✨Supplications for the Heart

In steadfastness of the heart upon the command of Allāh Almighty, is happiness in this worldly life and triumph in the hereafter. The Prophet ﷺ said:
Indeed Allāh does not look at your appearances or your wealth, rather He looks at your deeds and your hearts. [Muslim 2564b]

And Hassan Al Basry, may Allāh have mercy on him, said:
Remedy your heart for indeed all that Allāh Almighty wants from His servants is the righteousness of their hearts.

And it is noteworthy that there are many supplications devoted to the heart. This obliges the believer to pay attention to these supplications, memorize them, and to supplicate with them a great deal, following the example of the Prophet ﷺ . For the heart is the place of iman (faith), righteousness, allegiance, disavowal, love and hate. And the deeds of the hearts are foremost and more important than the movements of the bodies. And humility and focus in prayer is its soul and its core. And reflecting an hour is better than praying at night, as was narrated from a number of companions, may Allāh be pleased with them.

And since the heart is the place of love and hate, supplicating for the heart to have love for faith and hatred for disbelief is from among the authentic supplications. And Allāh Almighty has blessed the companions, may Allāh be pleased with them, with that. Allāh Almighty said:
Al-Hujurat (49) 7: But Allāh has endeared to you the faith and has made it pleasing in your hearts and has made hateful to you disbelief, defiance and disobedience.

And after the campaign of Uhud with the pain of defeat and bitterness of the calamity, the Prophet ﷺ gathered his companions and praised Allāh Almighty and supplicated Him the Almighty. And among his supplications was:
O Allāh, endear iman (faith) to us and adorn our hearts with it, and make disbelief, deviance and rebellion hateful to us. And make us among the rightly-guided. [Sahih Adab Al Mufred, Grade: Sahih]

And the heart deviates from the guidance into misguidance and from the truth to falsehood. Therefore, as Allāh Almighty stated in the Quran, among the supplications of those who are firmly grounded in knowledge:
Al Imran (3) 7: Our Lord, let not our hearts deviate after You have guided us and grant us from Yourself mercy. Indeed, You are the Bestower

And the most frequent supplication of the Prophet ﷺ was to make the heart steadfast upon the religion. As Anas, may Allāh be pleased with him, narrated:
The Prophet ﷺ used to say often: O Changer of the hearts, make my heart firm upon Your religion. He said: we said: O Messenger of Allāh, we believe in you and in what you brought, do you fear for us? So he said: yes, indeed the hearts are between Two Fingers of Allāh Almighty, He changes them. [Ahmad 13696, Grade: Sahih upon the condition of Muslim]

And Um Salamah, may Allāh be pleased with her, was asked:
What was the most frequent supplication of the Messenger of Allāh ﷺwhen he was with you? She said: His most frequent supplication was: O Changer of the hearts, make my heart firm upon Your religion. She said: So I said: O Messenger of Allāh, why do you supplicate so frequently: O Changer of the hearts, make my heart firm upon Your religion. He said: O Umm Salamah, indeed there is no human being except that his heart is between Two Fingers of the Fingers of Allāh, so whomsoever He wills He makes steadfast, and whomever He wills He causes to deviate. [Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3522, Grade: Hasan]

And the heart is the leader of the body, so the body does not perform an act of obedience except by the heart’s command. That is why supplication was prescribed to direct the heart to obedience. And the Prophet ﷺ used to supplicate:
O Allāh! Controller of the hearts, direct our hearts to Your obedience.[Muslim 2655]

And a sound heart bears profit for its owner on the Day of Resurrection. Allāh Almighty said:
Ash-Shu’ara (26) 88-89: (88) The Day when there will not benefit [anyone] wealth or children (89) But only one who comes to Allāh with a sound heart.

And the sound heart is one that submits to Allāh Almighty, and is free from shirk (associating others with Allāh), innovation in religion, doubts and lusts. And the heart gets sick according to the amount of these destructive things that enters it. Perhaps the heart dies of disbelief or hypocrisy, we seek refuge in Allāh Almighty from that. Therefore, from among the Prophet’s ﷺ supplications was:
O Allāh, cleanse my heart with the water of snow and hail, and cleanse my heart of sin as a white garment is cleansed of filth. [Bukhari 6377, Muslim 589]

Rather, it was narrated that the Prophet ﷺ taught some of his companions to seek refuge in Allāh the Almighty from the evil of one’s heart. And the Prophet ﷺ sought refuge from a heart that does not fear Allāh, because that is evidence of its hardness.

And every sin inevitably affects the heart, without exception, and repentance cleanses it, and acts of obedience revive the heart and remembrance of Allāh makes the heart firm. Allāh Almighty said:
Ar-Ra’d (13) 28: Those who have believed and whose hearts are assured by the remembrance of Allāh. Unquestionably, by the remembrance of Allāh hearts are assured.

And part of a prophetic supplication is the phrase:
And I ask You for a sound heart. [Sunan an-Nasa’i 1304, Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3407, Grade: Hasan]

And in some narrations from the Prophet ﷺ , it was related that this supplication is among the treasures that the believer must strive to accumulate more than gold and silver.

And the heart is always in need of guidance from Allāh Almighty, because of the abundance of what comes to it of lusts and doubts and of whispers and insinuations; whether it is guidance of the heart with regards to the obligations of tawheed (Oneness of Allāh), Sunnah and obedience, and keeping away from shirk, innovation in religion and disobedience, or it is guidance for patience and contentment, and not having anxiety and resentment upon afflictions. As Allāh Almighty said:
At Taghabun (64) 11: No disaster strikes except by permission of Allāh. And whoever believes in Allāh – He will guide his heart. And Allāh is Knowing of all things.

And from the authentic supplications in this regard is part of what the Prophet ﷺ said in a lengthy supplication:
…My Lord, accept my repentance, wash my sin, answer my call, make firm my proof, make firm my tongue, guide my heart, and remove the rancor of my chest. [Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3551, Grade: Sahih]

So he asked Allāh Almighty to guide his heart and to remove the rancor of his chest. And the rancor of the chest is bitterness and darkness. And removing it purifies the chest from it.

And how the heart needs to be illuminated with light. And from among the Prophet’s supplications in the night prayer was:
Oh Allāh, place light in my heart. [Bukhari 6316, Muslim 763]

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