Human Heart By Sh. Dr M R Nabulsi
Worships in Islam have great purposes and important wisdoms. If we could not attain such purposes and wisdoms, then at least we should know about them, so that we aspire to them. When these worships become void of these wisdoms and purposes they turn into mere meaningless mysterious things.
The Holy Koran explains these wisdoms and purposes; Salat restrains from shameful deeds; Zakat (Almsgiving) purifies and increases wealth; and fasting brings about Taqwa (piety). In this context, Allah, Glory be to Him, says, “O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that you may be pious.” [ii;183]
Taqwa (Piety) is a Divine Light that Allah puts in man’s heart and that enables him to see the Truth and follow it and to see the Falsehood and avoid it. The heart must be prepared for receiving this Light. That is why the Fast was legislated to develop sincerity in worship, strengthen will for obedience and deepen the meanings of sincerity towards Allah Almighty. Moreover, the Fast guarantees protection of the body, and safeguards its organs from exhaustion or damage.
Therefore, the purpose of all kinds of worships and devotional services, in general, is purifying the heart from its diseases and adorning it with great perfection for which Allah has prepared it in order to vie for honor with its Creator and be pleased with being near to Him and in His Paradise.
The heart occupies the first and foremost position in the human body; and everything depends on it. No wonder that it is the leader and all other parts of the body are its army and servants over which it has full command. To this effect, Allah, the Almighty, says, “Verily in this is a message for any that has a heart and understanding or who gives ear and earnestly witnesses the Truth.”[L;73]
The heart is the reality of the human being. And most amazingly, Allah has made life and proper function of the human body dependant upon the existence of human heart. He also made purification of the heart the essence of the life and prosperity of the soul. The heart is the conscience, and the part which realizes of the body. It is the organ addressed, commanded and blamed; and it is the place of knowledge, piety, sincerity, remembrance, love, hatred, insinuations and thoughts. It is also the place of belief and disbelief, returning (to Allah in repentance) or insisting (upon disobedience), peacefulness and worry. The heart is the organ which knows Allah, seeks to draw near to Him, is accepted by Him if it is devoted only to Him. It becomes disconnected with Allah if he is involved in others than. It is happy by being intimate to Allah and wretched by being aloof from Him. In this context, a Divine Hadith goes, “O My slave, you have purified what people see (i.e. your outer deeds) for years; Why do not you purify what I see (i.e. your heart and inner intentions) for a little while.”
The Messenger of Allah also says, “ Verily, Allah looks not at your outer shapes or your bodies, but rather at your hearts (i.e. inner intentions) and deeds.”
The heart is what Allah, the Lord, observes and is concerned with. And the human being can never succeed unless he purifies it and becomes disappointed and miserable when he blemishes it with sins and misdeeds.
If you look for the strangest of Allah’s creatures in the heavens and earth, you may not find much stranger, more wonderful, more accurate, more beautiful than the heart of the human being. When it is sound and healthy, it floods out with mercy, compassion, love, sympathy and kind meanings, mild feelings, so that it overpasses in its highness even the angels. But when it is ailing, it displays hardness, evil and cruelty and goes down into the lowest of the low.
Despite its pettiness, the human heart contains the secret of the world. How tiny but great it is! Unnoticeably, it becomes great enough to belittle all the perishable enjoyments and pleasures of the present life, or turns humble enough to aggrandize tiny things. Physically and physiologically speaking, all human hearts are one and the same thing, but spiritually they are considerably diverse. Some hearts are as pure as diamond, brilliant and lively; others are as hard as rock, dark and gloomy.
The heart has its own life and death, its ups and downs. It dies and then comes back to life, comes back to life and then dies. It rises to the zenith or sinks to the bottom. At the same time, it competes with the stars in highness or touches the bottom in the lowness.
Were not the greatest of all mankind possessed of great magnanimous hearts, sincere emotions and strong firm determination?
Whosoever finds all things but loses his heart is a great loser. When the heart of a Muslim becomes pure and sound enough, Islam for him turns into heroic attitudes based on moral values and noble standards firmly established and deeply rooted in man’s heart through constant sincere devotion to the Lord All mighty Most Merciful
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