103: Essential Elements for a Sound Heart

 

وَلا تُخْزِنِي يَوْمَ يُبْعَثُونَ يَوْمَ لا يَنفَعُ مَالٌ ولا بَنُونَ إِلا مَنْ أَتَى اللَّهَ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِيمٍ Prepare yourself not to be of those who will grieve on that Day of Resurrection when neither your material worth nor your family status will benefit you; What will rather benefit is presenting yourself to Allah with a sound heart. [Qur’an 26:87-89]
In the Qur’an, the heart signifies …

Dimensions of the Heart Broadly speaking, the Qur’an and Sunnah clearly present the heart as the locus of … true self [Q33:51], intention [Q2:225], affection [Q9:60], inner dimension of our perceptive faculties [Q 47:24] The heart could also be the locus of … ideological diseases [Q2:10], doubt [Q9:45], heedlessness [Q7:147] , hypocrisy [Q3:167], harshness [Q2:74]. The Heart is that locus around which Allah “reveals” himself to the individual [Q 8:24], the locus for Allah consciousness [Q 13:28], the locus of the essence of worship and divine revelation [Q 26:193], and the essence of the value of the human effort [Q 26:89]. The Prophet therefore emphasized لا يستقيم ايمان عبد حتى يستقيم قلبه your faith will not be correct unless your heart is correct. Three Essential Elements

  1. Sincerity The Prophet (pbuh) captured all dimensions of sincerity when he said: قد افلح من اخلص قلبه للاليمان و جعل قلبه سليما و لسانا صادقا و خليقته مستقيما “ Successful indeed is the person who is sincere in faith, whose heart is pure, whose speech is truthful and whose character is upright.” Professor Don Cross said, "If I truly know who I am and what I value, and stand firmly for what I believe, and have the courage to act on it, I can not help but be sincere." Sincerity simplifies one's life, improves integrity and enhances one's ability to deal effectively with others and makes it easier for others to deal with you. Sincerity is the most important component of any human endeavor. All actions are determined on the basis of the intentions that motivate them and انما الأعمال بالنيات all intentions are evaluated by the sincerity that precedes them. That is why the Prophet (pbuh) informed us that اوصاني ربي بالاخلاص في السر و العلانية the Creator has advised me with sincerity in private and in public.
  2. Humility The sign of truly great people is the absence of arrogance in their personality and the prevalence of humility in their character. Allah considers one of the primary qualities of the true Believer to be khushu'/genuine humility coupled with spirituality [Q23:2][Q34:18]. Wise indeed is the reflection of the Prophet (pbuh) that من تواضع لله رفعه الله Allah elevates those who humble themselves.
    • Be cognizant of the fact that humility lies in the modesty of the heart and not merely in physical appearance. The second Caliph 'Umar reprimanded a person who bent forward in prayer due to what he claimed to be humility. Caliph 'Umar pointed to his heart and said, “humility is in here.” Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq therefore advised; “Be careful of hypocritical humility, where the body appears humble but the heart is not humble.”
    • Confucius said that humility is the foundation of all virtues; while the 4th century moralist, St. Augustine remarked that in that soul in which the virtue of humility does not exist there can be no other virtue except in mere appearance.
    • Remember, “only those who feel humble in the eyes of God, can hope to be mighty in the eyes of people.” [18th century poet, Ernest Moritz Arndt] Fatima, the beloved daughter of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), often recited the prayer: اللهم ذلل نفسي فى نفسي و اعظم شأنك فى نفسي “O Allah! Humble in me the opinion of myself and magnify in me (the consciousness of) Your Grandeur.” It is a noted fact that the person who sincerely looks up to God rarely looks down upon people. Little wonder that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) reminded us:
      ان الله أوحى الىَّ أن تواضعوا حتى لا يفخر أحد على أحد و لا يبغى أحد على أحد “Allah has revealed to me that you should humble yourself to the extent that no one boasts over another, nor anyone oppresses another.”

  3. Compassion & Forgiveness The worst disease of this day and age is that of people feeling unloved. There is so much hurt in this world despite so much capacity to show love. When love fills our heart and mind, we see a world that yearns to be loved. The very fact that...
    • the most pervasive of all the attributes of Allah in the Qur'an is rahmah / compassion & mercy [Qur'an 7:155]
    • Allah [Q 1: 1-3], the Qur'an [Q 17:72], the Prophet [Q 21:107] and the basic bond of the most fundamental human relationship [Q 30:21] is referred to as rahmah / compassion & mercy
    • Prophet Jesus / 'Isa (pbuh) referred to the greatest commandment as being the one that states, "Love God with all thy heart and all thy soul and love thy neighbor as thy self." Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said ... الحب أساسي ("Love is the foundation of my existence")
    • "The idea of love has left a wider and more indelible imprint upon the development of human culture in all its aspect than any other single notion." [Encyclopedia of Religion]
    • Life is short. Be swift to love! Make haste to be kind!" [Swiss Author, Henri Amiel] The fact that mu'allafah / affection [Q 9:60][Q 3:103], and mawaddah wa rahmah / love and compassion [Q 30:21], considered the most positive aspect of the human relationships, are associated with the "heart", it is obligatory to overcome hard-heartedness [Q 2:74]. We are exhorted to emulate the prophetic example of being compassionate and forgiving [Q 3:159]. Many individuals are journeying through life with emotional and psychological stress and strain from a variety of past hurts. How it continues and for how long is greatly determined by the one bearing the hurt. Wise ones have said that we often attach our feelings to the moment when we were hurt, endowing it with immortality. We let it assault us every time it comes to mind. It travels with us, sleeps with us, hovers over us while we live, and broods over us while we die. Our hate does not even have the decency to die when those we hate die--for it is like a parasite sucking our blood, not theirs. There is only one remedy for it … forgiveness. Allah reminds و ا ن تعفوا و تصفحوا و تغفروا فان الله غفور رحيم If you pardon, reconcile and forgive; (know that) surely Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful. [Qur’an 64:14] It is not easy for many of us to forgive others, especially if we feel that we have a good reason to be upset. The ability, compassion and wisdom to forgive one another for past wrongs, hurts, and misunderstandings is one of the greatest attributes any of us can possess and exercise. Can you imagine how many strained family relationships could be healed and restored if individuals would truly forgive each other? Allah describes the pious and the doers of good as الكاظمين الغيظ و العافين عن الناس … those who overcome resentment and forgive people [Qur’an 3:134].

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