The Heart
Archived under My Writings , Tazkiyyah .
Sometimes we just do not reflect enough! Really... I'm being dead serious here - so serious that I'm even angry at myself for not doing so!
I have had the opportunity to attend a very heart-moving lecture recently and I truly thank Allaah for blessing me with the life to have attended it, for it was truly astounding mashaa`Allaah. May Allaah preserve the life of Umm Abdur-Rahmaan, to allow her to live a life of righteousness and benefit many others as I have benefited from her, aameen.
The heart - it's the centre of everything related to our existence. We all know what would happen if our heart stopped beating: the blood flow to our internal organs will cease, our brain would go into panic-mode to try to survive... in essence, we'd die. There's no doubt about that.
What about when our heart dies? What then? "Can our heart die?", I hear you cry. Yes of course it can! Here's how it can happen (and these are in no particular order, but they are part-and-parcel of the whole process):
-- you wanna experiment with 'things' (I'm sure you know what 'things' can be thought of here)
-- you stop praying.. heck, you stop thinking about a Creator 'cos things are so good
-- you stay out longer.. go out more... 'see' more people (you know what I mean)
-- things are so good that you start think you're in total control of you're life
-- you start getting older (as you do), but none the wiser.. life's good
-- you begin to forget the past (when you were saved from such-and-such; how you overcame this-and-that)
-- you live with no purpose or aim.. just live.
I'm sure by this point, you've realised that one's heart would be dead.
A poet once said:
I saw the sins killing the hearts breeding ignominy due to their addiction And in the leaving of sins lies its life and it is best for your soul that you preserve it.
... and the Prophet (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said:
"The example of the one who celebrates the Praises of his Lord (Allaah) in comparison to the one who does not celebrate the Praises of his Lord, is that of a living creature compared to a dead one." (Saheeh al-Bukhaaree: vol. 8 #416)
So there you have it: repetitive sinning + forgetfulness of the favours of Allaah = a dead heart! Such a simple equation, if only we took heed of it.
As aforementioned, the heart is the centre of all things; it's even the centre of our actions. It has been said that the heart is like a vessel: if it is good, nothing but goodness pours forth; if it is contrary to that, we know that which shall pour forth.
Ibn-ul-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah said:
The heart becomes sick, as the body becomes sick, and its remedy is al-Tawbah and protection [from transgression]. It becomes rusty as a mirror becomes rusty, and its clarity is obtained by remembrance. It becomes naked as the body becomes naked, and its beautification is al-Taqwa. It becomes hungry and thirsty as the body becomes hungry, and its food and drink is knowledge, love, dependence, repentance and servitude.
Let us look to our actions and more importantly to the state our hearts are in and let us not strive to be like those on the Day of Judgement:
He will say: Alas! Would that I had sent forth good deeds for this life of mine! (Soorah al-Fajr (89):24)
Your Thoughts
Assalaamu 'alaikum
Sis, something similar to that which you mentioned in the first paragraph is mentioned in the Qur`aan:
As for man, when his Rabb tries him through giving him honor and blessings, he says: "My Rabb is bountiful to me." But when He tries him through restricting his subsistence, he says: "My Rabb has humiliated me." (Soorah al-Fajr (89): 15-16)
With regards to the tsunami, Allaah knows best about why it occured. But we shouldn't forget that in the past, Allaah has used 'natural disasters' as a reminder to mankind that they shouldn't turn away from His Path.
The writing of Allaah's Name is a wave is just another silly rumour that's been made up.
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This is a beautiful reminder. Complacency is an eater of hearts. When good things happen people fail to remember God, but when bad things happen all thier transgression come to fore and they say it's God who's punishing them.
Well, you should have seen the aftermath of the recent tsunami. They say Allah (SWT) was punishing the muslim minority in India and Sri Lanka for not living according to the tenets of Islam.
Some even claimed to have seen the word "Allah" writen in Arabic on one of the waves. I don't know who in the right mind would stop to look under such circumstances.