THE PURIFICATION OF THE SOUL

ONE – Sincerity

 Sincerity is the stripping of one’s intentions of all impurities in order to come nearer to
Allah. It is to insure that the intentions behind all acts of worship and obedience to
Allah are exclusively for His satisfaction.
 Devotion is the purging of the heart of all impurities, whether few or abundant, so that
the intention of coming nearer to Allah is stripped of all motives, except that of seeking
His pleasure.
 “And they have been commanded no more than this: to worship Allah, offering Him
sincere devotion, being true (in faith)” 98:5
 Al Sousy said: “True devotion is to lose the ability to be conscious of devotion; for
someone who identifies devotion in his devotion is a person whose devotion is in need
of devotion.”

Thoughts: The chapter also tells the story of a man who used to always pray in the first row
of the mosque. However, one day he was late, and ended up praying in the second row. This
caused a great amount of embarrassment for the man, and he realized that the satisfaction he
gained from praying in the first row was not for the love of Allah, but instead for the admiration
of others.

This story highlights how delicate sincerity can be. Any worldly objective can thwart the
genuineness of our actions and deeds.

You see, it is rare that our actions have no ulterior motives (i.e. devoid of temporary objectives
and fortunes of this world), and for this reason it had been said that “He who secured a single
moment of pure devotion to Allah in his life, will survive…”
TWO – The Nature of Intention

 The intention of a person is not his utterance of the words, “I intend to do so and so”.
It is an outflow from the heart which runs like conquests inspired by Allah. At times it
is facilitated, at other times it is difficult.
 A person who is righteous and who has good heart will find it easier to summon good
intentions, unlike someone whose heart is set on worldly matters, who will find it
difficult to complete even mandatory acts of worship with the right intention.
 Any meritorious act must be rooted in sound intention; only then would it be deemed
worthy of reward. If our intention is off, then the same acts of worship become acts of
disobedience.
 The Prophet(s) said, “Actions are but by intentions, and every man shall have that
which he intended”. Al-Shafi said that, “this Hadith is a third of all knowledge”.
 The words, “Actions are but by intention”, means that deeds which are performed in
accordance to the Quran and Sunnah are only accepted and rewarded if the intentions
behind them were appropriate.
 Likewise, “Every man shall have that which he intended” means that the reward for the
action depends on the intention behind it.
 Good intentions do not change the nature of forbidden actions. The Hadith above
specifically relates to practices of worship and permissible actions, not forbidden ones.
 It is said that, “Many small actions are made great by the intention behind them. Many
great actions on the other hand, are made small because the intention is lacking.

THREE – Types of Heart

 There are three types of hearts: the healthy heart, the dead heart and the sick heart. The
first heart is alive, yielding to Allah, modest, tender and alert. The second is dry and
dead, the third is near to either its safety or its ruin.
 The healthy heart is cleansed of any passion that challenges what Allah commands or
disputes or disputes what He forbade. It is free from any actions, deeds or intentions
which contradict His good. Its services are exclusively for Allah, so that when it loves,
detests, gives, holds back or does anything, it is solely for Allah.
  The sick heart has life in it as well as defect. Part of his heart is filled with the love for
Allah with faith and sincerity in Him, while part of his heart also has a craving for lust,
pleasure and worldly gain that will corrupt his soul, and strives to acquire them.
 The dead heart is the opposite of a healthy heart. It does not know its lord and does not
worship Him. He stands with his lusts and desires, even if it were to bring Allah’s
displeasure and wrath. It worships other than Allah and is immersed in its concern about
its worldly objectives.

FOUR – Symptoms of the Heart’s Sickness and Signs of its Health

 The symptom of the sick heart is that ordinary misdeeds no longer disturb the soul, nor
does ignorance of truth or belief in falsehood. While more the heart is diseased, the
more it favors this world. It confuses good with evil, such that he doesn’t know the first
and doesn’t denounce the second, or might even be to such an extent that it believes
good to be evil and vice versa.
 The temptations which the heart is exposed to are behind its sickness. It causes the
intent to rot and cause knowledge and belief to falter.
 The healthy heart on the other hand longs for and gravitates towards all that is good. If
it misses its share of recitation of the Quran and invocation of Allah, or the performance
of prescribed acts of worship, its owner feels the pain. It has one concern, that all its
actions, inner thoughts and utterances are obedient to Allah.

FIVE – The Four Poisons of the Heart

1. Talking – The Prophet(S) said, “What mostly sends people to Hell are two cavities; the
mouth and the private parts”. The least harmful of the tongue’s faults is to talk about that
which does not concern it. However, there are much worse things the tongue is capable of.
For instance, backbiting, carrying tales, obscene talk, quarreling, showing off, lying of
many, many more, which causes him to lose happiness and pleasure in both this life and
the hereafter.
2. The Glance – The Prophet(S) said, “the glance is a poisoned arrow of Satan. Whoever
lowers his gaze for the sake of Allah, He will bestow upon him a refreshing sweetness
which he will find in his heart on the day he meets Him”. The gaze allows for lustful
 thoughts to occupy the mind and heart, which can eventually lead to far greater sins, as
well as causes one to forget about Allah. Setting the gaze loose, also makes the heart blind
to distinctions between truth and falsehood.
3. Food – The Prophet(s) said, “the son of Adam fills no vessel more wicked than his stomach.
A few morsels should suffice for him to preserve his strength. If he must fill it, then he
should portion a third for his food, a third for his drink and a third for easy breathing.”
Excessive eating causes one to become lazy and makes worship and obedience seem
laborious. It is easiest for Satan to control a person who has filled his stomach with food
and drink. A man once said, “Do not eat too much otherwise you would drink too much
and then you’ll end up sleeping too much and losing too much.”
4. Companionship – superfluous relationship is the chronic disease that causes all evil. A
servant should benefit his companions. One should keep the company off those who are
good, for the attitudes, goals and values of your companions are likely to be imposed upon
you. There are four types of companions:
a. First – Those whose company is like food, indispensable day or night. These are
people with the knowledge of Allah and His commandments, who wish well for
Allah, His Prophet and His servants. One is encouraged to associate with these
people.
b. Second – People whose company is like medicine, they are needed since mixing
with them is imperative to one’s livelihood, business, consultation and the like.
They are needed under certain circumstances.
c. Third – These types of people are like a disease, in all its variety and degrees,
strengths and weaknesses. They neither speak with excellence that could be of
benefit, nor listen well or profit from you. They cause distress to their company
while they believe they are the sweet scent of the gathering. Associating with them
is like a chronic disease.
d. Fourth – Those whose company are like doom itself. It is like taking poison, the
victim either finds a remedy or perishes. These people are of religious innovation
and misguidance, as well as advocators of other tenets.