Purifying The Heart: A Prophetic Mission For Success

Purification of the Heart: The Foundation of Success

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. And peace and blessings be upon the most honored of Prophets and Messengers — our Master and our Prophet Muhammad — and upon his family and companions, and those who follow them with goodness until the Day of Recompense. After that, I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 52; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1599)

Respected brothers and sisters in Islam, السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ — الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ — brothers and sisters, Allah in the Qur'an al-Karim and in the life of our blessed Prophet — عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ — has given us the most beautiful guidance and the most perfect example. Everything that we need for our success in this life and in the hereafter is in the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of Rasulullah صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ. And from amongst those things which is one of the most essential and fundamental teachings of our deen is the purification of the heart and the purification of the soul. This is a fundamental objective. This was one of the reasons that Allah sent our Prophet into this world.

The Purpose of Prophethood: Purification of the Heart

Allah Himself says — what is the function of Prophethood? Allah mentions:

Allah says — what is the objective of Prophethood? He says one of the objectives is: Allah is the one who sent to the unlettered peoples, to the illiterate peoples, the unlettered peoples — Allah sent a messenger from amongst them. يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ — He recites upon them and gives da'wah to them of the scripture, of the Qur'an, of revelation. That's number one. يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ — this is the prophetic function: that He conveys to them revelation. وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ — and He purifies them from the diseases of the heart.

This second point — we can see that تَزْكِيَةُ الْقَلْبِ, the purification of the heart — Allah sent the أَنْبِيَاءَ عَلَيْهِمُ السَّلَامُ, the prophets, and one of their functions was to inform us about the diseases of the heart and to give us the remedies to those diseases of the heart.

In another verse of the Qur'an, Allah — how many oaths He takes — an entire surah of the Qur'an was revealed about تَزْكِيَة, about the purification of the heart. That the one who purifies their heart will be the successful one, and the one who does not purify his heart will be in destruction. Such an emphasis has been given on the heart.

Where Are We When It Comes to the Heart?

We beautify our external. We beautify our bodies. We beautify the place where people are looking upon. Imam Al-Ghazali رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ says: the place where Allah is looking upon — how much are we beautifying that? We are unmindful of that. We are غَافِل of that. The place where مَخْلُوق is looking upon, we are always concerned that we should look presentable to people. But the place where Allah is looking — how concerned are we about the heart? Because this is the place where Allah is looking at.

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2564)

Allah doesn't look at your faces or your appearances. Allah doesn't look at your bank balances or your status — what is your status in society. Allah looks at your hearts and your deeds. How concerned are we to purify our hearts? Do we even know that there is such a thing? Not only is there such a thing — it is the very objective of why the prophets were sent, to focus on the heart. That is why an entire surah of the Qur'an has been revealed.

The Seven Oaths of Surah Ash-Shams

وَالشَّمْسِ وَضُحَاهَا — how many oaths Allah is taking! وَالشَّمْسِ وَضُحَاهَا وَالْقَمَرِ إِذَا تَلَاهَا وَالنَّهَارِ إِذَا جَلَّاهَا وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا يَغْشَاهَا وَالسَّمَاءِ وَمَا بَنَاهَا وَالْأَرْضِ وَمَا طَحَاهَا وَنَفْسٍ وَمَا سَوَّاهَا — seven oaths Allah takes.

You can imagine somebody says to you, "My brother — Wallahi, Wallahi, Wallahi, Wallahi." OK, just calm down a little bit. I believe you. How many Wallahi are you going to say? One Wallahi was enough. Some people do too much Wallahi. Some people every sentence is "Wallah, Wallah, Habibi, Wallah." Allah is taking seven قَسَم. On what? What's the objective? And Allah is الْخَالِق — He can take قَسَم upon anything of His creation to show the عَظَمَة and the greatness of that thing.

So listen — Allah swears by the sun and the moon. Allah swears by the day and the night. Allah swears by the heavens and the earth. And Allah swears by this نَفْس — this human soul. This human soul upon which our punishment in the afterlife and our reward in the afterlife is dependent.

Imagine — oaths taken on the sun and the moon, and the heavens and the earth, and the skies, and everything that Allah created. Why? قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَنْ زَكَّاهَا — this is the مُقْسَم عَلَيْهِ. This is what Allah is taking a قَسَم about. Successful is the one who purifies this نَفْس from the evils — from greed, from lust, from jealousy, from the overwhelming love of dunya, from the passions, and from desires, and from anger, and all of these various different diseases of the heart: حَسَد وَكِبْر وَحِقْد وَعُجُب — self-conceit, pride, jealousy, anger.

All of these things — if a person does not check themselves, and if a person does not purify themselves, what does Allah say? قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَنْ زَكَّاهَا وَقَدْ خَابَ مَنْ دَسَّاهَا — successful in dunya and the akhira is the one who purifies himself, and a failure in dunya and akhira is the one who neglects himself. How much are we focused on this? How much do we know about this?

The Hadith of the Heart

Rasulullah ﷺ mentions in a hadith:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 52; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1599)

Verily in the body there is a piece of flesh. If that piece of flesh comes right, everything comes right. If that piece of flesh goes off and becomes corrupt, then everything is corrupt. أَلَا وَهِيَ الْقَلْبُ — that piece of flesh is the heart.

Rasulullah ﷺ is saying: مَدَارُ الْأَمْرِ كُلِّهِ عَلَى الْقَلْبِ — everything of our success and our loss, your success or your failure in this life and the hereafter, revolves around the heart. If your heart comes right, your deen comes right, your dunya comes right.

The Diseases of the Heart and the World Around Us

If your heart is wrong — my dear brothers and sisters, what we are seeing in the world today, all of the crimes that we commit, all the crimes that are committed against humanity, our brothers and sisters right now who are suffering in Palestine — even when we look at the فَسَادٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ, the source of that is the diseases of the heart.

Even when we look at the people who are inmates in prisons — we have, mashallah, many students that are chaplains in the local prisons in California. I had the opportunity on many occasions to attend and visit the prisoners and visit the inmates. Some people who are on death row. Some people who have committed serious, serious crimes. What do you think they were there for? Why are the people there in prison?

One person — believe it or not — do you know what he said? He's on death row. He said, "You know why I'm here? I'm here because I like the finer things in life. And I don't want to work like a dog to get it like everybody else. I like the finer things in life, and I don't want to work like a dog. I want to get what you have. You have it — I'm going to take it from you. Because I like it. I want it."

I apologize, brothers and sisters, for using these very blunt words. These are the words that this person used — why he's on death row. He said, "I was watching a house and I really liked what this person had. I broke in and I took what they had." And he was charged with attempted murder, robbery, breaking and entering, the whole nine yards. He tied up the entire family and kept them at gunpoint.

But look at his own words — he himself is saying why he's there. He said: "Because I like the finer things of life." Now it's not wrong to like the finer things of life —

Allah says: who made haram the beautiful things of this world? But to the extent that it had overtaken his heart — it now became like a disease. "I want these finer things in life. And I will go to any lengths to get that. I want the good things. I want the money. I like that watch — so I'm going to take it from you." That has now become what we call حُبُّ الدُّنْيَا — the lust of dunya. سَكْرَةُ حُبِّ الْعَيْشِ — the intoxication of the love of dunya. This is a disease that needs to be cured. This is the cure that our Prophets عَلَيْهِمُ السَّلَامُ came with.

The Disease in the Hearts of the Oppressors

Even what we see happening right now in Palestine, my dear brothers and sisters — the فَسَادٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ — Allah, SubhanAllah, in the first major surah of the Qur'an, in Surah Al-Baqarah, right in the first pages, Allah says:

When Allah is talking about the people of فَسَاد, when Allah is talking about the people of corruption, when Allah is talking about these ظَالِمِين and the oppressors — why do they oppress? Allah says: فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ مَرَضٌ — in their hearts is a disease.

This heart, my dear brothers and sisters, is such a matter of importance. Politics aside, geopolitics aside — these things go back to a very, very simple مَسْأَلَة: greed, corruption, desire for power and authority, to be in a position of status, to take things from others. Like I said — "I want the finer things of life. And I'll take it from you. I don't care if it's your land. I don't care if this belongs to your forefathers. I will take it because I want it, and I'll make an excuse." The greed. The corruption.

What are Allah's words? SubhanAllah: فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ مَرَضٌ فَزَادَهُمُ اللَّهُ مَرَضًا — in their hearts is a disease. And because they persist, and they have no concern with purifying themselves, زَادَهُمُ اللَّهُ مَرَضًا — Allah then leaves them, and they increase in that disease. وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ بِمَا كَانُوا يَكْذِبُونَ — and for them is a painful punishment because of their belying the message of God.

Then — look at the connection between the ayat, brothers and sisters. Allah is telling us that the source of why they cause فَسَاد is because in their hearts is a disease. Even what we're seeing around us in the world today — the corruption, the ظُلْم, the killing, the genocide — even that, the source of it is فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ مَرَضٌ.

Allah says: when it is said to them, "Don't cause corruption in the earth," لَا تُفْسِدُوا — don't cause فَسَاد on the earth — what do they say? إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ مُصْلِحُونَ — "We're just doing good. We're just getting rid of the bad guys. We're not doing anything bad. We're just doing good." There is also a sign of the disease in their heart. أَلَا إِنَّهُمْ هُمُ الْمُفْسِدُونَ — listen closely: they are the ones who are the corruptors, they are the ones causing corruption. وَلَٰكِن لَّا يَشْعُرُونَ — but they have no sense, they have no perception. Why? Because their hearts have become dead.

The Qur'an as the Cure for the Heart

Look, my dear brothers and sisters, at this point I'm making. For us as Muslims — and not only for us as Muslims, for the entire world — the Qur'an is one of the things that Allah says:

Verily, this Qur'an has come to you. What is it? It is an admonition to you from your Lord. وَشِفَاءٌ لِّمَا فِي الصُّدُورِ — it is a cure for the diseases of the heart. Allahu Akbar. We have forgotten this.

This is a science. This تَزْكِيَةُ الْقَلْبِ is the solution to so many things that we are seeing — even some of these major, major issues in the world. It is greed. It is desire. It is حُبُّ الدُّنْيَا. And all of these things that are plaguing society. SubhanAllah — our deen and our Qur'an is the دَوَاء. It is the شِفَاء. It is the cure. It is the remedy.

And that is why some of our مَشَايِخ and our أَكَابِر — taking the path of the أَنْبِيَاء عَلَيْهِمُ السَّلَامُ — focused their entire lives upon this science of the purification of the heart. They were the doctors of the heart. They were the experts in the diseases of the heart and how to give the cure for these diseases.

Closing: The Urgency of Purifying Our Hearts

That is why, alhamdulillah, by Allah's grace — and we are honored by the staff and the organizers and administrators of Darussalam — a very beautiful text titled Tasdus Sabeel Ilal Mawlal Jaleel — which is, mashallah, a book by Hakimul Ummah Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanwi رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ — this is a new translation and publication. This text is a primer on this particular science of purification of the heart. Inshallah, this is what our two-day workshop is going to be focused on. I highly urge all of the brothers and sisters, inshallah, to join, to benefit, to be part of this. And if you're not going to, just remember — by any means necessary — focus on the purification of your heart.

I have also been, brothers and sisters, as an imam and as a خَادِم and a servant of the community, dealing with dozens of divorce cases — dozens if not hundreds of marriage cases — and it all comes down to one thing: the أَخْلَاق, rectification of character, purification of the heart. So many marriages break down because we are not focused on our character. So many relationships are destroyed because we are not focused on our behavior. This is our behavioral science. The behavioral sciences in Islam are known as tasawwuf. The behavioral sciences of Islam are known as tazkiyatul qalb. Call it by whatever name you want to call it. But this is the thing, brothers and sisters, that is the core.

InshaAllah, if we focus upon this, it will be a means of great benefit for us. It will make our deen and dunya فَلَاح. Allah says:

Successful, triumphant — you can't even translate this word, it's beyond our translation — triumphant, successful, prosperous will be the one who purifies himself. May Allah give us تَوْفِيق to implement what has been said.