“Have people never journeyed about the earth, letting their hearts gain understanding, and causing their ears to hear? Yet, it is indeed not their eyes that have become blind - but rather, blind have become the hearts that are in their breasts!.” [Qur’an 22:46]

The Heart is …

It is obvious that the physical heart is an indispensable part of the body that works like a motor, pumping blood through the whole body system, thereby providing the required nourishment and necessary supplies to the rest of the body.  In the Qur'an, the heart Sadr    صدر[Q 94:1][Q 39:22],  Fu'aad  فؤاد  [Q 53:11], Shaghaf  شغف   [Q 12:30]  or Qalb قلب   [Q 22:46].

Broadly speaking, the Qur'an and Sunnah clearly present the heart as the locus of ... true self (Q 33:51), intention (Q 2:225), affection (Q 9:60), inner dimension of our perceptive faculties (Q 47:24), cognitive and emotional transformation (Q 24:37),  socio-ideological transformation (Q 3:103).      The heart could also be the locus of ... ideological diseases (Q 2:10), doubt (Q 9:45), heedlessness (Q 7:147), hypocrisy (Q 3:167), harshness (Q 2:74). The Heart is that locus around which Allah "reveals" himself to the individual (Q 8:24), the locus for Allah consciousness (Q 13:28), the locus of the essence of worship and divine revelation (Q 26:193), and the essence of the value of the human effort (Q 26:89).

Note …

- wholeness of person

ان فى الجسد لمضغة اذا صلحت صلح الجسد كله

 و اذا فسدت فسد الجسد كله    الا و هي القلب

"Surely there is a portion of a person; if it is good the whole person is good, if it is bad the whole person is bad; and that is the heart." [Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)]

- spiritual & moral blindness 

أَفَلَمْ يَسِيرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ فَتَكُونَ لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ يَعْقِلُونَ بِهَا أَوْ آذَانٌ يَسْمَعُونَ بِهَا

 فَإِنَّهَا لَا تَعْمَى الْأَبْصَارُ وَلَكِن تَعْمَى الْقُلُوبُ الَّتِي فِي الصُّدُورِ

 “Have people never journeyed about the earth, letting their hearts gain understanding, and causing their ears to hear? Yet, it is indeed not their eyes that have become blind - but rather, blind have become the hearts that are in their breasts!.” [Qur’an 22:46]

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said

شر العمى عمى القلب

"The worst kind of blindness is the blindness of the heart.”

The Holy Prophet (S) said:

"The indicators of human wretchedness are:

من علامات الشقا ؛ جُمُود العين و شِدَّة الحِرص

وقسوة القلب و الاصرارعلى الذنب

Dryness of eyes, hard-heartedness, excessive greed and persistence of sins.

- seat of certainty and conviction

وَإِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ رَبِّ أَرِنِي كَيْفَ تُحْيِـي الْمَوْتَى

قَالَ أَوَلَمْ تُؤْمِن قَالَ بَلَى وَلَـكِن لِّيَطْمَئِنَّ قَلْبِي

- essence of the worshipper

لا صلاة الا بحضور القلب

‘Allama Iqbal writes: Jo mein sar ba sajda howa kahi

to zamneen se aanelagi sadaa

tera diel jo hain sanam ashna

tujhe kiya milega namaaz mein

“As I fell into prostration, I heard a voice calling from the ground;

‘O you who are a worshipper of the idols (of materialism),

what do you hope to achieve in your prostration?’

The Heart signifies ...

·      the symbol of the spiritual dimension of the physical self,

·      the axis between the physical and the metaphysical realms of a person,

·      the confluence of the spiritual intellect (seat of discrimination) and the physical perceptions (the seat of cognition and emotions).

Treasury of Allah

There is a narration quoted from Anas bin Malik from the Holy Prophet (pbuh) who said:

"The Prophet David (as.) asked God; ‘Oh God! All the emperors possess treasure then where is Your treasure ?

The Almighty replied: ‘I possess a treasure which is greater than the sky; vaster than the Heaven's firmaments; smells better than the perfumes of Paradise, and is beautiful than the Celestial Kingdom. Its earth is enlightenment; its sky is faith, its sun is enthusiasm; its moon is love, its stars are attention towards Me; its clouds are reason,. its rain is blessing, its fruits are obedience; and its harvest is wisdom.

My Treasury has four doors, the first one is the door of knowledge, the second one is the door of reason, the third one is the door of patience, and the fourth one is the door of contentment.

Know that My Treasure is -the heart of a believer' ".

Imam ‘Ali emphasized this matter in his last will addressing to his son: 

“Oh my son! The poverty is one of the most horrible calamity,. But still severe than poverty is the bodily sickness; and the sickness of soul is harsher than the bodily sickness. Plenty of wealth is one of the God's blessing, but sound health is better than that, and the piety of heart is even superior than sound health."

Prayer of ‘Allama Iqbal

That could warm hearts and shake souls;

In these times of darkness,

Grant each heart  that is concerned, that kind of hue

That would put even the glow of the moon to shame.”

Set Heart Right

We realize that …

إِنَّ السَّمْعَ وَالْبَصَرَ وَالْفُؤَادَ كُلُّ أُولـئِكَ كَانَ عَنْهُ مَسْؤُولاً

“Surely, every act of hearing, of seeing or of (feeling in) the heart will be enquired into (on the Day of Reckoning). [Q 17:36]

ان فى الجسد لمضغة اذا صلحت صلح الجسد كله

 و اذا فسدت فسد الجسد كله    الا و هي القلب

"Surely there is a portion of a person; if it is good the whole person is good, if it is bad the whole person is bad; and that is the heart." [Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)]

Let’s set our hearts right,

for not even our Faith is correct; unless our hearts are correct

_____________________________ 

By: Br. Sadullah Khan

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