✨Reforming the Heart

Be conscious of Allah and be mindful of Him with the conviction that He hears and sees you. Among the most important matters that a Muslim must nurture and rectify is his heart. For the heart is the basis of the deeds and the movements of the body. So if the heart is sound then the body is sound. And if it is corrupt then the body is corrupt. And the Prophet ﷺ was most concerned about the reforming the heart and was very attentive to it. And asking Allah for a guided heart is the supplication of those of understanding as indicated in the Quran:
Ali Imran (3) 8: 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 Prophet ﷺ recommended it in many of his honorable hadiths and included it in many of his powerful supplications. The Prophet ﷺ used to supplicate:
O Allah, make us love belief and adorn our hearts with it. [Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 699]

And he used to supplicate:
O Allah, place light in my heart. [Bukhari 6316, Muslim 763]

And he used to supplicate:
O Allah, I seek refuge in You from a heart that does not fear (You). [Sunan an-Nasa’i 5458]

And he used to supplicate:
O Allah, cleanse my heart of sins as a white garment is cleansed of filth. [Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3547]

And he used to supplicate:
O Changer of the hearts, make my heart firm upon Your religion. [Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3522]

And he used to supplicate:
O You Who makes hearts steadfast make our hearts steadfast upon Your religion. [Sunan Ibn Majah 199]

And he used to supplicate:
O Allah! Controller of the hearts, direct our hearts to Your obedience. [Muslim 2655]

And Shakal ibn Humayd said, Messenger of Allah, teach me a supplication that will benefit me. He ﷺ said, Say:
O Allah, protect me from the evil of my sight and hearing, my tongue, my heart, and the evil of my passion. [Sunan an-Nasa’i 5456]

And there are many textual evidences with these meanings.

It is the duty of every Muslim to take care of purifying his heart, reforming and cleansing it, as well as taking care to reform his outsides. There is no point in rectifying ones outside with a corrupt inside.

And when a Muslim rectifies his heart with pure deeds, sincerity, honesty, and love of Allah and His Messenger ﷺ, his limbs and his outsides will be sound. As An Numaan bin Basheer, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that he heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say:
Indeed, in the body there is a piece of flesh which, if it is sound, the whole body will be sound, and if it is corrupt, the whole body will be corrupt. It is the heart. [Bukhari 52, Muslim 1599a]

This is a great hadith. It contains the clearest indication, that the soundness of a person’s external actions is according to the soundness of his heart and insides. For if his heart is sound, with nothing in it except the love of Allah and the love of what Allah loves and the fear of Allah and fear of falling into what He dislikes, then all of the movements of his limbs are sound. Unlike if one’s heart is corrupted. Such a person is controlled by loving whims, following desires, and prioritizing the interests of the inner self. If this is the case, the actions of his limbs will also be corrupted following the lead of the heart because they do not diverge away from it.

The heart is not devoid of thoughts in all of its states; either with a religious duty and interests of the hereafter, or worldly interests and livelihood, or with false whispers, and corrupted desires. And whoever wants to reform his heart, must occupy his mind with what leads to his righteousness and success. In the area of knowledge, he occupies his mind with learning the requirements of tawhid (Divine unity) and its conditions. And with death and what is after it until entering paradise or the fire. And the risk to deeds and how to avoid them. In the area of ambitions, he occupies his heart with embracing beneficial ambitions and turning away from harmful ambitions. And with that, a person’s thoughts will be upright and his heart will be sound, tranquil and fortified with goodness and righteousness.

And the greatest help in reforming the heart, is increasing beneficial testimonies and affirmations within the heart to strengthen the heart’s attachment to Allah, increase conviction, complete iman (faith) and bolster one’s connection with his Lord. And there are many affirmations in this regard. And from the most important of them is for the heart to realize the insignificance of this worldly life and its treachery, harshness, and quick passing. So if the heart affirms this, it will move away from the worldly life to seeking the hereafter. And then the affirmation of the hereafter and its permanence will be established within the heart. And the heart will affirm and witness that the hereafter is the true life and that its occupants do not move away from it or leave it. Rather it is the permanent abode and final destination.

Then the heart will visualize the fire of Hell, its kindling, its flames, its distant floor, its intense heat and the great torment of its occupants. So he visualizes its occupants with his heart and thoughts as they are driven to it with gloomy faces, purple eyes and chains around their necks. And when they reach it, its doors will open upon their faces. So he witnesses that horrible scene, when their hearts will be cut with grief and sorrow. So if this affirmation is established in a person’s heart, he will rid himself of sins, disobedience, and following lusts. And he will wear the cloak of fear of Allah and be cautious. And the degree of distancing from sins and violations will be in accordance to the strength of affirmation and witnessing.

Then after that, his heart will visualize Paradise and what Allah has prepared for its occupants, that which no eye has seen, no ear has heard and has never crossed the mind of a human. In addition to what Allah described to His servants through the words of His Messenger ﷺ detailing bliss with the highest types of enjoyments; food, drinks, garments, joys and pleasures. Then his heart will visualize, as if he was there, the abode that Allah has made with everlasting bliss. It’s soil is musk, and its pebbles are pearls. It is built with bricks of gold, silver, and hollowed pearl. And it’s drinks are sweeter than honey, and have an aroma more fragrant than musk and cooler than ice and more delicious than ginger. And the radiance of the face of one of its women would outshine the light of the sun of this world. And their clothes are silk and brocade. And their servants will be plentiful and attractive as if they are scattered pearls. And their fruit is continuous, neither cut off nor prohibited. And their mattresses are raised high. And their meal is the meat of birds of whatever they desire. And their drink will be wine that does not intoxicate or have bad effects such as nausea and headaches. And they will have fruits of whatever they desire. And they will have companions with large beautiful eyes like preserved pearls. They and their spouses will relax in shade, reclining on adorned couches. They will enjoy a luxurious life forever in a Garden of Delight. And therein is whatever their souls desire and what delights their eyes, and they will abide therein eternally.

Let us add to this scene, the scene of the day of increasing and glancing at the Face of the Lord Most Majestic and listening to His Words without any intermediaries. Then the heart’s journey towards its Lord will be faster than a swift moving wind and will not waiver, neither turning left nor right.

These are great scenes and if one is attentive to them and gives thought to them, throughout his life , it will be the greatest help in purifying his heart and cleansing it from the blameworthy traits, immoral desires, and ridding oneself from attachment to other than Allah. And it is the greatest motivator for worshipping, loving, fearing and turning to Allah. And it helps in realizing one’s absolute dependence upon Allah and striving in seeking His pleasure

Oh Muslims:I advise you and myself to be conscious of Allah – Blessed and Exalted be He – and to be mindful of Him in public and in private. Each of us should be concerned with reforming his heart and attending to himself until he comes before Allah so that he comes with a sound heart full of goodness and repentance, obedience and love of Allah Almighty. Especially since we live in a time in which there are many trials and tribulations and there are numerous diversions away from the obedience of Allah Almighty. Huthaifah bin Al Yamaan narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
Temptations will be presented to hearts as a mat (is woven) strip by strip, so any heart saturated by them will have a dark spot put on it, and any heart which rejects them will have a white spot put on it, until there will become two types of hearts: one white like a white stone which will not be harmed by any trial as long as the heavens and the earth endure; and the other dark with white streaks and turned upside-down, not recognizing goodness and not denouncing evil, except what is saturated with whims. [Muslim 144a]

So in this hadith the Prophet ﷺ categorized the hearts of people upon being presented with trials as two types. The first type is a heart that soaks up a temptation like a sponge soaks up water. So then a dark spot will be placed on it. Then it will keep soaking up every temptation presented to it until it is darkened and turned upside-down. Then because the heart is darkened and turned upside down, two great trails and dangerous diseases will be presented to it. One of them is confusing goodness with evil. So he does recognize goodness and does not reject evil. And perhaps this disease will become so severe until he reaches the state that he believes that good is evil and that evil is good, and that the sunnah is an innovation and that an innovation is a sunnah, and he confuses truth with falsehood and falsehood with truth.

And the second disease is being controlled by whims. Such that one will always follow his whims and desires and turn away from the guidance of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the straight path.

The second type of heart is a bright heart illuminated with iman (faith). So if a trial or temptation is presented to it, it rejects it and turns it away. So it increases in light and illumination and his iman (faith) and trust in Allah increase. And he will be, by the permission of Allah, protected, safe and secure.

It is the duty of every Muslim to be attentive to the soundness of their heart, especially when temptations proliferate, innovations increase, and ignorance of the religion of Allah the Most High abounds. And Allah Almighty says:
Al Hajj (22) 78: And hold fast to Allāh. He is your protector; and excellent is the protector, and excellent is the helper.

And every Muslim should take the measures towards happiness, safety and righteousness in this world and the hereafter. For the astute is the one who strives for what is after death. And the helpless is the one who follows his whims and has a false sense of security in Allah.We ask Allah Almighty, through His most beautiful names and exalted attributes, to cleanse our hearts of sins as a white garment is cleansed of filth. And to fill our hearts with iman (faith) and light. Indeed Allah is All Hearing, Answering.

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