ARTICLES HEART AND PURIFICATION ...

HEART AND PURIFICATION

OF HEART By: Anwar Aziz Usmani
Researcher and Lecturer Hujjat-al-Islam
Academy, Darul Uloom Waqf Deoband

The Heart organ identifies the entire character, any kind of sickness or
Allah (SWT) says in the Holy personality and character of weakness of heart will naturally
Quran, “The Day when neither human being. In fact, in every have a great impact on his
wealth will be of any use nor language and culture in the world, spiritual health, and this is
sons, except to one who will come people use metaphors that certainly at the essence of the
to Allah with a sound heart.” associate human personality with Islamic teaching. One of the first
[26:89] Sound heart literally the heart; in English, we call things the Quran does is define
people who are cruel, three types of people: the
means a healthy heart. But the
"hard-hearted people." There is mu'minun (believers), the kafirun
heart being referred to here is the
also the idea of having "a cold (disbelievers), and the munafiqun
spiritual heart, not the physical
heart" and "a warm heart." People (hypocrites). The mu'minun are
heart. According to Hadrat Ibne
who do not hide their emotions people whose hearts are alive and
Abbas (r.a), a sound heart is the
well "wear their hearts on their illuminated with the light of truth,
heart of a believer that testifies
sleeves." When deeply affected, while the kafirun are people
the Oneness of Allah and is pure whose hearts are spiritually dead.
from shirk. we say, "He has affected my
The munafiqun are people who
heart". Thus, the core of the
Heart is the core of human being. have a disease or a sickness in
human being is indeed the heart.
It is this place where all the their hearts; thus, Allah (SWT)
emotions, sentiments, and Three Types of People says, "In their hearts is a disease,
feelings originate. This small As heart is central for human and they were increased in their

VOICE OF DARUL ULOOM JANUARY - MARCH 2022

20
 ARTICLES HEART AND PURIFICATION ...

disease." This is also in controlling the entire human actually affects human beings to
accordance with another verse: being from the brain, yet we know the degree that they will go into a
"When their hearts deviated, now that in fact the nervous state of spiritual agitation, and
Allah made them deviate further." system does not initiate the people will use many ways to
When somebody turns away from heartbeat. It is actually cover this up.
Allah (SWT), He causes them to self-initiated; or we can say, it is People use alcohol, drugs, and
deviate even further from the initiated by Allah (SWT). sexual experimentation to cover
truth. According to hadith, the heart is a their inner struggle; they also seek
The Heart and the Brain source of knowledge. The power, wealth, and fame, taking
The actual physical heart in our Prophet (PBUH) said that wrong themselves into a state of
breast beats at about 100,000 action irritates the heart. Thus, the heedlessness, submerging
times a day, pumping two gallons heart actually perceives wrong themselves into the ephemeral
of blood per minute, 100 gallons actions and this is one of the world which causes them to
per hour, 24 hours a day, seven reasons why people can do forget their essential nature and to
days a week, 365 days a year for terrible things, but, ultimately, forget their hearts. Thus, people
an entire life time! The vascular they themselves are affected become cut off from their hearts.
system that sends this life-giving negatively. In his book ‘Crime
Wrong Actions Sicken
blood is over 60,000 miles long: it and Punishment’, the famous
is more than two times the Russian author Fyodor the Heart
circumference of the earth. Dostoevsky indicates that crime One of the things about being cut
Furthermore, it is interesting to itself is the perpetrator's biggest off from the heart is that the more
note that the heart starts beating punishment because human cut off from the heart one
before the brain is formed; the beings have to live with the result becomes, the sicker the heart
heart begins to beat without any of their actions: their souls are grows because the heart needs
central nervous system. The affected. When people do nourishment, and heedlessness
dominant theory was that the something against the heart, they starves the spiritual heart. When
central nervous system is what is act against the soul, and that one goes into a state of

VOICE OF DARUL ULOOM JANUARY - MARCH 2022

21
 ARTICLES HEART AND PURIFICATION ...

unawareness of Allah and the shubahat (doubts), and these because it is not being fed the
hereafter, one becomes unaware are diseases that relate to nourishment that it requires. Just
of the infinite world in relation to understanding. For instance, if as we need to breathe because our
the finite world, unaware that we somebody is fearful of his body cells need life-giving
are in this world for a temporary provision from Allah, afraid he oxygen and if we stop breathing,
period. When we look at the will not get his food for the day, our body cells will die, similarly,
infinite world in relation to the then there is a disease in his heart the heart also needs to breathe,
finite world, suddenly our because a sound heart has and the breath of the heart is the
concerns become focused on the complete trust in Allah (SWT), remembrance of Allah (SWT).
infinite world and not on the finite and a sick heart has doubt. For Dhikr is what feeds and nourishes
world. On the other hand, when this reason, a sound heart does not the heart. The company of good
people are completely immersed worry. people is the food and exercise of
within the finite world, believing It is the nafs (ego), shaytan (devil) the heart. All of these things are
that they will be here forever, hawa (caprice), and dunya (the necessary for the heart to be
believing that they will not be love of this ephemeral world) that sound and healthy, and this is
taken to account for their actions, lead to this state of fear or anxiety. basically the purpose of
this action in and of itself The heart itself is an organ Revelation. The Quran has come
ultimately leads to the spiritual designed to be in a state of
death of the hearts. However, to remind people that our hearts
peacefulness, but the need nourishment. Thus, Allah
before it dies and becomes putrid peacefulness will only come
and completely rotten, the heart (SWT) tells us that the human
about by the remembrance of being who will be in a good state
will show many symptoms. These Allah (SWT). The Quran states,
are the spiritual diseases of the in the next world is the one who
“Listen, the hearts find peace only
hearts. brings a sound heart.
in the remembrance of Allah.”
Shubahat and This is what the heart wants; it When we are born, we enter the
wants to remember Allah (SWT). world in a state of fitra: the
Shahawat: Two Types of original inherent nature of the
When Allah is not remembered,
Diseases the heart goes into a state of human being; then we learn to be
There are two types of diseases of agitation: it goes in a state of anxious. We learn anxiety from
the heart. The first are called turmoil, and it becomes sick our mothers, fathers, and society.

VOICE OF DARUL ULOOM JANUARY - MARCH 2022

22
 ARTICLES HEART AND PURIFICATION ...

Thus, the Quran says that the “‫ ”ﯾﺎ ﻣﻘﻠﺐ اﻟﻘﻠﻮب ﺛﺒﺖ ﻗﻠﺒﻲ ﻋﻠﻰ دﯾﻨﻚ‬Oh all of the terrible things that are
human being is created anxious Turner of the hearts, make my happening to us, we often refuse
[70:19], and the one group of heart firm on your [Link] is to look at ourselves and ask
people who are removed from this important that Muslims be ourselves, why are these things
state of anxiety is the musallin: reminded of this. happening to us? If we ask that in
the observers of prayer. Rectification Begins all sincerity, the answer will come
back in no uncertain terms that
This "prayer" is not the five daily with the Self this is all from our own selves. We
obligatory prayers; rather, it is the If we look at the world today, the have brought all of the suffering
prayer of people who are always sufferings, the trials, and every upon our-selves. This is the
in a state of prayer (dhikr); they war that we have, we will see that Quranic position. Allah (SWT)
are always in a state of connection every bit of human suffering is says quite clearly that He places
with Allah (SWT), and this is the rooted in human hearts. The some of the oppressors over other
highest station for human being. reason people are aggressive oppressors because of what their
This is the station of people who against other people is due to hands were earning. According to
are not diverted from the diseases of the heart: Fakharudinar-Razi's explanation,
remembrance of Allah by covetousness, the desire to
this verse means that whenever
anything in this world. They are conquer, the desire to exploit
there is oppression in the earth, it
the ones who remember Allah other people, and the desire to
is a result of other people's
(SWT), as the Quran states, steal their natural resources are all oppression. However, this is
"standing, sitting, and reclining from diseases of the heart. A obviously with the exception of
sound heart cannot commit such trials. There are definitely times
on their sides." These are the
acts. Every murderer, every when the mu'minun are tried, but
people who are not the people of
rapist, every idolater, every if they respond accordingly with
heedlessness (ghaflat).
criminal, every person showing patience and perseverance, Allah
The second type of the diseases of an act of cruelty has a diseased (SWT) always gives them victory.
the heart is called shahawat heart because these actions
(desires), and these are the base emanate from diseased hearts. If Therefore, we Muslims must
desires of the self. For instance, the hearts were sound, none of recognize that the first step
food and sex are shahawat; they these actions would be a reality. towards solving all of our
are appetites. Although these Therefore, if we wish to change problems is to purify ourselves, if
appetites are natural desires we do this, Allah (SWT) has
our world, we cannot do it by
instilled in every human being, promised that we will be
attempting to rectify the outward;
they become diseases when they rewarded in this world and in the
rather, we change the world by
grow out of proportion from their next, and we will be the victorious
rectifying the inward because it is ones. Thus, all that is left for us to
natural states. In Islam, we have a
the inward that affects the do now is to go through the
method or a means by which our
outward. diseases of the heart and then find
hearts can be remedied and return
to their sound state again. The One of the things the Muslims of its cure in the remembrance of
dhikr that the Prophet (PBUH) the modern world fail to Allah.
did more than any other dhikr was recognize is that when we look at
VOICE OF DARUL ULOOM JANUARY - MARCH 2022
23