08 Mar The state of our hearts
Our Hearts
The state of the heart determines the state of the rest of the body, as can be seen in the following hadith:
أَلَا وَإِنَّ فِي الْجَسَدِ مُضْغَةً إِذَا صَلَحَتْ صَلَحَ الْجَسَدُ كُلُّهُ وَإِذَا فَسَدَتْ فَسَدَ الْجَسَدُ كُلُّهُ أَلَا وَهِيَ الْقَلْبُ
“Verily, in the body there is a piece of flesh. When it is sound, the whole body is sound and when it is corrupted, then the whole body is corrupted. Verily, it is the heart.”
If our hearts are sound, at peace, in a serene state, then the rest of the body will follow. In a like manner, if the heart is at unrest, the rest of the body will follow. But how do we ensure our hearts are in a sound state? It’s easy to run to other means which we think will relieve our state of stress and restlessness. But we fail to internalise that these means will only give momentary relief from our worries. How do we ensure our hearts are in a constant state of peace, where the worries of the dunya won’t affect it? When we feel so much distress and worry from our mundane dunyawi lives, it can’t be the case that we are running from the dunya only to find ourselves running towards the dunya to find peace – it’s an oxymoron. It doesn’t work. We have to go beyond the dunya to find that peace. So where do we go?
Allah Ta’aala says in the Noble Qur’aan,
الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَتَطْمَئِنُّ قُلُوبُهُم بِذِكْرِ اللّهِ أَلاَ بِذِكْرِ اللّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ
“Those who believe and their hearts are peaceful with the remembrance of Allah. Listen, the hearts finds peace only in the remembrance of Allah.”
The cure to all of our worries is in this very ayah. When our hearts are at unrest due to the worries of the dunya which weigh down heavy on our hearts, how do we lift the burden? Dhikrullah. Remembering Allah. We have to go beyond the physical parameters of the dunya and enter the spiritual world. This temporary dunya will weigh down heavy on our hearts but Allah is so beyond all of this. Our Creator, the Remover of All Difficulties. Just spending a little time remembering Him, will lift the burden in such a manner that we will forget the heavy weight on our souls. As a result, our hearts become calm. We enter a state of serenity. That state of stress goes without us even realising. Just by sitting for a while remembering Allah, with angels as our company. And this isn’t a temporary feeling of peace which we experience when we run towards dunyawi means of “stress relief”. Rather, this is something which can have eternal effects, if done consistently. Consistence, in any good action, is key – even if the action is small.
So, as a start, even 10 minutes daily out of our busy schedules, to sit in the company of the blessed angels whilst we turn to Allah and remember Him with our hearts, minds and souls- wholly- will benefit us in such a manner that we will forget about our troubles. Because we know, one day, we will meet our beautiful Maker and then none of these worries will matter.
Therefore, in order to attain beautiful serene hearts, we must adorn ourselves with the characteristic of being from those who remember Allah. For Allah says in His Noble Qur’aan.
فَاذْكُرُونِي أَذْكُرْكُمْ
“Remember me; I will remember you.”
How beautiful must the hearts be of those whom Allah remembers! Isn’t that such a beautiful goal? Can we not take a few minutes daily to work our way to achieve that goal? The dunya is not the aim of this heart of ours. Our purpose is Allah. So we must ready our hearts to meet Him. In shaa Allah in a state where He is pleased with us, and we are pleased with Him. Aameen
May Allah make us from those whose hearts are busy with the remembrance of Allah – such that the worries of the dunya do not weigh down heavy on their hearts, and as a result, they attain beautiful hearts. Aameen
Aalima Department
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The Prophet (Pbuh) has taught us the best of deeds are those that done consistently, even if they are small.