The Condition Of The Heart

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. We praise Him and pray for His noble Messenger. As for the following, Allah Almighty said in the Holy Qur'an, after I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan, In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

O you who have believed, fear Allah. It is right to fear Him, and you will not die except as Muslims. And the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, The people of the nations before you were thrown into envy and hatred.

And hatred is the one that destroys. I do not say that it destroys the hair, but it destroys the religion. And as he, peace and blessings be upon him, said, trials or the difficulties that people will go through.

And some of these difficulties or tests, they come very stealthily. A person is unaware that he or she is being tested. And from amongst those things that we face on a daily basis is varied emotions and the condition of the heart towards people.

Because the heart changes real quick and it is attracted one instant and it is unattracted the other instant. So things happen within our community, things happen at home, things happen outside at work, etc. When we interact with each other, that if a person is not careful, very soon he'll find himself or herself suffering from certain type of spiritual ailments and trials, specifically with regards to relationships with each other.

So Rasulullah mentioned that one of the sicknesses and disease that has creeped in you, this is a sickness and a disease that was found in prior nations, that is الْحَسَدُ (al-Hasad) and الْبَغْضَاءُ (al-Baghda'). It's jealousy and hatred. It is jealousy and having ill feelings towards one another.

This is دَبَّتْ إِلَيْكُمْ (dubba ilaykum), it's come very... very stealthily has been taken over you and come into you. And this is a disease that was found in previous nations. And then the Prophet, he mentioned, that الْبَغْضَاءُ هِيَ الْحَالِقَةُ (al-Baghda' hiya al-haliqah), he said, الْبَغْضَاءُ (Baghda'), the hatred and repugnance for one another, this is حَالِقَةٌ (haliqah).

حَالِقَةٌ (Haliqah), حَلَقَ (halaq) means to shave. Shave. So this is going to shave a person.

Then he explained, indeed I am not saying that this will shave a person's hair. Because a person goes, gets a haircut, he shaves his hair, for example. He says, no, this is not what I'm saying, that hatred will shave your hair.

Instead he says, وَلَٰكِن تَحْلِقُ الدِّينَ (walakin tahliq al-deen), it will shave off your faith. It will shave off your religion. It will shave off your piety, your taqwa.

What will? الْبَغْضَاءُ (al-Baghda'), having ill feelings and hatred for one another. It's something so detrimental that it completely affects a person's faith. Sometimes a person may erroneously think that my deen is my salah, my deen is my fasting of Ramadan, my deen is my zakah.

And when it comes to the feelings I have for one another, that's a separate issue. But this hadith is telling us that no, this is actually the crux of it all. This is a very dangerous disease that creeps in upon us without us even noticing.

When a person misses his salah or consistently doesn't pray, he or she knows that I am sinful and this is a weakness I have, please pray for my rectification. Person realizes that. When a person misses out on another ibadah, major faraidh of Islam, we feel guilty about it and we ask others also to pray that, Ya Allah, grant me guidance.

But how many times does a person who is punctual on his prayers, punctual on her, for example, fasting, punctual on his or her zakah, punctual on some more apparent aspects of her deen. But then when they look internally, they see there's a lot of ill feelings and hard feelings about one another. How many times do we feel that we really need some help? And that we are in a bad situation and that, Ya Allah, if you don't save me from this, I am definitely going to be destroyed.

So that's what you call a sickness that is very quiet and that comes in subtly that a person doesn't come to terms with it. If a person breaks his leg, person injures himself and starts bleeding, then we understand that this is a very serious issue, immediate attention will be given. Allah forbid, Allah forbid, a thousand times if a person were to have a more dangerous type of sickness, a blood disorder or some other type of disorder in the immune system or something like that, which is not very apparent maybe.

But long term effect is going to be much, much more than, for example, breaking one's bone. Long term this could be, if left untreated, will lead to a person's death. So this is what Rasulullah is saying, الْحَسَدُ وَالْبَغْضَاءُ (al-Hasad wal-Baghda'), these are very dangerous type of sicknesses.

They creep in within a person and make a person completely hollow. You have a big tree that the termites have eaten up from inside, what happens? Although it looks very tall and powerful, it just takes one strong wind and you see that massive multi hundred feet, two, three hundred feet tree on the ground instantaneously. And you wonder how did that happen? Because it was all fake in the first place.

It really wasn't a very strongly rooted tree. It was apparently looking like that, but internally the termites had eaten it up and made it hollow. So the person whose deen is only external, external ibadah, but internally the heart is reeking and it's stinking with حَسَدٌ (Hasad) and بَغْضَاءٌ (Baghda'), with jealousy and hatred, then it will only be a matter of time when some ups and downs will come and a person's whole deen will be uprooted.

حَالِقَةٌ (Halika), that's what Rasulullah says, it's حَالِقَةٌ (Halika), it will completely shave off a person's deen. So as our deen gives importance to the external aspects of our ibadah, our deen gives similar importance to the condition of the heart. And Rasulullah in so many of the other hadith, he mentions various virtues as well as punishments and sins for the people who do not take care of this obligation of keeping their heart clean.

The Man from Paradise

The Prophet one day was sitting with his Sahaba and he said, يَطَّلِعُ عَلَيْكُمْ آلْآنَ رَجُلٌ مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ A person from the people of Jannah will come out upon you now. He was sitting with his Sahaba and he said, a person from the people of Paradise will come out. فَطَلَعَ رَجُلٌ مِّنَ الْأَنصَارِ A person from the Ansar, from the inhabitants of Medina came towards the group of Sahaba.

And his beard was dripping with the water of wudu. He had just performed his wudu and he was holding his shoes in his left hand. The Sahabi gives this detail of the beard dripping with water and him holding his shoes in his left hand to let us know that he isn't imagining what he heard and what he saw.

But rather he remembers the scene very well. To the extent that such small details also he is mentioning because he wants us to know that this is something he remembers very well. So then the Prophet after this incident happened, he didn't say anything.

The next day, قَالَ النَّبِيُّ مِثْلَ ذَٰلِكَ He said the same thing. What's that same thing? That يَطَّلِعُ عَلَيْكُمْ آلْآنَ رَجُلٌ مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ A person from the people of Paradise. A person who's going to Paradise is gonna come out.

فَطَلَعَ ذَٰلِكَ الرَّجُلُ عَلَىٰ مِثْلِ حَالِهِ الْأُولَىٰ That person came out the next day in the same situation. What same situation? Fresh wudu, holding on to his shoes and he comes into the masjid. فَلَمَّا قَامَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ تَبِعَهُ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ عَمْرٍو He says, when the Prophet stood up from the gathering and left the gathering, Abdullah ibn Amr, he began to follow this person with regards to whom Rasulullah said that this person is a person from the people of Jannah.

فَقَالَ إِنِّي لَاحَيْتُ أَبِي فَأَقْسَمْتُ أَلَّا أَدْخُلَ عَلَيْهِ Abdullah ibn Amr told this person, he said, listen, I have a situation. I have had an argument with my father, and I took an oath that I am not going to go back home for three days. فَأَيْنَ رَأَيْتَ أَن تُؤْوِينِي إِلَيْكَ حَتَّىٰ تَمْضِيَ فَعَلْتُ He said, if you give me permission to spend these three days with you until the oath gets fulfilled and three days are over, then I can go home.

I would be very thankful to you if you would be willing to open up your doors to me. So the environment was so interesting in Medina that he doesn't even know who he is. But he just goes up to him and says, listen, I have an issue at home, can I come and spend the next three days at your house? And remember they didn't have huge guest rooms and family rooms and first floor, second floor, all that type of things.

Very simple small homes they had, majority of them. So the sahabi when he asks, he says, نَعَمْ (nah'am), no problem, you may come to my house. قَالَ أَنَسٌ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ, فَكَانَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ يُحَدِّثُ أَنَّهُ بَاتَ مَعَهُ تِلْكَ اللَّيَالِي الثَّلَاثَ فَلَمْ يَرَهُ يَقُومُ مِن اللَّيْلِ شَيْئًا Abdullah ibn Anas narrates this hadith, he says, Abdullah ibn Amr used to tell us that I went to his house for those three days and I saw that rarely did he get up at night.

He didn't really get up at night for tahajjud or qiyam al-layl. He didn't really get up in the night to perform salah, which you think is like obvious that he would. But at least those three days and three nights he was there, he didn't see him getting up much in the night.

غَيْرَ أَنَّهُ إِذَا تَعَارَّ تَقَلَّبَ فِي فِرَاشِهِ ذِكْرَ اللَّهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ حَتَّىٰ يَنْهَضَ لِصَلَاةِ الْفَجْرِ He said, only thing is that whenever in the night his eyes woke up or opened up and he got up and he was taking turns, when he was turning in bed, he would remember Allah and do some dhikr. الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ Some type of dhikr he would say in the night when he would turn from side to side until he got up for fajr salah. قَالَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ غَيْرَ أَنِّي لَمْ أَسْمَعْهُ يَقُولُ إِلَّا خَيْرًا I must add one thing.

Yes, he didn't get up for tahajjud. He said some dhikr when turning. But I must add one more thing is that I didn't ever hear him saying anything wrong.

I never heard him saying anything evil. He wasn't backbiting. He wasn't lying.

He wasn't cheating. He wasn't saying things which are false. He only said good things.

That I remember. فَلَمَّا مَضَتِ اللَّيَالِي الثَّلَاثُ When the three days passed by وَكِدْتُ أَحْتَقِرُ عَمَلَهُ And I was about to look down upon his deeds that I don't understand. What's so great about you? What's so great about you that I see that you're not really doing much in the night.

And Rasulullah has praised you. كِدْتُ أَحْتَقِرُ I was about to look down upon his deeds. He says قَلْتُ يَا عَبْدَ اللَّهِ He said let me open up the secret.

And let me speak to my host openly. He says Oh Abdullah And that's not necessarily his name. That's all slave of Allah.

He says لَمْ يَكُن بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَ أَبِي غَضَبٌ وَلَا هِجْرَةٌ وَلَٰكِن سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ يَقُولُ ثَلَاثَ مَرَّاتٍ يَطَّلِعُ عَلَيْكُمْ آلْآنَ رَجُلٌ مِّنْ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ فَطَلَعْتَ أَنْتَ الثَّلَاثَ مَرَّاتِ فَأَرَدْتُ أَن آوِيَ إِلَيْكَ فَأَنْظُرَ مَا عَمَلُكَ فَأَقْتَدِيَ بِكَ So he said listen my dear host There was no argumentation between me and my father. And there was no such thing as I had to stay out of the house. Instead the reality and the secret is I heard my Nabi three times saying that now a person from the people of Jannah will walk upon you and will enter upon you three days in a row.

And all three days in a row it was yourself. And so I wanted to follow you to your house and to see what do you do in the day or in the night because of which you have reached this rank. So that I may also follow your footsteps and hopefully gain the same Basharah and same glad tidings from Rasulullah to be from the people of Jannah.

فَلَمْ أَرَكَ عَمِلْتَ كَبِيرَ عَمَلٍ However I haven't seen you doing anything major. فَمَا الَّذِي بَلَغَ بِكَ مَا قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ So now I am at loss of words. I'm going to openly ask you what do you do because of which you have earned this rank? Because I don't seem to figure it out.

I'm here in your house and I can't notice it. قَالَ مَا هُوَ إِلَّا مَا رَأَيْتَ So he said, it is what it is. You're not impressed by me also.

Imagine subhanAllah how angry he could have gotten. You come and you spend three days at my house. And then I find out that it's not that even you needed it.

But you came to see what I'm up to. And then on top of that you're not very impressed. So it is what it is.

There's nothing great. So you can imagine how angry he could have gotten, the host. But he didn't say much.

And so he said, okay, fine, I'm going to leave. So the sahabi turned around. فَلَمَّا وَلَّيْتُ I turned around and began to leave his house.

دَعَانِي He called me up again. فَقَالَ مَا هُوَ إِلَّا مَا رَأَيْتَ غَيْرَ أَنِّي لَا أَجِدُ فِي نَفْسِي لِأَحَدٍ مِّنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ غِشًّا وَلَا أَحْسُدُ أَحَدًا عَلَىٰ خَيْرٍ أَعْطَاهُ اللَّهُ إِيَّاهُ He says, I'm going to repeat what I just told you. It is what it is.

There's nothing more. But you have so much desire to learn from me. And you want to get the same reward.

Look at how amazing these sahaba were. And so he could have just said, let him go. He used my house.

Let him go. I'm not going to tell him anything. But there was genuine care for each other.

No, this sahabi, he wants something from me. Let me give it to him. So he called him back and said, It is what it is.

However, there's one thing I'll add that you might not have noticed. And he said, what is that? He said, I make sure that I never keep mixed feelings in my heart for any Muslim. And I am not envious or jealous of any Muslim for whatever good Allah has given him.

I am not envious or jealous of any Muslim for the good Allah has given him. Nor do I harbor ill feelings and mixed feelings for anyone. So Abdullah ibn Amr, he says, هَذِهِ الَّتِي بَلَغَتْ بِكَ

Wallah, this is it. This is it what has allowed you to reach the stage that you are enjoying today. That while you are still alive and the likes of Abu Bakr and Umar and Abdullah ibn Rawaha and Uthman Ghani and Khalid ibn Walid are around, may Allah be pleased with them and may He be pleased with us.

The Prophet is telling all of us that there's a jannati coming at you three days in a row. Because of this amazing virtue that you have. And another narration he mentions, he says that, indeed this is it.

Indeed this is it what has allowed you to reach this. And indeed this is very difficult. What you are doing is not easy.

What you have achieved is no easy feat. And what is that? To keep the heart completely clean from ill feelings and hatred and jealousy for anyone. My brothers and sisters, our deen is so much more than what we think of it to be.

The Challenge of the Clean Heart

It really starts from these very basic things which no longer has become basic. People have got their entire deen in their life. They're doing all sorts of things.

But when it comes to the akhlaqiyat and when it comes to the condition of the heart, we know our condition. We know how difficult it is for us to be happy at someone else's happiness. And to grieve over someone else's grievance.

For us to genuinely be joyous when we have been deprived of a blessing and our brother has enjoyed that blessing. A person who has no children and he sees someone with children. A person who is trying to get married and he is not able to and he sees someone else to get married.

A person who wants to get their son or daughter married for years and it's not happening. And yet they see someone else whose all their children are getting married one after another. Now to feel happiness for that person and not allow our personal problems to come in between us and congratulating those people is not easy.

But we see that the one who does that, the one who is happy with Allah's division of things, the one who is happy with how Allah gives his sustenance, gives honor, gives respect, and gives anything and everything, health and wealth. Then you'll see he will be way ahead on the Day of Judgment. Rasulullah in another instance, he was giving advice to his dear khadim, dear attendant who served him for 10 long years faithfully, Anas. And he was very close to him. So he mentions at one instance, he said, Ya Abu Naya, Oh my dear son. He said, Oh my dear son.

(Jami' at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2511)

Just look at this hadith. Rasulullah is giving advice to someone who is really close to him. And he's already starting off with such words of love. Oh my dear son. So you know what's gonna come now is gonna be something very special. He says, If you're able to wake up in the morning, and if you're able to go to bed at night, in the condition that you do not have any mixed feelings for anyone, then do that.

I request you to do that. Go to bed at night, having forgiven everyone, start up the day fresh without having any ill feelings for anyone. And then he said, Ya Abu Naya, Oh my dear son, وَذَٰلِكَ مِنْ سُنَّتِي And that is my way of life.

That is my sunnah. What is Huzur sunnah, Nabi sunnah? He said, It's to keep the heart clean. And then he said, وَمَنْ أَحَبَّ سُنَّتِي فَقَدْ أَحَبَّنِي Whoever loves my sunnah, then indeed he has loved me.

So to love Rasulullah, the proof is in the pudding. What do we need to do? We need to love the sunnah. If you love the sunnah, then you love Rasulullah.

And then he said, وَمَنْ أَحَبَّنِي كَانَ مَعِيَ فِي الْجَنَّةِ Whoever loves me shall be with me in paradise. Subhanallah. Meaning if you keep your heart clean, in the morning and evening, basically long story short, you're gonna be in jannah with the Prophet.

Just on this, by keeping the heart clean. Why are there so many high rewards for this? Because it is so difficult. Because it is so difficult.

Because the heart is so emotional, it changes so quickly. And a person, the only way you can do that is if you're نَاصِبُ الْعَيْنِ (nasbul ayn), what you're looking forward is Allah. If you're looking at Allah in front of you, then you will control these emotions.

And if we do not have Allah in the formula, then it will be very easy for us to turn in one direction or the other, and become angry or jealous over what others have. One of the ulama he was mentioning, that if you look at people who have clean hearts, from tajribah, from experience he was saying, the people who have complete clean hearts for others, who don't hold grudges, who don't have the mentality that unfortunately we've just gotten so accustomed to in our culture, which is to pass comments about each other. If you see anyone progressing, bring them down.

Not only are we not going to do anything, but we don't let them progress as well. You want to cut them at their feet. This sahabi, when he saw that this person is being given the reward of jannati three days in a row, if it was you and I or our community, instead of getting excited, a person would say, yeah, whatever.

Just to be dismissive about it. But this sahabi, look at him, he's not being jealous. He says, I want to be envious.

I am in my own spot, I'm great, whoever I am, but guess what? I want to get that. I want to be like that. So the sahabi had this desire to always improve and to take whatever anyone has, any good that anyone has, let me try to implement that within our life.

We have gotten too accustomed to in our culture, unfortunately, to the complete, complete opposite of that. Where it is very difficult to find a person who has complete clean heart for others and does not mind seeing others progressing in life. And has nothing to do with his own progression.

The Blessing of a Content Heart

Abdullah ibn Abbas, he mentioned some of the gifts that Allah has given him. And one of the things he said, he says, you know, Abdullah ibn Abbas, we know he is the Mufassir of the Qur'an, the greatest Mufassir of the Qur'an, the one who Allah had blessed with knowledge of the ayat of the Qur'an that none others had. But he said, one of the blessings I enjoy is that I have a genuine desire that every single person in the world should know about the Qur'an as much as I do.

I want everyone to know about the Qur'an as much as I do. I don't want to keep this to myself. I don't have this desire that I should be the one at the top and everyone comes to me only.

But no, whatever gift of Qur'an I have, which is the greatest gift, I want everyone to have that. And another thing he mentioned, he said, whenever I see a cloud, with a rain cloud coming, and showering its rain upon a garden or some place, even though I do not own the garden, I have no investment of any sort, but I genuinely get happy for the person who owns the garden. Because I say, alhamdulillah, how happy he must be today, that he is getting much needed rain for his garden.

Even though I don't own a garden, I've got nothing to worry about it. But I'm happy for other people's happiness. And then he said, when I hear about an affair, an issue that is being taken to a Muslim qadi, a judge, who has no ulterior motives, and that judge is listening to the case very carefully and is making a judgment properly, I get happy, even though I've got nothing to do with the case, or the judge, or the property.

But the fact that justice is being met, and someone is getting what they deserve, makes me happy. Three things he mentions. So he's got the gift of the Qur'an, but look what he's saying, he said, I'm so happy that Allah has given me these gifts, that I am able to enjoy, genuinely enjoy a smile on other people's face.

I'm able to enjoy what people are going through. So I was saying that the ulema mentioned through experience, that those people who have such a clean heart, and don't keep ill feelings in their hearts, one of the gifts that Allah gives them, is righteous children. Allah gives them righteous children.

That the children have good etiquette, and are God-fearing. And this is something that the ulema have experienced, that those who keep their hearts clean, Allah gives them this gift. So respected friends, we have to make this, I have to make this, and all of us have to make this a point of reflection, to see to what level is my heart clean regarding each other.

Reflection and Resolution

Is there any ill feelings I have for relatives, for close family members, for business partners, for people who we were close to before, and no longer are close to now. Unfortunately issues of divorce take place. It's not just between two people, it's entire two families.

All those ups and downs happen in life. What is the condition of my heart? It's not worth it. It's not worth it to carry this baggage, which will bring us down tomorrow on the day of judgment.

In this world as well, and of course tomorrow. So the lucky ones amongst us, the lucky ones amongst us are the ones who really can forgive and forget, and throw this burden away from our heart, every night before we go to sleep, and every morning as we wake up, that, ya Allah, I'm starting this day as a fresh day, ya Allah, I'm going to bed with my book of deeds, inshaAllah, clean, with my heart clean at least. This is what's in my ability.

I clean my heart, you clean my book of deeds. We present this to Allah. This is a science that a person has to learn, that's why there's a whole science of tazkiyah and ihsan, that ulama from day one, from during the time of sahaba till now, have focused on.

Announcements

Alhamdulillah, you've been hearing in weekly announcements for the past 5-6 weeks, that we have our new spring semester starting this weekend, for the weekend academy, for young adults, for professionals, for our college and high school students. So one of the new classes that we're offering this semester is going to be called, Introduction to Tazkiyah and Ihsan. So this is a summary of Ihya ul-Uloom, the revival of Islamic sciences of Imam Ghazali, very nicely printed and translated in the English language.

We're going to be covering that book, inshaAllah, this semester, along with a new class, Introduction to Islamic Finance, when it comes to our buying and selling, our credit card, our loans, our rental property, etc. All those things that we all deal with every single day. So these are classes, alhamdulillah, that are being offered right here at Darul Salam, 10am on Saturday and 10am on Sunday, two different tracks.

We request you, inshaAllah, on the way out, pick up a flyer or just register for that in the kiosk, or be present here tomorrow at 10 o'clock, either on Saturday or on Sunday. These are two different tracks, whichever one yourself, your family would like to come to. We hope, inshaAllah, that we have an opportunity to benefit this local community.

As we know, people, there is a Revert brother, a Revert brother was driving two and a half hours to come to this class last semester. Two and a half hours from Danville. So we have people benefiting from far and wide, but we do not want to leave our local Jum'ah crowd and our local musallis of this community deprived.

That others are coming and quenching their thirst, and we ourselves are simply watching on the banks of the river.

Closing Du'a

I pray to Almighty Allah that He allows all of us to make an effort on purifying our heart from these ill feelings. Say Ameen.

And may He allow us to constantly be reflecting, to see really how close we are to Allah. Not on the appearance and the apparent actions of ibadah, but internally, to what level have we achieved and what level have we purified our heart. And I pray to Almighty Allah that He allows us in this new year to make a dedicated intention of removing ignorance and becoming knowledgeable, farsighted and well-rounded Muslims that will not only be able to practice the deen themselves, but able to share the message of Islam with others as well.