“And disgrace me not on the Day when (all the creatures) will be resurrected the day when neither wealth nor sons shall give benefit except for him who comes to God with a pure heart” [Quran, 26:89]
When we say the word ‘Think!” most of us point to our heads, right? How many of us point to our hearts when we say “Think?”…. After all, physicians have – for centuries – been restricting the function of the human heart to the mere process of pumping the blood throughout the human body…. guess what, it’s much more than that…a very wise man once said,
“Piety is here,” and he (Muhammad pbuh) pointed to his chest”. [Muslim, at-Tirmidhi, Ahmad]
… YES… our hearts can comprehend, reflect, and reason…. except when we fall in love – then it’s a different story! …. seriously, hearts have the capacity of being a center of reasoning, intentions and decision – making!
“And their hearts are sealed, so that they apprehend not.” [Quran, 9: 87]
Hearts can be healthy or diseased…. soft of hard as rocks – some even harder than rock… science has recently proven that …. The human heart is as sentient as the human brain, if not much more, as it has its own form of intelligence….
“But as for those in whose hearts is disease, it only addeth wickedness to their wickedness.”- [Quran, 9:125]
Not only this, but it has been proven experimentally that the human heart does influence the brain’s thinking capacity, and hence it’s physical capability of accepting, comprehending and storing knowledge…. It has also been proven that the human heart communicates with both the brain and the rest of the human body…
“And whosoever believeth in God, He guideth his heart. And God is knower of all things.” – [Quran, 64:11]
So why should we care?
Well, iIn order to start moving in life we first need to have knowledge; authentic knowledge – – with that knowledge we can define if something is important or not….. Then it is up to us to make the move….. The knowledge can be beneficial, useless, or harmful….
The state of our heart will decide what type of knowledge it is and what we do with it….. If we benefit from it by practicing it? … It will become a blessing for us… and this is called – – – guidance!
“… For indeed, it is not eyes that are blinded, but blinded are the hearts which are within the breasts”. [Quran, 22:46]
However, if we use it in a destructive manner….. towards our corruption, and the degradation of the society at large, then this knowledge will become a curse for us …
Sins have an effect on our heart; they can cause our heart to be sealed so that the light of knowledge doesn’t reach it anymore… this darkness will result in many diseases we find in our hearts, like jealousy, envy, greed, lust, and showing off…. among others… over all, we will exhibit humane attitude and balanced rational
“Verily in the remembrance of God do hearts find rest.”-Quran [Quran, 13:28]
So, how do we make sure, we have a sound heart? How can we train our heart to become devoted and sound…. by accepting the correct knowledge, by having the right faith, and by staying away from sins…. and by making prayer…
…. Our Lord, let not our hearts deviate after You have guided us and grant us from Yourself mercy. Indeed, You are the Bestower. [Quran, 3:8]…..
When I started studying Project 4, ‘How to Say it’…. I decided to have a ‘heart to heart’ conversation….I hope that aim was achieved….
I would like to leave you with this precious advice, an advice given by someone who (pbuh) never spoke on his own, but only said what he was commanded to say by his CREATOR!
“Truly in the body there is a morsel of flesh which, if it be sound, all the body is sound and which, if it be diseased, all of it is diseased. Truly it is the heart. [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim]
May our Creator, God all mighty bless us with a sound heart. Ameen!