failure will be the one who corrupts it! ¤ The people of Thamud denied the truth because of their arrogant transgression. .. Al-Quran [ Shams - 91:7-11 ]


ÞÏ ÇÝáÍ ãä ÊÒßì ¤ æÐßÑ ÇÓã ÑÈå ÝÕáì ¤ Èá ÊÄËÑæä ÇáÍíÇÉ ÇáÏäíÇ ¤ æÇáÇÎÑÉ ÎíÑ æÇÈÞì ¤ Çä åÐÇ áÝí ÇáÕÍÝ ÇáÇæáì ¤ ÕÍÝ ÇÈÑÇåíã æãæÓì

He indeed shall be successful who purifies himself, ¤ And magnifies the name of his Lord and prays. ¤ Nay! you prefer the life of this world, ¤ While the hereafter is better and more lasting. ¤ Most surely this is in the earlier scriptures, ¤ The scriptures of Ibrahim and Musa. Al-Quran [ A'laa - 87:14-19]




[ Satisfied (filled with the Love & Remembrance of Allah) ]
ÝÇäÐÑÊßã äÇÑÇ ÊáÙì ¤ áÇíÕáÇåÇ ÇáÇ ÇáÇÔÞì ¤ ÇáÐí ßÐÈ æÊæáì ¤ æÓíÌäÈåÇ ÇáÇÊÞì ¤ ÇáÐí íÄÊì ãÇáå íÊÒßì ¤ æãÇáÇÍÏ ÚäÏå ãä äÚãÉ ÊÌÒì ¤ ÇáÇ ÇÈÊÛÇÁ æÌå ÑÈå ÇáÇÚáì ¤ æáÓæÝ íÑÖì

Therefore, I warn you of the blazing fire, ¤ in which none shall burn except the wretched ¤ who deny the truth and give no heed. ¤ But the pious shall be kept away from it, ¤ the one who spends in charity for self-purification, ¤ not seeking any favor from anyone for which a reward is expected in return, ¤ except seeking the good pleasure of his Lord, the Most High. ¤ Such persons shall soon be well-pleased with Allah. Al-Quran [ ÓæÑÉ Çááíá (Lail) - 92:14-21]


ÇáÐíä ÇãäæÇ æÊØãÆä ÞáæÈåã ÈÐßÑ Çááå ÇáÇ ÈÐßÑ Çááå ÊØãÆä ÇáÞáæÈ

- such are the ones who have believed and whose hearts find satisfaction in the remembrance of Allah. Beware! It is the remembrance of Allah which provides tranquility to the hearts. Al-Quran [ ÓæÑÉ ÇáÑÚÏ (Ra'd) - 13:28]


Þá Çä ßäÊã ÊÍÈæä Çááå ÝÇÊÈÚæäí íÍÈÈßã Çááå æíÛÝÑ áßã ÐäæÈßã æÇááå ÛÝæÑ ÑÍíã

Tell the people O Muhammad: "If you sincerely love Allah, then follow me; Allah will also love you and forgive you your sins. Allah is Forgiving, Merciful." Al-Quran [ ÓæÑÉ Âá ÚãÑÇä (Aal-e-Imran) - 3:31]




[ Soft, Humble (with the fear of Allah) ]
æÇÒáÝÊ ÇáÌäÉ ááãÊÞíä ÛíÑ ÈÚíÏ ¤ åÐÇ ãÇÊæÚÏæä áßá ÇæÇÈ ÍÝíÙ ¤ ãä ÎÔí ÇáÑÍãä ÈÇáÛíÈ æÌÇÁ ÈÞáÈ ãäíÈ

Paradise shall be brought close to the righteous, which will no more be a distant thing, ¤ and it will be said: "Here is what you were promised. It is for every penitent faithful person, ¤ who feared the Compassionate (Allah) without seeing Him and will come before Him with a devoted heart." Al-Quran [ ÓæÑÉ Þ (Qaaf) - 50:31-33]


ÇäãÇ ÇáãÄãäæä ÇáÐíä ÇÐÇ ÐßÑ Çááå æÌáÊ ÞáæÈåã æÇÐÇ ÊáíÊ Úáíåã ÇíÇÊå ÒÇÏÊåã ÇíãÇäÇ æÚáì ÑÈåã íÊæßáæä

The true believers are those whose hearts tremble with fear, when the name of Allah is mentioned, and whose faith grows stronger as they listen to His revelations and they put their trust in their Lord, Al-Quran [ ÓæÑÉ ÇáÃäÝÇá (Anfaal) - 8:2]



When hell shall be placed in full view of all, ¤ then he who had rebelled ¤ and preferred the life of this world ¤ shall have his abode in hell. ¤ But he who had feared standing before his Lord and curbed his evil desires ¤ shall have his home in paradise. ¤ Al-Quran [ ÓæÑÉ ÇáäÇÒÚÇÊ (Naazi'aat) - 79:36-41]




Is the one whose heart Allah has opened to Islam and is walking in the light from his Lord like the one who has learned no lesson and is still a non-Muslim. So woe to those whose hearts are hardened against the remembrance of Allah! They are clearly in error. ¤ Allah has revealed the most beautiful message, a Book consistent in its verses yet repeating its teachings in different ways. Those who fear their Lord are filled with awe when they hear it, their skins and their hearts become pliant to the remembrance of Allah. Such is the guidance of Allah: He guides with it whom He pleases. But he to whom He confounds shall have none to guide him. ¤ Al-Quran [ ÓæÑÉ ÇáÒãÑ (Zumar) - 39:22-23]


[ Attentive, Conscious ]
No bearer of a burden will bear another's burden, and if a heavy laden person cries out for help, none will come forward to share the least of his burden, even though he be a close relative. You can only admonish those who fear their Lord - though they cannot see Him - and establish Salah. He that purifies himself does so for his own good. To Allah is the destination of all.¤ The blind and the seeing are not alike; ¤ nor the darkness and the Light; ¤ nor the shade and the heat; ¤ nor the living and the dead. Certainly Allah can make anyone hear if He so wills; but, you cannot make those who are in the graves hear you. Al-Quran [ ÓæÑÉ ÝÇØÑ (Faatir) - 35:18-22]




Is he who was dead then We raised him to life and made for him a light by which he walks among the people, like him whose likeness is that of one in utter darkness whence he cannot come forth? Thus what they did was made fair seeming to the unbelievers. ¤ And thus have We made in every town the great ones to be its guilty ones, that they may plan therein; and they do not plan but against their own souls, and they do not perceive. Al-Quran [ ÓæÑÉ ÇáÃäÚÇã (An'aam) - 6:122-123]

Have they not traveled through the land? Have they no hearts to learn wisdom, or ears to hear the Truth? Certainly it is not their eyes which are blind, but it is the hearts in their breasts which are blind. Al-Quran [ ÓæÑÉ ÇáÍÌ (Hajj) - 22:46]


"Certainly, We have destined many Jinns and human beings for hell; those are the ones who have hearts with which they do not understand, they have eyes with which they do not see, they have ears with which they do not hear. They are like animals - or even worse than them, because they are those who are heedless." al-Quran [7:179]






The fact is that a heart that is not filled with the LOVE OF ALLAH, will get the LOVE OF WORLD in it. And a heart that is not filled with the FEAR OF ALLAH, will get the FEAR OF PEOPLE, FEAR of loose of wealth etc.








You can never attain righteousness unless you spend in the cause of Allah that which you dearly cherish; and whatever you spend surely it is known to Allah. Al-Quran [ ÓæÑÉ Âá ÚãÑÇä (Aal-e-Imran) - 3:92]




Nay, the fact is that you people love this fleeting life ¤ and are heedless to the Hereafter. Al-Quran [ ÓæÑÉ ÇáÞíÇãÉ (Qiyaamah) - 75:20-21]





But O men! You prefer the life of this world; ¤ while the Hereafter is better and everlasting. Al-Quran [ ÓæÑÉ ÇáÃÚáì (A'laa) - 87:16-17]




These are some words that helped me and insha Allah, you will find them beneficial. The Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) gave his Sahabah the light which was given to him by Allah, those Sahabah illuminated the rest of the world with the help of Allah and thus are we Muslims now, alhamdulillah. Only one candle is sufficient to light a thousand candles, interestingly, without loosing any light! However, the overall light of a thousand candles does brighten the surrounding! If Allah wishes to keep the candles bright, then even the storms cannot stop candles from illuminating. Allahu noorus-Samawati wal-ard. Let us hope to be among those sincere devotees of Allah (al-Mukhlaseen) , over whom the Satan has no control.





Our Lord, do not let our hearts deviate from the truth after you have guided us, and grant us Your own mercy; You are the Grantor of bounties without measure. Al-Quran [ ÓæÑÉ Âá ÚãÑÇä (Aal-e-Imran) - 3:8]


Abu Hurayrah narrated: The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_ him) used to say: "O Allah, I seek refuge in Thee from four things: Knowledge which does not profit, a heart which is not submissive, a soul which has an insatiable appetite, and a supplication which is not heard." [Abu Dawud - 008_1543]