Purifying the Heart
by Dr Hossam Roushdi
Royal Holloway College/Univ. of London /UK
[Arabic
Introduction]
The
heart (the core of our personality) is the storage place for knowledge and
wisdom, and it can guide us along the path towards God’s pleasure.
The
heart however can be afflicted by disease that causes it to be preoccupied by
the love of life and lust rather than the love of Allah.
Each and every one needs to inspect his heart carefully to diagnose any
affliction, and search for cures.
l.
Ask for God’s guidance – In Súra Al Fatiha we pray, “Ihdi nas
siraat al-mustaqeem,” “show
us the straight path”. Sincerity
in this request is the key to God’s acceptance.
2.
Exert the effort to identify the ailments (the diagnosis) and the effort
to
avoid the deeds and sins that fill the heart with
impurities (the curse).
Amongst
these ailments are:
1-Anger (rage)
2-Envy
3-Stinginess
4-Ostentation
5-Love
of Jaah (position and power)
6-Arrogance
There
are four stages to committing a sin
Stage
1- an idea crossing the mind
(mostly a chance inspiration)
No judgement – not controlled
Stage 2
– the lust to perform (eg lust for hunger provoked by smell)
No judgement – not controlled
Stage 3
– the inclination to commit
Stage 4
– the intention to commit (judged)
“intentions
determine the worth of a person’s deeds”
Intentions
are the sole determinant of the worth of one’s deeds – the same act can be
judged as a sin or a good deed depending on intention.
Examples are:
attempted
murder – taking a shot and missing: Killer
(murder was the intent) retiring to bed determined on murder – person dies:
This is a sin
man
decides on adultery – before leaving his house he repents and refrains:
[Hasana]
Bukhari
and Muslim “He who is inclined towards an evil deed but does not carry it
out is rewarded by Allah for one full measure of good deed.”
The
same man just about to commit adultery but is interrupted from doing so. – His
does not actually commit the sin, as he was prevented from doing so, by an
external factor, not out of any fear of Alláh. Therefore he has still earned
himself a sin, as if he had actually completed his sinful deed.
Repentance
can be at different stages or degrees:
Highest
degree – is when one repents immediately after a thought crossing his mind.
“Those
who fear God when a thought of Evil from Satan assaults them bring God to
remembrance, when lo! They see correctly”.
The
second degree of repentance is after deciding to commit the sin, but does not
commit it.
The
3rd Degree is repentance after committing the sin (lowest degree)
Anger/Rage
– A minimum level of anger should exist to protect oneself and belongings,
this anger should however be tempered.
A
modest level of anger is acceptable in matters related to religion.
To
succeed in moderating anger one should always be reminded of two points:
1-
Train yourself not to get too attached to worldly possessions and keep
your necessities to a minimum.
2-
Remember that Allah is the boss. i.e. his will dominates. E.g. if you
wanted a certain job, but was not successful, remember that this is God’s will
and there must be a good reason for that, though it might not be obvious to you
at the time, in any time frame, we only see a small part of a bigger picture.
3-
On a physical level you could help moderate this anger by following the
prophet’s advice (pbuh) (as narrated in Al Tirmithi & Al Bukhari:
If
one feels anger becoming him he/she should:
If standing – sit down
If sitting – lie down
If lying – make abolution or have a shower
When
anger afflicts a person, he/she tend to move forward – by assessing this
motion you curb the anger.
Al
Imran verses 133-134: “Be
quick in the race for forgiveness from your Lord and for a garden whose width is
that of the heavens and the earth prepared for the righteous.
Said
Ali Ibn Abu Talib asked a slave for warm water to wash his hands. The girl who was young and inexperienced poured boiling water
onto his hands which burnt them. He
got very angry and was about to strike her when she reminded him of this aya and
said:
Those
who restrain anger – I have restrained my anger
And
pardon men – I have pardoned you
For God
loves them who do good – go; I have granted you your freedom.
The
prophet (pbuh) said: One who, in
spite of having the ability to avenge, controls his anger, will be singled out,
and called by Allah, the Holy, the Exalted, over and above the multitude on the
Day of Judgement and given to choose a houria (Al-Boukhari)
A man
asked the prophet for advice. He
said “Do not be overpowered by anger”, the man repeated that three
times and the prophet’s answer was the same three times (Al Boukhari)
Omar
Ibn El Khatab’s story with a drunk man he was punishing – punishment for
Allah’s sake – not for retaliation.
Ali Ibn
Abu Taleb – in a Ghazwa (War) about to kill an enemy who spat at him –
restrained himself.
The
story of about Aisha – Abu Baker’s relative
Surah
Al-Nur Verse 22:
“Let
not those amongst you who are endured with grace and amplitude of means resolve
by oath against helping their kinsmen, these in want and those who have left
their homes in god’s cause: Let
them forgive and overlook. Do you
not wish that God should forgive you? For
God is oft forgiving most merciful.”
Abu
Baker cried and said:” Surely I would like God to forgive me – and resumed
payment of charity to his relatives.
The
story of Abu Baker who was being insulted by a man – kept quiet until he could
no longer take it and answered back.
The
prophet (pbuh) left and when asked he said:
“When you were silent the angels answered on your behalf, but when you
started answering the angels left and Satan came and I could not sit in the same
place as Satan.
Islam
does not advocate turning the other cheek, but it strongly advocates the control
of tempers and the cleansing of anger.
Always
look into your heart and inspect your real intention before performing an act.
May
God help us restrain our anger and pardon people.
May God
help us do good and be charitable.
May God
help us forgive and overlook
God
grant us obedience to Your demands and grant us your love and the love of those
who love You and the love of all deeds that bring us closer to You.
[closing
du’a]
Aqeemus Salaah!
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