A Sound Heart for Better Living
| Khatib : |
Sadullah Khan |
| Khutbah No: |
227 |
| Khutbah Date: |
02/09/07 |
[b]وَلا تُخْزِنِي يَوْمَ يُبْعَثُونَ يَوْمَ لا يَنفَعُ مَالٌ ولا بَنُونَ إِلا مَنْ أَتَى اللَّهَ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِيمٍ[/b]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]The Prophet therefore emphasized
لا يستقيم ايمان عبد حتى يستقيم قلبه your faith will not be correct unless your heart is correct[b]Three Essential Elements for a sound Heart1.SINCERITY & HONESTY [/b]Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) captured all dimensions of sincerity when he said:
[b]قد افلح من اخلص قلبه للايمان و جعل قلبه سليما و لسانا صادقا و خليقته مستقيما[/b] “Successful indeed is the person who is sincere in faith, whose heart is pure, whose speech is truthful and whose character is upright.” [/i]Sincerity is the most important component of any human endeavor. All actions are determined on the basis of the intentions that motivate them and all intentions are انما الأعمال بالنيات evaluated by the sincerity that precedes them. That is why the Prophet (pbuh) informed us thatاوصاني ربي بالاخلاص في السر و العلانية[i]the Creator has advised me with sincerity in private and in public[/i]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 linked toSidq/ Honesty and Truthfulness. No person can be sincere without being honest. Allah mentions صدق sidq/honesty/ truthfulness over a 100 places in the Qur'an and describes a primary characteristic of the faithful as… “Believers are... those who are truthful.” [Q 49:15].Part of one’s ability in dealing honestly with the world, is learning how to deal with one’s self; part of dealing with one’s self is understanding one’s feelings, one’s attitude, and getting to know who you really are; Emotional Honesty. Part of discovering who you really are is finding out who you are not. To reveal our true selves we need to unmask our true identity and get to know one’s self. Just as honesty is highly emphasized so is distortion of truth is unreservedly condemned and deception [b]خداع, غش, خيانة[/b][i]khidaa’/ghash/khiyanah [/i]is considered as part of hypocrisy, even of disbelief. It can be said that someone has lied when he/she knowingly possesses the truth and consciously attempts to deceive another individual.Note that each emotion may have more than one dimension and each dimension offers us an essential truth, an insight into what it means to be human…[list][*]Love - offers connection and sense of compassion[/*][*]Fear – makes us evaluate our strength and weaknesses in the face of challenges[/*][*]Grief/Sadness - reminds us of how fragile our lives are. [/*][*]Anger - can be constructive disagreement (indignation aroused by witnessing or experiencing injustice, wrongfulness or impropriety.) or destructive (which occurs when there is a more intense reaction than the situation merits). [/*][*]Hate - often the most destructive with least pleasant consequences[/*][*]Gratitude - appreciating blessings.[/*][*]Joy – celebration of the positive aspects of life[/*][*]Jealousy - can evolve into ugly unreasonable selfishness[/*][*]Guilt – (healthy) =a reminder of obligation that is due.[/*][*]Excitement - provides motivation, energy to do things. [/*][/list] Emotions are a guide to where we are in relation to the reality of the world we live in. Denying the emotion or misrepresenting to ourselves or others what we feel may in reality be suppressing the truth and could lead to a skewed perception of reality. Remember the Prophet’s prayer; O Allah! Show me things as they really are اللهم ارنى الأشياء كما هي. If we do not see “things” as they really are, then what are we seeing; if we do not realize refuse to acknowledge what we really feel then what are we feeling?[b]2.HUMILITY[/b]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 [i]Allah elevates those who humble themselves[/i]~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;[i]“Be careful of hypocritical humility, where the body appears humble but the heart is not humble.” [/i]~Confucius said that humility is the foundation of all virtues; while the 4th century moralist, St. Augustine remarked that [i]in that soul in which the virtue of humility does not exist there can be no other virtue except in mere appearance. [/i]~Remember,[i]“only those who feel humble in the eyes of God, can hope to be mighty in the eyes of people.” [/i][18th century poet, Ernest Moritz Arndt] Fatima, the beloved daughter of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), often recited the prayer: [b]اللهم ذلل نفسي فى نفسي و اعظم شأنك فى نفسي[/b][i]“O Allah! Humble in me the opinion of myself and magnify in me (the consciousness of) Your Grandeur.”[/i] 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: [b]ان الله أوحى الىَّ أن تواضعوا حتى لا يفخر أحد على أحد و لا يبغى أحد على أحد[/b][i] “Allah has revealed to me that you should humble yourself to the extent [/i][b]3. COMPASSION & FORGIVENESS[/b]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]- Henri Amiel wrote, Life is short. Be swift to love! Make haste to be kind!" … all these emphasize the significance of compassion and forgiveness.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].Emotional BurdenMany 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]Learn to Be ForgivingIt 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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