Imam Kaser Aslam - Guardian of the Heart Lecture 1

Guardian of the Heart — Lecture 1: Veils and Barriers to a Sound Heart

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

We begin in the name of Allah. We ask Allah to send peace and blessings upon our final Messenger ﷺ, those who supported him, those who are alongside him — and may Allah make us amongst those who are in his blessed footsteps. Ameen Rabbil Alameen.

Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah. It's an honor to be here with all of you and to, inshallah, kick off. We've had beautiful words of Allah reminding us and waking up — inshallah — that piece of flesh that our Messenger ﷺ told us about, in which he said that if a small piece of flesh is sound, everything else will be sound. That's what we're here to talk about: the matters of the heart.

The Goal: Qalbun Salim

The topic I was given — the topic I'm going to be speaking about today — we all know this: inshallah, we want to arrive on the Day of Judgment with qalbun salim. May Allah allow us all to have qalbun salim. Ameen.

Say Ameen. Don't be stingy with your du'as. Because we know that if you come with a sound heart, you have won. It doesn't matter what it took you to get there, but if you come to Allah with a sound heart, you've won. That's what we want — but then sometimes there are barriers to that. We have to understand: what's the difference between a healthy heart and an unhealthy heart? So the topic I was given was actually veils or barriers to a sound heart.

The Hadith of the Black Dot

There is a hadith of the Messenger ﷺ that is found in Tirmidhi and in a couple of other hadith collections. It was narrated that Abu Hurairah heard the Messenger ﷺ say:

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3334)

Verily, when the servant commits a sin, a black dot is placed upon his heart. If he abandons the sin and seeks forgiveness and repents, the heart will become polished. But if he continues and returns back to the sin, the blackness will increase until it overcomes his heart. And the scholars commented: it overcomes the heart so that the light found within it can no longer be recognized.

What I really wanted to do today is understand: what are the barriers that affect the heart? We know we're supposed to polish this thing. We know certain things illuminate our hearts and other things darken our hearts. But what is the nature of this beautiful organ that Allah has placed within all of us?

The Physical and Spiritual Heart

Yes — the physical heart as well. Because without the physical heart, you can't actually live. It pumps some 60,000 times per day. It's constantly in motion. We literally measure whether someone is physically alive or dead based on whether their heart is actually in motion or whether it's not. And now even medical science — the heart can stop, but someone can still be resuscitated. How beautiful is that? Because the same thing can be said about the spiritual heart.

There are times when people's spiritual hearts stop. They become numb. One of our sessions is going to tell us about ghafla — about heedlessness. But then it can be revived in that same way. So there are many parallels between the spiritual heart and the literal heart.

The Parable from Surah an-Nur

What I want to focus on is actually one ayah of the Qur'an — found in Surah an-Nur, the surah of light. In it, Allah tells us about these barriers that can take place that cause a heart to be lost. It is the 40th ayah of Surah 24, in which Allah says, after talking about another parable where someone finds themselves lost in the desert, searching for water but never actually getting to that water — Allah then hits with another parable:

It's like the one who is lost at sea. لُجِّيٍّ — all he sees around him is ocean. I want us to think about this for a second. That whenever Allah gives us an example in the Qur'an, it's to put us literally in that place. Some of you have been able to be on the sea before — it's a beautiful creation of Allah. But what's being described here is someone who finds themselves at sea. But it's not just any sea. لُجِّيٌّ — you see sea on your right and you see the sea on your left. Because sometimes you're on a boat and you can see the land. This isn't one of those. You don't see anything but waves all around you.

يَغْشَاهُ مَوْجٌ مِّن فَوْقِهِ — all that's there around him are waves upon which are other waves. So it's not a smooth ocean, but a very rocky ocean. Of course, we can think about this literally. But you can also think about this being the situation of someone's heart from time to time. There are times in which your heart feels alive. And there are other times in which your heart feels dead. This sin after this sin. This influence after this influence. It feels like, I can never get any footing. That's really what's being described here.

And Allah then continues — مِّن فَوْقِهِ سَحَابٌ — on top of it are dark clouds as well. So it is darkness upon darkness upon darkness. That is a situation that hearts can sometimes find themselves in. A heart that doesn't remember Allah, a heart that isn't involved in righteousness, and doesn't have good company around it — it is darkness after darkness after darkness.

Two Types of Heart Disease: Shubuhat and Shahawat

Our scholars have actually put forward that there are two types of diseases — two types of sins — that have an effect on the heart. There are what are known as shubuhāt (شُبُهَات) — sins you fall into because you have an improper understanding of something. And then there are shahawāt (شَهَوَات) — sins you fall into because one of your appetites got the better of you. And the treatment of these two things is very different.

Sometimes we think all sins are the same, but they really aren't. There are different types of barriers that end up taking place in the heart.

Shahawat — Sins of Appetite

Shahawāt is someone who can't lower their gaze. They know it's wrong. They just can't stop. Every single time they're alone, they open their phone, they open their laptop, and it goes to places that they don't want — and it's overtaking them. Sometimes it's things like greed: I know this is wrong, but they fall into stealing. That is shahawāt — an uncontrolled appetite.

Shubuhat — Sins of Misunderstanding

Shubuhāt is different. They are not excesses of appetite. What shubuhāt are is an improper understanding. The issue comes in: is it really true that I can't be friends with that girl or that guy? Because, is that really practical? How am I going to find someone anyway? You start justifying it in your own head — a little bit is okay. Is gambling really that bad? I get why back in the day, but just betting on some sports, how bad can that be? That is the idea of shubuhāt. It is a sin, but the underlying nature of that sin is a misunderstanding — versus a shahwa which is a sin whose underlying nature is an uncontrolled appetite. They get addressed in different ways.

The Heart is Never Without Hope

Allah describes this like being lost at sea. Your heart may have had some degree of a compass, but it got hit by one wave. One sin. Another sin. Another idea. Another doubt. And it feels like, I don't even know which way is up anymore, and I don't even know which way is down anymore — even to the point where it feels like you are underwater.

And that's what's captured next. بَعْضُهَا فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ — waves upon waves. Darkness upon darkness. It's a really scary situation to be in. But the solution is coming.

And Allah then says: إِذَا أَخْرَجَ يَدَهُ — and if he was to put his arm out. Think about someone who's being battered at sea. You're trying to grab onto something. Maybe there's a boat. Maybe there's a person. Maybe there's something. He's doing that. لَمْ يَكَدْ يَرَاهَا — he can barely see it.

One way to look at it: why can he barely see it? Because the effects of sins also take place in your sense of perception. The first sin — oh, that really hurt. Second sin, it's a little bit easier to do. Third sin, a little bit easier to do. So your own perception starts decreasing. But if someone went far enough, if you're in darkness for long enough, you can't even see your arm. But Allah doesn't say that — because this ayah is actually pretty hopeful.

I've had the opportunity of actually going scuba diving at night. It's a very interesting experience. We were about 20 feet under the water. Something interesting about how light works in water: the deeper you go, the darker it becomes because the light keeps bending. And when you get to a certain depth, if you have no light of your own, you can't actually see anything. I had our senior researcher actually tell all of us: turn off your lights. We had lights on our wrists. We turned them all off. And this is the scariest experience you'll ever go through — because you don't know where up and down is anymore. It is gone.

But Allah doesn't say that he can't see his hand. What does Allah say? He can barely see it. Why? Because Allah never leaves us without hope. No matter how lost you find yourself, the lifeline still exists for you. If you reach out your hand and reach towards Allah, you'll still be able to — even if you can barely see it — make it, if you make that next step.

That's the idea: even though there are barriers that veil the heart, the heart is never without hope. Because Allah put within our hearts its own light. It's not just light that comes from the outside — it's actually a light that comes from the inside as well. Sometimes what happens, maybe in that darkest moment, is when suddenly you hear a reminder about Allah, about who the Messenger ﷺ is — and it increases. Suddenly you start seeing your hand a little bit. I'm actually capable of good. That starts to take place.

Because that's part of our tradition as well. Our tradition never leaves someone hopeless — because that's not the heart that Allah created you and I with. It is this beautiful creation of Allah that, no matter how corrupted it becomes, the door to Allah is always open. Because that's the idea of the light Allah has placed within it.

And Allah continues:

And the one who Allah has not granted light — there is no light for that person. Because it is by the permission of Allah. You don't have to rely on your own strength to make it up above that sea you're drowning under. You actually have to call on Allah: Ya Allah, just show me the light in this moment.

And in this very surah from which this ayah comes, Allah describes:

Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. And then Allah describes the actual state of that lamp that's lit — which is actually our hearts. That it can shine and shine through whatever darkness you might actually find yourselves in.

Addressing Shubuhat and Shahawat

Let's go back to the idea of shubuhāt and shahawāt. What are these things that can cloud you?

Shubuhāt — you need knowledge, because your heart doesn't have the knowledge in order to navigate the sin in front of you. That happens to people from time to time, where what's at the bottom of it is an actual doubt. And the way I sometimes like phrasing it is: sometimes the origin of a sin is a condition of the heart, and sometimes the sin leads to the condition of the heart — but they're both connected to each other.

Imam Ibn al-Qayyim, rahimahullah, used to say that the spoon to the dish is like the heart to the tongue. Sometimes you can diagnose yourself and ask: how am I speaking about Allah? Can I confidently say I understand this and explain it to someone else? Maybe that's the origin as to why that sin is affecting me so much — that I don't actually have the language to say, no, I actually believe that doing the halal leads to a better lifestyle, and doing the haram leads to a worse lifestyle. I don't have the knowledge to actually undo that. Sometimes it's necessary.

And other times it's: I know what I'm supposed to do, but I don't have the discipline. I know that I'm supposed to be obeying Allah, staying away from lust, staying away from gluttony, staying away from greed — but I don't have the discipline. How do I then adjust that? And that's sometimes through strict discipline — which is: you pursue the opposite of whatever is actually haunting you in that moment.

The one who is seeking fame — what are you supposed to do? Pursue humility. And you'll find that who you were supposed to be pursuing attention from was actually Allah all along. The one who feels that they don't have enough — what do they do? Actually give.

There is a man who comes up to the Messenger ﷺ and says, my heart is hard. And the Messenger ﷺ tells him: go pet the head of an orphan. What does that do? You would think: who actually pets the head of an orphan? Who gives comfort to an orphan? The most kind-hearted person ever. Do that. If you do that with your body, your mind will catch up. Your heart will catch up. Because only the most kind person would do that. Put yourself in that environment and you'll find that it actually fixes you.

Understanding the Root of the Sin

But it's this idea — a shubha is different from a shahwa — and we need to be able to understand and appreciate the difference. And sometimes what it even comes down to is: explore why is it that I fell into that sin to begin with?

I think sometimes we tell ourselves, oh, it's just a sin. My background is in cognitive behavioral therapy, and one of the things I can tell you is that people don't do something consistently except that it's meeting one of their needs. It might not be meeting it in the best way, but if they keep returning to it, it's meeting one of their needs.

So sometimes to actually address an issue of the heart, you have to ask yourself: why did I fall into this? Why does it keep happening? If someone keeps looking at things they're not supposed to be looking at — you have to ask, what am I looking for? Is it because I'm bored? Is it because there's no excitement in my life? Do I never appreciate actual beauty, so I'm looking for perverted beauty? Someone keeps having a tendency of stealing — do I feel like I don't have enough? Do I not think that hard work can actually be rewarded? Do I not recognize that Allah loves the kasib, the one who acquires?

You look at the origin of what actually caused you to fall into it and address that issue. Because at the bottom of it is typically what Allah created me as — a person who has the ability of succeeding. So I have to have hope in myself that Allah didn't create my heart to be just here and there. There was an internal compass that was built in. I just have to revive it. And sometimes that looks like a cognitive reframing, and other times — as some of the other speakers are going to get into — if Allah left one door open for you, can you use that one door and expand it?

The Story of the Thief Who Kept One Door Open

There is a beautiful story found in our tradition in which a man was traveling and was stopped by a highway robber. Alhamdulillah, we live in a world where this isn't as much of a problem, but it is actually a problem in some places of the world still — where you're traveling and someone stops you in the middle of the road and takes all of your belongings.

As he was stopped and all of their belongings were being stolen — all of their food and everything — this young man follows all of the stolen goods, and the thieves are distributing amongst themselves: you take this, you take this, you take this. They came across some exquisite juice, some type of drink that was very valuable. They were passing it all around each other, and eventually it made its way to the leader of the thieves.

And as it made its way to the leader of the thieves, suddenly that person looked at it and put it to the side. This young man — who had been robbed at this point — goes up to the leader of the thieves and says, why is it that you didn't drink or partake like everyone else? And the thief says: I'm fasting.

The leader of the thieves says, I'm fasting today.

And he's like — you're fasting? You just stole from all of us. You're fasting? He says: I left one door open. I don't want to close all the doors between me and Allah.

Fast forward almost a decade. This young man becomes a scholar of our tradition. And he's making Hajj. He sees a man profusely crying in front of the Ka'bah, holding onto the kiswa, speaking and making beautiful du'as. He sees — hey, it's the thief. It's the guy who robbed me so many years ago.

And he goes up to him: How are you here now, making Hajj in front of the Ka'bah? And he says: Remember I didn't close the door of fasting? I left one door open, and Allah allowed for that door to bring me here.

Conclusion: Do Not Be Afraid to Diagnose Your Heart

So there is this idea: are there barriers of the heart? Are there sins that we can fall into? Do these things happen? Yes. But what did Allah say about it? That even when you're in the middle of that ocean drowning — reach out your hand and you'll be able to just see it. Because even then, repenting will polish that heart. Even then, reaching out for good company will clear the way just a little bit. Even then, there is hope.

And if you continuously ask Allah to grant you light, the light of Allah can never be extinguished. Because that's part of the reason why our hearts are there.

But the last thing I'll leave this off with is: don't be afraid of diagnosing your heart. Sometimes we think, now it's done, I'm gone. The environment is too bad. This has happened, this has happened. Start with that one dot. It started with one dot — it can be fixed with one dot. Because the hadith, the prophetic lesson we opened up with is: when the servant stops doing that one sin, it's not as if that part goes back to normal — it becomes polished. It becomes purer than it was before.

So you actually start with that one thing. Make that one opening. I had a bunch of veils on top of it — I'm going to address one veil. Because it will open the door for another veil, another veil, another veil. Until, inshallah, you have a heart that is healthy.

Closing Du'a

We end with the du'a of the Messenger ﷺ — one of the most common du'as that he would make:

O Turner of the hearts, fasten my heart upon Your way. Ameen.

JazakAllah Khair. Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.