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In
the Name of Allah,
Most
Gracious, Most Merciful
DEEDS OF THE HEART
To become closer to Allah, we must first come clean and with
true sincerity.
Deeds of the heart are one of the most important duties and one of the greatest acts that bring us closer to Allah. They are compulsory at all times and upon all mukallafeen, or persons responsible for their actions (i.e., everyone who is past the age of puberty and is sane). They also strengthen our faith, for if we have no deeds of the heart, we have no faith. In addition, the purity of all our deeds is dependant on the purity of our hearts. Deeds of the heart are the roots: physical deeds are what follow.
If we look at those who claim to follow the Sunnah, we can see that in reality, many of them are clearly deficient in deeds of the heart; whether in terms of knowledge and opinions, or in terms of manners and behavior. Most books and tapes focus on physical deeds, and a lot of effort is wasted trying to correct appearances and physical acts. There is a dearth of good books on this subject, and even less that deal with the great practical and educational effort needed to foster and encourage deeds of the heart.
In this brief article, I will present a number of sayings of the Imams on the subject of the greatness of deeds of the heart.
Al-Izz Ibn Abdus Salam said, "The heart is the source and foundation of responsibility for all actions. The goodness of a body depends upon the goodness of the heart, and the corruption of a body depends upon the corruption of the heart. For this reason, the Prophet, [Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam (SAWS) / peace be upon him] said, "In the body there is a lump of flesh-if it is pure then the whole body is pure, and if it is corrupted then the whole body is corrupted. It is the heart," (Bukhari and Muslim).
That is, if it is purified by knowledge, good conditions and good deeds, then the whole body will be made good. If it is corrupted by ignorance, evil conditions and evil deeds, then the whole body will be corrupted with depravity and disobedience."
Ibn Taymiyyah said on the subject of deeds of the heart, "It is one of the foundations of faith, and rules of the religion. Loving Allah, sincerity of religion for Allah, thankfulness to Allah, and hoping for His forgiveness: All of these deeds are compulsory for all of creation subject to Allah's command, and this is agreed upon by the Imams of the religion. People fall into one of three categories with respect to deeds of the heart, just as they do with respect to physical deeds: Those who are unjust to themselves, those who are frugal, and those who strive to perform good deeds."
Ibnul-Qayyim also spoke about deeds of the heart, "Deeds of the heart are things like loving for the sake of Allah; trusting in Him; hoping for His forgiveness; the sincerity of religion for Him; being patient with what He orders, forbids, and preordains; being pleased with Him and about Him; being loyal to Him; being humble before Him; submitting to Him; being modest before Him; and being satisfied with Him.
These and many other such deeds of the heart are more compulsory than physical deeds. Whoever loves them is more beloved to Allah than one who only loves physical deeds. Physical deeds performed without deeds of the heart are either without benefit, or of little benefit."
"If deeds of the heart are abandoned, then even though someone may think they believe, the Scholars of Sunnah agree that it signifies abandonment of faith, and that 'belief is of no benefit in the absence of deeds of the heart."
Our righteous predecessors attached great importance to deeds of the heart and strived to apply them in word and deed. Salman Al-Farsi said, "Everyone has two aspects-internal and external. Whoever purifies his internal aspect, Allah, Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, will set right his external aspect, and whoever corrupts his internal aspect, Allah, Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will corrupt his external aspect."
Al-Hasan Al-Basri used to have a private sitting place in his house where he would not speak except about the concepts of asceticism, reclusion, and the knowledge of the unseen. If anyone asked him about any other subject he would be displeased, and would say, "We have only retired (here) with our brothers in order to exchange views."
He also used to say, "Treat your heart, for Allah's requirement for His slaves is the piety of their hearts."
I am being repetitive about the greatness of the affair of deeds of the heart, and the superiority of their worth in the scale of the Shari'ah, because of our obvious state of neglect and negligence towards these acts of worship. What we must do is to strive sincerely to follow the straight path in order that we can be of those who worship from the heart.
We can do this in a number of ways:
1- Reading the Qur'an with reflection and contemplation, so as to benefit from its rulings, teachings, stories, and narrations.
2- Trusting in Allah, for example, is one of the greatest deeds of the heart. We can observe this trust in Allah in the stories of the Prophets. We can see it (in practice-not just in words) in the story of Ibrahim (Abraham), Alayhes-Salam (peace be upon him) when he was thrown into the fire, and also from Prophet Hud's defiance of his unbelieving people, as was mentioned in the Qur'an,
"He said, Indeed, I call Allah to witness, and witness (yourselves) that I am free from whatever you associate with Allah other than Him. So plot against me all together; then do not give me respite. Indeed, I have relied upon Allah, my Lord and your Lord. There is no creature but that He holds its forelock (i.e., controls it). Indeed, my Lord is on a path (that is) straight." [11:54-56].
3- Seeking comfort in the example of the Messenger of Allah (SAWS) by reading about his life, and emulating him in his fear, his hope, his love, his sincerity towards Allah, and other such deeds of the heart.
Looking at the lives of the righteous predecessors and the knowledgeable Imams. These Imams have set for us the most complete and Finest examples in achieving deeds of the heart, both in knowledge and in behavior.
4- Paying attention to self-education, purifying oneself with beneficial knowledge, good deeds, self-evaluation, and self-discipline.
Al-Hasan Al-Basri said, "O Son of Adam, you have not truly found faith until you refrain from pointing out an imperfection in other people, while having the same imperfection yourself; and until you acknowledge that imperfection in yourself, and correct it."
There is hope, even for a polluted heart because there are so many steps that we can take to begin to cleanse our hearts of sin and corruption that ails it. We must each intercede on our own behalf, as we are the only one that can change the condition of our heart - for the better or for the worse.
Deeds of the heart are one of the most important duties and one of the greatest acts that bring us closer to Allah. They are compulsory at all times and upon all mukallafeen, or persons responsible for their actions (i.e., everyone who is past the age of puberty and is sane). They also strengthen our faith, for if we have no deeds of the heart, we have no faith. In addition, the purity of all our deeds is dependant on the purity of our hearts. Deeds of the heart are the roots: physical deeds are what follow.
If we look at those who claim to follow the Sunnah, we can see that in reality, many of them are clearly deficient in deeds of the heart; whether in terms of knowledge and opinions, or in terms of manners and behavior. Most books and tapes focus on physical deeds, and a lot of effort is wasted trying to correct appearances and physical acts. There is a dearth of good books on this subject, and even less that deal with the great practical and educational effort needed to foster and encourage deeds of the heart.
In this brief article, I will present a number of sayings of the Imams on the subject of the greatness of deeds of the heart.
Al-Izz Ibn Abdus Salam said, "The heart is the source and foundation of responsibility for all actions. The goodness of a body depends upon the goodness of the heart, and the corruption of a body depends upon the corruption of the heart. For this reason, the Prophet, [Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam (SAWS) / peace be upon him] said, "In the body there is a lump of flesh-if it is pure then the whole body is pure, and if it is corrupted then the whole body is corrupted. It is the heart," (Bukhari and Muslim).
That is, if it is purified by knowledge, good conditions and good deeds, then the whole body will be made good. If it is corrupted by ignorance, evil conditions and evil deeds, then the whole body will be corrupted with depravity and disobedience."
Ibn Taymiyyah said on the subject of deeds of the heart, "It is one of the foundations of faith, and rules of the religion. Loving Allah, sincerity of religion for Allah, thankfulness to Allah, and hoping for His forgiveness: All of these deeds are compulsory for all of creation subject to Allah's command, and this is agreed upon by the Imams of the religion. People fall into one of three categories with respect to deeds of the heart, just as they do with respect to physical deeds: Those who are unjust to themselves, those who are frugal, and those who strive to perform good deeds."
Ibnul-Qayyim also spoke about deeds of the heart, "Deeds of the heart are things like loving for the sake of Allah; trusting in Him; hoping for His forgiveness; the sincerity of religion for Him; being patient with what He orders, forbids, and preordains; being pleased with Him and about Him; being loyal to Him; being humble before Him; submitting to Him; being modest before Him; and being satisfied with Him.
These and many other such deeds of the heart are more compulsory than physical deeds. Whoever loves them is more beloved to Allah than one who only loves physical deeds. Physical deeds performed without deeds of the heart are either without benefit, or of little benefit."
"If deeds of the heart are abandoned, then even though someone may think they believe, the Scholars of Sunnah agree that it signifies abandonment of faith, and that 'belief is of no benefit in the absence of deeds of the heart."
Our righteous predecessors attached great importance to deeds of the heart and strived to apply them in word and deed. Salman Al-Farsi said, "Everyone has two aspects-internal and external. Whoever purifies his internal aspect, Allah, Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, will set right his external aspect, and whoever corrupts his internal aspect, Allah, Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will corrupt his external aspect."
Al-Hasan Al-Basri used to have a private sitting place in his house where he would not speak except about the concepts of asceticism, reclusion, and the knowledge of the unseen. If anyone asked him about any other subject he would be displeased, and would say, "We have only retired (here) with our brothers in order to exchange views."
He also used to say, "Treat your heart, for Allah's requirement for His slaves is the piety of their hearts."
I am being repetitive about the greatness of the affair of deeds of the heart, and the superiority of their worth in the scale of the Shari'ah, because of our obvious state of neglect and negligence towards these acts of worship. What we must do is to strive sincerely to follow the straight path in order that we can be of those who worship from the heart.
We can do this in a number of ways:
1- Reading the Qur'an with reflection and contemplation, so as to benefit from its rulings, teachings, stories, and narrations.
2- Trusting in Allah, for example, is one of the greatest deeds of the heart. We can observe this trust in Allah in the stories of the Prophets. We can see it (in practice-not just in words) in the story of Ibrahim (Abraham), Alayhes-Salam (peace be upon him) when he was thrown into the fire, and also from Prophet Hud's defiance of his unbelieving people, as was mentioned in the Qur'an,
"He said, Indeed, I call Allah to witness, and witness (yourselves) that I am free from whatever you associate with Allah other than Him. So plot against me all together; then do not give me respite. Indeed, I have relied upon Allah, my Lord and your Lord. There is no creature but that He holds its forelock (i.e., controls it). Indeed, my Lord is on a path (that is) straight." [11:54-56].
3- Seeking comfort in the example of the Messenger of Allah (SAWS) by reading about his life, and emulating him in his fear, his hope, his love, his sincerity towards Allah, and other such deeds of the heart.
Looking at the lives of the righteous predecessors and the knowledgeable Imams. These Imams have set for us the most complete and Finest examples in achieving deeds of the heart, both in knowledge and in behavior.
4- Paying attention to self-education, purifying oneself with beneficial knowledge, good deeds, self-evaluation, and self-discipline.
Al-Hasan Al-Basri said, "O Son of Adam, you have not truly found faith until you refrain from pointing out an imperfection in other people, while having the same imperfection yourself; and until you acknowledge that imperfection in yourself, and correct it."
There is hope, even for a polluted heart because there are so many steps that we can take to begin to cleanse our hearts of sin and corruption that ails it. We must each intercede on our own behalf, as we are the only one that can change the condition of our heart - for the better or for the worse.
Copyright © Abdul Mateen Khan. All Rights Reserved.