Abdul Rahman Chao - 5-23-25

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

The Prophet's Most Frequent Du'a

On the authority of Shahr bin Hawshab he narrates, and he was a tabi'i the generation that came after the companions he narrates a conversation between him and the wife of the Prophet ﷺ, Umm Salama in which he asked her O mother of the believers what is the du'a that the Prophet ﷺ whenever he was with you what was the du'a that he used to say the most frequent which du'a did he say most frequently and so Umm Salama radiallahu ta'ala anha she said the Prophet ﷺ whenever he was with me he would say:

addressing Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala the Prophet ﷺ would say "O the changer of hearts the one who controls the hearts and can change it make my heart steadfast upon your deen upon your religion."

So Umm Salama is narrating now a conversation now between herself and the Prophet ﷺ and she says, so I said "Ya Rasulullah why is it that you say this du'a so frequently يَا مُقَلِّبَ الْقُلُوبِ ثَبِّتْ قَلْبِي عَلَى دِينِكَ why is it that you say O changer of hearts keep my heart firm and steadfast upon your deen upon your religion?" So he ﷺ he remarked and he said "O Umm Salama indeed there is no one there is no human being except that their heart is between the two fingers among the fingers of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the hands of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala makes those whom he wills steadfast upon the deen and he will cause others to deviate from the deen may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala keep us steadfast."

The Fluctuating Nature of the Heart

Here in this story we learn of the humility of the Prophet ﷺ in which that despite being promised Jannah despite being one of those whose all sins have been forgiven yet the Prophet ﷺ never felt too comfortable or confident in his spiritual formation and he would make this du'a and so that is the lesson to be learned as that the condition of the heart brothers and sisters it fluctuates it can change whenever Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wills it to change something that you might not have liked in the past might be something that you like in the future and something that you like now might be something you dislike in the future.

The Prophet ﷺ talks about the heart and how easily manipulated it is it can change so easily depending on the circumstances and which he says ﷺ:

"The similitude of the heart is like that of a feather this feather that is being pushed by a desert wind." The Prophet ﷺ didn't just say any wind but he specifically said a wind in the desert a wind that comes and blows a feather that's how easy our hearts can move like that feather.

But the scholars remarked why the Prophet ﷺ talked about a feather blowing in the desert wind and not anywhere else and Allah knows best and that is because when you are out in the open desert the wind has nothing to stop it there are no buildings there are no walls there are no trees that could perhaps redirect the wind in a certain direction so wherever the wind takes this feather the feather is completely you could say at the mercy of this wind and this is the example in which the Prophet ﷺ is saying our hearts are at the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Different Hearts, Different Effects

So you might be wondering how is it that our hearts can be so fragile how is it that it can change so easily it depends on the circumstance maybe some people are affected by certain whims certain desires, certain weaknesses certain things that they like certain things that they don't like and that is why when you look at the things around you all of these things are the signs of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

So how is it that Moses' staff the Asa of Musa alayhi sallam that turns into a snake upon seeing that that miracle hardens the heart of Fir'aun but it transforms the heart of the magicians? It's the same sign but it has a different effect. On one side you have someone who becomes more arrogant like Fir'aun and on the other side we have the magicians who see it and recognize that their own things were nothing but tricks of the eye and they fell down in prostration:

The Heart Like a Moon

The Prophet ﷺ talks about a beautiful image of our heart and how it's like and he says:

"There is no heart out there or all of the hearts out there in other words are like a moon in which there is a cloud that comes in front of it." So think of it as a nice bright moon and there's a cloud that comes in front of it. Every one of us, the Prophet ﷺ is saying we have a heart that's like a moon and so when this cloud comes in front of the moon it blocks out the light but when the cloud moves away the light, this moonlight shines through again.

And if you think about this imagery brothers and sisters the Prophet ﷺ describes our heart like the moon but if you think about it deeply the moon gets its light not from itself but from the sun. So our hearts reflect, should reflect the light of Iman the light from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala it should reflect that light and so when you sin a cloud comes in front of your heart so that light of Allah is not shining from you anymore because it is obscured.

And not all clouds are created the same brothers and sisters because some clouds are thin and wispy and other clouds are heavy and they can completely block out the light.

The Effect of Sins on the Heart

And so brothers and sisters now that we know the condition of our hearts as being something that can be changed we have to now understand the effect that ma'asi like the cloud of sin how does it affect us. The Prophet ﷺ he tells us in authentic narration that when a servant of Allah commits a sin a black spot is marked and etched onto their heart and if he stops and he repents and he seeks forgiveness this heart is polished clean but if he returns to this sin again that black dot becomes bigger and it continues and if he continues doing it it becomes bigger and bigger and bigger until it completely covers the heart as Allah says in the Qur'an:

"Nay, but on their hearts is this dark covering it's a metaphorical covering in which they used to earn from their bad deeds."

The Story of Handhalah

Handhalah a companion of the Prophet ﷺ one time was feeling very down and depressed and he met Abu Bakr and so Handhalah said نَافَقَ حَنْظَلَةُ he remarked about himself and he said "Handhalah has become a hypocrite."

So Abu Bakr radiallahu anh he said "SubhanAllah why are you saying this?" So Handhalah said "يا أبا بكر whenever we are with the Prophet ﷺ and we think about Jahannam and we think about hellfire and we think about paradise and heaven it's like as if we are seeing it in front of our own eyes but when we leave the Prophet ﷺ when we are not in his presence and we go back to our family, our children, our wives and our business all of those reminders slip out of our mind."

Abu Bakr radiallahu anh he says "I also feel the same" so they both went to the Prophet ﷺ and they described their feelings and they complained to the Prophet ﷺ and so the Prophet ﷺ he said he said "If your state of Iman was to be consistent all the time and if you were to be remembering Allah in that state all the time the angels would have come down to shake your hands whether you are lying down in your beds or you are walking in the streets but Alhamdulillah take it easy one hour at a time take it one hour at a time."

This hadith of the Prophet ﷺ teaches us that our Iman goes up and down. You could have an entire lecture series on what are the causes of what causes our Iman to go down but as we said in the first khutbah it is sins that's the first biggest thing. Notice here how Handhalah radiallahu anh he didn't say we feel bad and disconnected because we went and committed some sins he said we are busy with our wife, with our children and with our business all halal things and yet he feels the effects of his Iman going down and that is why when we are living in this world we have to not be deluded by the glitter and the deception of this world.

Know Yourself and Your Weaknesses

To close off brothers and sisters Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri radiallahu anh he as narrated by Imam Al-Lalaka'i he advises people that if you want to know what is the condition of your Iman the condition of your heart you need to know is your Iman going up or is it steadily going down and here is the most important thing:

"And it is from the correct understanding you have to be smart enough to think and realize how does Shaytan come for you what are your weaknesses how does Shaytan get you? Is it through your anger? Is it through desires bodily desires? Is it through emotions? Is it through your ego? Is it through arrogance? What is it?"

And everyone here is different. You want to take account of yourself and know if your Iman is weak. Take the advice of Abu Darda think about how Shaytan and the word is Nazagat. Nazagat means like the way how he pokes and stabs how does Shaytan get to you and you focus on those things and improve yourself.

Surah Al-Baqarah, surah Al-Baqarah.