The Spiritual and Moral Health of the Heart

By Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi

Our Lord, Let not our hearts deviate after You have guided us. Grant us Your mercy . Indeed You are the Giver always. (Al ‘Imran 3:8)
Heart is a very important part of the human body. A lot depends on the heart: not only our physical health but also our spiritual and moral health depends on the soundness of the heart. Someone said rightly, “The problem of the heart is the heart of the problem.” Individual problems, family problems, social problems, economic problems, political problems, national and international problems, all these problems stem from the problems of the hearts.
Heart indeed has a physical function; but there is no evidence to prove that it has no spiritual or moral functions. The soul probably resides in the heart or is attached to it. Soul is the inner dimension of our being. It is related to the body and mind as well, but it has its own existence, most probably, in or near the heart.
Our physical heart is an amazing organ. Its size is no more than the size of your clenched fist. The average heart weighs between 8 oz. and 12 oz. It sits just to the left of the center of your chest cavity. The heart is a hollow, muscular organ and its rhythmic contractions pump and circulate the blood throughout the body. The heart pumps more than four quarts of blood a minute, about 5,760 quarts a day and about 36,288,000 GALLONS in 70 years. The heart beats on average 72 times a minute 24 hours a day. It does not sleep when you sleep. It does not rest when you rest. Every heartbeat is a gift of Allah, and there comes a day when your heart will quietly stop.
I am not going to talk about the physical problems of the heart. That is the subject for cardiologists to discuss, but I shall talk about the moral and spiritual aspect of the heart. In the Qur’an the words “qalb” and “fu’ad” are used. The word “qalb” (plural “qulub”) occurs 132 times and the word “fu’ad” (plural af’idah) occurs 16 times. Qalb is used both in its physical and spiritual sense, while fu’ad is used more in the spiritual sense. Both mean heart; and heart is the seat of awareness, consciousness, feelings and thought. It could be good or bad, healthy or unhealthy.
Believers are required to pay special attention to their hearts. We pay attention to the physical health of our hearts; we should also pay attention to the spiritual and moral health of our hearts. The Prophet –peace be upon him- said:
Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet – peace be upon him - said, “Allah does not look at your bodies or possessions but He looks at your hearts and actions.”
(Muslim 4651)
Allah, of course, looks at everything and He knows everything, but the point of the Hadith is that the real thing that matters to Allah is not whether you are young or old, tall or short, fat or skinny, white or black, Arab or non-Arab, rich or poor, upper class, middle class, lower class etc. What matters in the sight of Allah is whether your heart is sincere, truthful and honest or not and whether your actions are good or not.
Allah tells us in the Qur’an that He has prepared Jannah only for those who are good at heart, not those who have big tribe, power or wealth:
The Day when neither wealth nor children can help. But only he (will prosper) that comes before Allah with a sound heart. To the righteous, the Garden will be brought near. (Al-Shu’ara’ 26:88-90)
And the Garden will be brought nigh to the Righteous; no more a thing distant.(A voice will say:) "This is what was promised for you, for everyone who turned (to Allah) in sincere repentance, who kept (His Law), "Who feared (Allah) Most Gracious unseen, and brought a heart turned in devotion (to Him): "Enter ye therein in Peace and Security; this is a Day of Eternal Life!" There will be for them therein all that they wish, and more besides in Our Presence. (Qaf 50:31-35)
Types of Hearts:
From the spiritual and moral point of view there are different types of hearts. These types are related to their awareness and consciousness. The Prophet – peace be upon him - is reported to have said:
The Prophet – peace be upon him - said, “There are four types of hearts: a pure heart that shines like a lamp, the covered up and closed heart, the upside down heart and the mixed up heart. The pure heart is the heart of the believer. The covered up heart is the heart of the non-believer. The upside down heart is the heart of the hypocrite who knows and then denies. The mixed up heart is the heart in which there is both faith and hypocrisy. The example of faith in it is like a small plant that grows with good water and the example of hypocrisy in it is like a wound that grows with pus and blood. So whichever grows bigger takes over the heart.
(Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal 10705)
Diseases of the Heart:
Imam Ghazali in his book Ihya’ says that every organ of our body has a function; when it fails to do its functions; it means it is not well. The function of the soul or the spiritual heart is to know its Creator, to love Him and to seek closeness to Him. If the heart fails in this function then we must know that it is sick.
It is important to know the ailments that make the heart weak and sick. In the language of the Qur’an it is not only the eyes that get blind; the hearts also become blind.
Do they not travel through the land, so that their hearts may thus learn wisdom and their ears may thus learn to hear? Truly it is not their eyes that are blind, but their hearts that are in their breasts. (Al-Hajj 22:46)
The Qur’an has spoken in many places about the sickness (marad) of the hearts. Allah says in the Qur’an:
In their hearts is a disease; and Allah has increased their disease: and grievous is the penalty they (incur), because they are false (to themselves). (Al-Baqarah 2:10)
When the heart gets sick, it loses its desire and ability to do right and good deeds. This affects the morals and manners of a person and his/her general behavior.
What are the major diseases that affect the hearts and how to take precaution and what are the cures in case one is affected with these ailments? Scholars have spoken about seven major diseases of the hearts:
1. Arrogance and conceit (al-kibr wa al-ghurur)
2. Ostentation (al-riya’)
3. Jealousy or envy, hate and deceit (al-hasad, al-hiqd, al-ghish)
4. Suspicion (su’ al-zann)
5. Anger (al-ghadab)
6. Stinginess (al-bukhl)
7. Love of power, money, position and fame (hubb al-jah)
These are called “diseases of the heart” (amrad al-qalb) and they lead to major sins if they are not controlled and carefully treated. In the Qur’an and Sunnah and in the spiritual writings of Muslim scholars such al-Ghazali and Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyah we find a lot of discussion on the treatment of these ailments.
Arrogance and conceit stem from egotism and overestimation of oneself and one’s abilities or merits. This leads sometimes to the denial of the Creator as it happened to Satan. The best treatment of this disease is to cultivate modesty. We have to remind ourselves always that we are the servants and slaves of Allah. We totally depend on Him for our being and existence.
Ostentation is called “hidden idolatry” (al-shirk al-khafiyy). It is a desire to show off and seek praises from others. It takes away sincerity and seriousness to pursue one’s goals and objectives. When a person becomes too much involved with ostentation, he/she becomes shallow and superficial. It may also lead to hypocrisy. The best cure for it is to check the “intention” (niyyah) before any action. A believer must remind oneself that his/her work is for the sake of Allah alone.
Jealousy, envy, hate and deceit stem from lack of respect, mercy and love for others. A jealous person does not like to see others happy, successful and prosperous. Very often jealousy and envy lead to hate, deceit and violence. The best treatment is to have positive envy by competing with others in acts of goodness and use this as an incentive to achieve more and better.
Suspicion comes from lack of trust and confidence in others. Allah says in the Qur’an, “Some suspicion is sin.” Suspicion creates cynicism and takes away hope and optimism. Suspicious persons or cynics are those who when they see actions and hear some words that have the possibility being positive or negative, they take the negative and evil. Suspicion sometimes also leads to violence. It is good to be cautious and careful, but we must keep our attitude positive. If we want to be trusted we must trust others as well.
Anger is given to human being as a mechanism for self-defense, but if it is not properly controlled it becomes very destructive. In the Hadith it is called “fire.” The Prophet – peace be upon him - said that when you get angry change your environment, change your position, and drink some water. Imam Ghazali said, “Love of Allah extinguishes the fire of anger.”
Stinginess is a terrible disease. The Prophet – peace be upon him - taught us to seek Allah’s refuge from stinginess. Stinginess stems from selfishness, materialism, and too much love of this world. It means lack of care and consideration for others. It holds people from fulfilling their duties and recognizing the rights of others. It leads sometimes to cheating and dishonesty. The Prophet – peace be upon him - said, “Be aware of stinginess. It destroyed many nations before you. It made them to shed the blood of each other and misappropriate what was sacrosanct.” (Muslim, 2578)
Extreme desire for money, power, position and fame: This is called in Arabic “hubb al-jah.” It is another major disease of the heart. This is also called in the Qur’an and Hadith as “love of this world” (hubb al-dunya). In a Hadith it is reported that the Prophet – peace be upon him - said, “Two hungry wolves in a herd of sheep are not as destructive and harmful as the love of the money and extravagance are for the religion of a person.” (Al-Tirmidhi 2376) The cure for this is to remind oneself always that this world is “fitnah” (a test and trial) and the real world is the Hereafter.

Duties of the Heart:
Some scholars say that in the Shari’ah there are things that are obligatory (fard), recommended (mustahabb), forbidden (Haram), not recommended (Makruh) and permissible (mubah). But these are not only in the external laws that we observe, they are also in the internal matters of the hearts. There are duties of the bodies and there are duties of the hearts. It is thus:
1. Obligatory (fard): It is obligatory for the heart to have sincerity (ikhlas), trust (tawakkul), awe and reverence of Allah (khauf), hope (raja’) and repentance (tawbah).
2. Recommended (mustahabb): It is recommended for the heart to have contentment and satisfaction (rida), humbleness (khushu’), desire to meet Allah and be close to Him (shawq and uns).
3. Forbidden (haram): It is forbidden for the heart to have belief in the Divinity of any one other than Allah (shirk) and to doubt in Allah’s existence or in the truth of His Prophets (shakk), show off (riya’), arrogant pride (kibr), jealousy (hasad) and hypocrisy (nifaq).
4. Undesirable (makruh) for the heart is to have the desire for sinful acts (shahwat al-dhunub), to feel much attachment to the world and worldly things (al-ishtighal al-za’id bi-umur al-dunya).
5. Permissible (mubah) is to like and care for worldly and material things without neglecting one’s duties or committing anything that is forbidden.
According to many scholars the following Hadith contains one third of Islam:
Nu’man ibn Bashir reported that he heard the Prophet saying: “Halal is clear and Haram is clear and between the two of them are doubtful matters about which not many people know. Thus he who avoids doubtful matters clears himself in regard to his religion and his honor, but he who falls into doubtful matters falls into that which is forbidden, like the shepherd who pastures around a boundary line, almost crossing it. Truly every king has a boundary and truly Allah’s boundaries are his prohibitions. Truly in the body there is a morsel of flesh which, if it be whole, all the body is whole and which, if it be diseased, the of it is diseased. Truly it is the heart. (Bukhari 50)
(Khutbah at ISOC – Dhul Qi’dah 10, 1427/ December 1, 2006)

Editor: Akhtar M. Faruqui
© 2004 pakistanlink.com . All Rights Reserved.