KNOW that the most noble part of a
human being is the heart. It is what knows Allah, works
for Allah, strives toward Allah and comprehends Allah's
message. The rest of his being is in servitude, following and
obedience to the heart which uses them they way someone uses
tools or workers.
Whoever knows his own heart after
understanding what Allah has taught and instructed knows
Allah. Too many people are ignorant of their own hearts and
their own selves. Allah (as He said) can come between a man
and his own heart. When this happens, he is blocked from
knowing it or caring for its state. Knowledge of the heart and
its nature and attributes is fundamental to this deen and
essential to those who wish to stay on the straight
path.
Shaitaan's Ways Into the
Heart
KNOW that the heart by its very nature
upon which it was created is open to guidance but, because of
the desires and personal inclinations with which it is filled,
often inclined away from it. The struggle between these
opposing forces (the sound fitra which inclines toward
guidance and the inclinations and desires which incline away
from it) continues until the heart opens up to and chooses one
of them when then settles in and takes possession of it. Then,
the other one only gets in by stealth like a thief. As
Allah said:
{Min sharri al-wiswaas
al-khannaas}
{From the evil of the whisperer who quickly
retreats.} An-Naas:4
The "whisperer" (shaitaan) is the one
who quickly flees when Allah is remembered but when there is
forgetfulness (ghafla), he relaxes and enjoys himself. Nothing
expels shaitaan from the heart but remembrance and mention of
Allah Most High. He can find no avenue there nor any place for
him with the presence of remembrance of
Allah.
KNOW that the heart is like a
fortress. Shaitaan is the enemy who wishes to invade the
fortress of your heart, take possession of it and control it.
There is no way to protect a fortress unless you guard its
DOORS. One who does not know the doors, has no hope of
guarding the fortress. Likewise, you will not be able to repel
shaitaan unless his places of entry. His means of entry into
your heart - his "doors" - are attributes of the person
himself. They are many. We will discuss they major ones which
are the large gates through which legions of shaitaan's forces
can pass with ease.
Among these gaping holes in our
"security" is ENVY and AVARICE. When the slave is obsessed
with possessing something, this can blind and deafen him and
block out the light of inner vision by which one knows the
tricks of shaitaan. Likewise if one is envious of what is in
the hands of others, he offers shaitaan an easy opening.
Shaitaan makes fair-seeming and and all means which will bring
the avaricious one what he desires, even if those means are
wrong and sinful.
Anger and rage are another entryway
for shaitaan. Anger negates intellect and sense. When these
are weakened, shaitaan wastes no time in attacking and playing
with his victim. It has been narrated that Iblis said: "When
the slave is furious, we flip him over and over like a child
does with a ball."
Excessive love for beautification of
one's house, their clothes or their furnishings is another
opening to shaitaan. One who becomes to obsessed with such
things can waste an entire lifetime in their pursuit and
become like the disbeliever who put the bumper sticker on
their car which said "Whoever dies with the most toys -
wins."
Haste (al-'ajala) and lack of
deliberateness (at-tathabbut) and caution are among the
weaknesses which open the heart to it's enemy. It is narrated
that the Prophet (sas) said: "Deliberateness is from Allah and
haste is from shaitaan." This hadith is narrated by
At-Tirmidhi, but one of its narrators is weak.
Deliberateness and not being hasty is also supported by
Allah's Statement:
{O you who believe, when a
questionable person comes to you with some news, verify it
carefully lest you inflict harm on any people in ignorance
and end up regretting what you have done. (6) And know that
Allah's Messenger is among you. If he were to obey you in
many things, you would suffer. But Allah has caused you to
love faith and made it something beautiful in your hearts
and made you to hate disbelief, immorality and disobedience.
These are the rightly-guided ones. (7)}
Al-Hujaraat.
Satiation with food (over-eating)
makes desires stronger and distracts from obedience and
remembrance.
Placing hopes and desires in people or
one person brings about praising him with that which is not
there, compromising and failing to command him what is right
and to prohibit him what is wrong.
Excessive love of wealth opens a door
to shaitaan. When a heart is obsessed with this it is
corrupted. Shaitaan then drives one to seek wealth where it
should not be sought, to miserliness, to fear of poverty and
to denying the rights of others.
Among these openings: calling the
common Muslims to partisanship to a particular "school" or
imam - without even fulfilling its
teachings.
Calling common Muslims to thinking
about Allah's essence, His attributes and issues which are
beyond the grasp of their minds until they end up doubting the
fundamentals of Islamic teachings.
Thinking the worst of other Muslims
opens a door to shaitaan. Whoever judges another Muslim with
his "bad construction" in this way will hold him in low regard
(yahtiqiruhu). The Prophet (sas) said: "Sufficient for
one person evildoing to hold his fellow Muslim in low regard."
He will oppress him with his speech and see himself as better
than him. Thinking the worst of another Muslim only arises out
of the uncleanness of the heart of the one who does it. A
believer always persists in seeking excuses for another
believer. It is the way of the munaafiq to seek the flaws nd
the mistakes of others. Also, you should always be careful to
avoid suspicious circumstances so that others are not drawn
into thinking ill of you.
These are some of the attributes which
constitute "doors" for shaitaan to let himself into the heart
of a Muslim and make himself a home. Seeking a cure and a
preventative for these attributes and cleansing the heart of
them is the only way to close these doors. If these
blameworthy traits have been expunged from the heart and
ripped out by their roots, then the only thing left to
shaitaan is suggestions and attempts at quick invasions - but
no occupation. These are stopped by remembrance of Allah and
fortifying the heart with taqwa.
Think of it as a man confronting a
hungry dog. If he has no piece of meat in his hand or other
food, the dog can be driven off with a mere word. If, on the
other hand, he is holding a piece of meat, no amount of
yelling will make the hungry dog go away. Likewise, if the
heart has been cleansed of that which shaitaan desires and
that which allows him "permanent residence" (the
aforementioned character flaws), he can be driven off with
just the remembrance of Allah and His
mention.
If a heart is dominated by desires and
the aforementioned flaws, remembrance of Allah is only
superficial. It is not able to get to the core of the heart
where shaitaan is firmly entrenched. Thus, the purging of
these attributes is a necessary prerequisite and without it
dhikr of Allah is mere form without
substance.
To understand this, think about how
shaitaan is able to put suggestions in your heart even while
you are engaged in the best of all dhikr - the prayer.
Al-hamdu lillahi, Allah forgives and overlooks these
suggestions and even the inclination toward committing one of
them as long as one does not carry it out. Whoever stays away
from it out of fear of Allah will get a good deed recorded for
him. As for one who stays away from it for some other reason
or for fear of disease or other reasons, we HOPE for his
forgiveness. Unless he was determined to do it (and was merely
prevented), for determination to commit a sin is itself a sin.
This is shown in the statement of the Prophet
(sas):
"When to Muslims meet with drawn
swords, both the killer and the killed are in the fire." It
was said, "Why the killed?" He (sas) said, "He too was
determined to kill the
other."
How could it be said that there is not
accountability for mere determination (to sin) when actions
are by their intentions? Are pride (kibr), ostentation
(riyaa') and conceipt (al-'ujb) anything other than internal
affairs of the heart?
Keeping the Heart Firm on
Good
It is narrated that the Prophet (sas)
said in du'a:
"Yaa muqallib al-quloob thabbit
quloobanaa 'alaa deenika. Yaa musrif al-quloob asrif
quloobanaa ilaa ta'atika."
"O changer of hearts, keep our
hearts firm upon your deen. O director of hearts, direct our
hearts to your obedience."
And in another hadith (sahih), the
Prophet (sas) said:
"Mathalu al-qalbi ka mathali
reeshatin bi ardhi falaatin tuqallibuhu ar-riyaah."
"The
similitude of the heart is like a feather in a desert blown
about by the wind."
KNOW that with regard to staying firm
on good or on evil or vacillating between the two, hearts are
three types:
-
A heart which
has been filled with taqwa, purified through exercise and
cleansed of blameworthy character flaws. The inclination to
good reigns supreme and free and the heart is in full
acceptance of Allah's guidance.
-
A defeated heart
filled with desires, infiltrated by evil and contaminated
with character flaws. Shaitaan reigns therein because of all
the space provided for him. The inclination to iman is weak
and overcome. The heart is filled with the smoke of desires
and the light is blocked out. Once it goes dark, reminders
and reprimands have no effect.
-
A heart which is
first attracted to the call of desires, calling it to evil
but then the inclination to faith puts up a fight, calling
it to good. The heart is torn between the two and must
decide.
For example, shaitaan launches an
attack through the mind in order to strengthen the call to
desires and says: Don't you see so-and-so and so-and-so how
they have abandoned themselves to their desires? Especially
when he mentions some among the scholars, then his heart is
inclined to shaitaan and his call. Then the call to faith
fights back saying: Have any been destroyed but those who
forgot the hereafter? Do not be led astray by the
forgetfulness of others! Do you not see if they were standing
in the hot summer sun while you had a cool house, would you
follow them in their action or would you seek what is good for
you? So, you would go a different way from them because of the
heat of the sun but not because of that which leads to the
head of hell-fire? This struggle continues until whichever
direction is appropriate to that heart dominates. Whoever was
created for good will find it the easy way and whoever was
created for evil will find it the easy way. Allah
said:
{Fa man yurid Allahu an yahdiyahu
yashrah sadrahu lil-islaami wa man yurid an yudhillahu
yaj'al sadrahu dhayyiqan harajan ka annamaa yassa'du fiy
as-samaa'}
{So whoever Allah wishes to guide, he opens
his breast to Islam and whoever He wishes to lead astray he
makes his breast restricted and difficult as one who shoots
up into the atmosphere.}
Al-An'am:125
O Allah, grant us to successfuly
arrive at that which You love and You
accept.
The righteous salaf were as fearful of their good
deeds being squandered, or not being accepted, as the present
generation is certain that their neglect would be
forgiven. [Hasan
Al-Basri]
