20160930 - 2nd Khutba - Ustad Ibrahim Ali

Khutbah: The Hardening of the Heart

Amma ba'd. Allah says in His noble Book — and I seek refuge in Allah, the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing, from the accursed Shaytan:

Respected brothers and sisters in Islam. Alhamdulillah, Allah has been generous in granting us another reminder, another day, another Eid for the believers — another day of Yawm al-Jumu'ah for us to gather, remind one another, and take some lesson, some action plan back home for the rest of the week.

I recited a few verses from Surah Al-Baqarah and from other chapters of the Qur'an. The first verse I recited, a portion of it, was: فِي قُلُوبِهِم مَّرَضٌ فَزَادَهُمُ اللَّهُ مَرَضًا — "In their hearts is an illness, and then Allah increased them in their illness." And the other verse: Allah is talking about the Day of Judgment, saying the day when neither any wealth nor any children will be of any benefit — إِلَّا مَنْ أَتَى اللَّهَ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِيمٍ — except one who comes to Allah with a sound heart, a healthy heart, a full, complete, whole heart.

So Allah is not talking about cardiovascular diseases here. He is not talking about a blockage in our arteries. Rather, He is talking about qalb, and not fu'ad. For fu'ad is the piece of flesh. And qalb is more than that. Qalb is the meeting point of our reflection and our emotion — where aql and different things gather inside our body. Allah is talking about the sickness of the heart.

And of the greatest of all the sicknesses, Allah mentioned it in at least two places in the Qur'an: qaswat al-quloob — the hardness of the hearts. The hardening of the heart. Not its physical hardening, rather your ruh's hardening. The hardening of your reflective unit. The hardening of it from what it is meant to perform as a function assigned to it by Allah.

So Allah mentions the sicknesses of the hearts over and over again at different places. And of the most prominent sicknesses is qaswat al-quloob — the hardening of the heart — because it is this sickness from which none of us are safe. None of us — be we scholars, be we laymen, be we old people, be we middle-aged people, be we young people. We are all affected in some way or another by the hardening of our hearts.

So we'll speak about three points. Point number one: how do I know I am sick from the hardening of the heart? That is, recognizing the symptoms. Point number two: what causes this sickness? What causes me to develop those symptoms? And point number three: the remedy — what is the antidote, what is the vaccine that if I vaccinate myself with, I can be secure, preserved, protected, and defended against any sickness of the heart, especially this very sickness — the hardening of the heart.

Part One: Symptoms of the Hardened Heart

Symptom 1: Not Caring About Your Relationship with Allah

The number one symptom of the hardening of the heart is not caring about your relationship with Allah — not giving it priority, not taking out moments from our busy day to reflect on how we are faring with our bond with Allah. Am I getting closer and closer to Him on a day-to-day basis, or getting further and further away? If I am not bothered, not interested in the level of my connection with Allah, this is the greatest of all the symptoms.

Symptom 2: Not Enjoying Acts of Worship

Symptom number two is not enjoying salah, not enjoying the daily acts of ibadah, not enjoying reciting the Qur'an, not enjoying anything. Rather, when salah is being offered, it is a routine job for the body. The moment I enter the masjid, the iqamah is called without even thinking and deciding that I am going to surrender to the will of Allah by raising my two palms and saying "hands up" — imagining. My hands are raised and folded and without my mind paying attention, my tongue keeps reciting سُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ وَبِحَمْدِكَ, and all of a sudden the imam says al-Fatihah. It is so robotic, and each passing day the action continues without my getting closer to Allah.

And sometimes, if my imam starts reciting a longer passage from the Qur'an — especially in Fajr — and I had planned to sleep after the salah... The moment we hear كهيعص being recited at Fajr, oh my God, two or three pages of Surah Maryam... my sleep time and all of that. So we do not pay attention to the relationship with Allah. We don't take interest in our salahs and our acts of worship — be they fasting, be they salah. Either I come to the masjid to show my face to the community, to my dad, to my brother — some sort of social pressure. I may or may not be doing it for the sake of Allah. The alarming point is when I am least interested in it, when I am numb in it, when I am least bothered about actually going an extra mile and preparing for that action for Allah. That is symptom number two.

Symptom 3: Not Benefiting from Advice or Reminders

Symptom number three is that the person simply does not benefit from any advice. In fact, when someone starts advising or when he is passing by a gathering of people giving reminders, they're like: "I don't need it." Discussions about the Qur'an, discussions about the Sunnah of Rasulullah, are not appealing enough. "Only if so-and-so gives me advice" or "only if so-and-so is presenting a religious reminder in such an eloquent manner with great rhetoric, so I can experience iman rush moments — only then I'm going to pay attention." My dad advises me something: "No, he's an outdated person, he talks about olden times, this is not practical." My friend advises me something: "Now who is he to advise me? Let him look at his own affairs."

So we stop paying attention to advice. Our hearts start becoming arrogant, saying we no longer need it. That is symptom number three.

Symptom 4: Habitually Committing Sins Without Guilt

Symptom number four is that the person with the hardened heart repeatedly commits sins and keeps committing them without any feeling of guilt — without any feeling of guilt, without considering the gravity of the sin, even if it is small. In fact, the way he or she numbs the very thought — because the conscience, the damir, is inside each one of us. Allah has created that self-repairing mechanism inside us. The moment that thought comes — "Hey, you're sinning" — we say: "It's not big enough. Everybody does it. I'll say istighfar." But the very reason I'm doing it is that I want to do it. That is one of the symptoms.

Now, from the example of Rasulullah, he said: "Prayer has been made the coolness of my eyes." Whenever he was stressed, whenever he was tense, he would come to the masjid — he was in the masjid most of the time — and he would call out: "O Bilal, establish the salah. Give us pleasure by that call." For the believers find solace and pleasure in the remembrance of Allah.

To summarize the symptoms: number one, not caring about a relationship with Allah; number two, not enjoying the acts of worship; number three, not benefiting from reminders and feeling no need for them; number four, habitually committing sins without regret or guilt — perhaps not even considering them sins at all. Qaswat al-quloob is the AIDS of the sicknesses of the heart. Note that point.

Part Two: Causes of the Hardened Heart

Cause 1: Avoiding the Dhikr of Allah

The first and most basic cause is the tendency to avoid the dhikr of Allah — avoiding His remembrance, avoiding anything that reminds me of Him, avoiding being in awe of Allah. Not consciously finding time in the day to reflect on our own bodies, on the creation of Allah around us — the skies, the earth, the trees. We don't have to go into the woods to experience nature. The nature is within these bodies of ours. The way the cosmos is working every day and night, we see that.

And Allah says — a very severe ayah:

Allah says: "Whoever turns away from My remembrance shall live a miserable, wretched life." Allah is mentioning the direct linkage between dhikr — remembering Him, mentioning His name — and the pleasure, happiness, solace, contentment, and comfort of this life.

Cause 2: Heedlessness in Following the Commandments of Allah

Cause number two is our being careless, absolutely heedless, in following the laws of Allah and abiding by the laws of Islam. Allah gives an example in the Qur'an — He is talking about Bani Israel, however, whatever Allah mentions in the Qur'an is directly related to you and me, for we have the same symptoms as Bani Israel. Allah is not entertaining us with the stories of past nations; He is making us realize: do not develop the symptoms of those nations. He says:

"Because of their breaking of the covenant" — the breaking of the laws of Allah, their denial to follow His commandments, their denial to follow the Shari'ah of Allah — the very constitution for this territory, this body of mine, this body of yours. If I can impose the Deen on this body, only then will I be able to cast an impact around me from the Deen's perspective. I am the khalifah of this body. You are the khalifah of this body of ours.

One of the major causes is our heedlessness in following the commandments of Allah consciously and in letter and spirit. Because sometimes you may think: "I know it. I have a beard. I pray five daily prayers, I fast in Ramadan, I give my Zakah, I come to Jumu'ah often, sometimes give a khutbah. My father is also religious, so I'm automatically considered religious in my own eyes." However, this is the very deception Shaytan puts most of us through. The five pillars of Islam — the Shahadah, Salah, Zakah, Hajj, and the fasting of Ramadan — we think they are the epitome of religiosity. But, my friends, to me first and to you: they are the first stepping stone, only making us eligible to be considered Muslims. They are a means to a higher end. The higher end is attaining the friendship of Allah, attaining the pleasure of Allah, developing the Taqwa that makes you and me entitled to Jannah.

And in another place, Allah says — in Surah Al-Mutaffifin:

Their hearts have become rusted. Rana is from rust — رَانَ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ — their hearts have been rusted because of what they are doing. Can our hearts not get rusted because of what we are doing? This is food for thought for you and me. For every lecture, every mention of hypocrites — through Qur'an, through Hadith, through a lecture, through a khutbah — we may think: "That's not me, it's about them." This is the deception Shaytan puts you and me through, over and over again until we die. And that is his victory — and we are not here to let him win.

Cause 3: Following Every Bodily Desire

Another cause — another virus, you could say — that actually causes our hearts to harden is our urge to follow every single bodily desire. Our urge to follow each and everything that our heart wishes or craves for. Jannah is for that. This life is not a Jannah. This life is not meant to be a bed of roses, in the material sense, for the believers. For disbelievers, yes — but not for you and me. There is struggle:

"We have certainly created man in kabad" — in struggle. We find eternal peace in Jannah. This life is just a screen saver. People follow their bodily desires — every physical desire, every clothing desire, every financial goal in life — and plan religion around these activities, instead of planning the fulfillment of their physical desires around Islam. That is what happens.

Cause 4: Excessive Entertainment and Laughter

Among many other causes is also too much entertainment — at least a desire for excessive entertainment. The need for laughter, excessive laughter. Rasulullah did not laugh excessively. In fact, he smiled every now and then. His face was the most radiant face on the planet. But he never laughed in excess. Even if he did, it was for a short moment — he was a human being. Rasulullah said:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 4193; also reported in Musnad Ahmad)

"Too much laughter certainly kills the hearts, causes the hearts to die." And one other report — the interpretation is that a believer is one whose face is radiant, smiling, and appearing happy every day, but whose heart is sad. The heart is upset. The heart is grieving about the khusran — the loss — with regards to its relationship with Allah, and with regards to growing nearer and nearer to death every passing second.

So too much entertainment is going to cause your heart and my heart to harden. In this culture of entertainment, we are surrounded by it — unless there is humor in something, unless there is enough entertainment in something, things will not appeal to us. And this is how we indoctrinate our kids, and they their kids. Religion has become a matter of iman rush moments. But those moments are only there when they are being heard and experienced, and the moment we are out of it, we are out of it.

The point to ponder: it is a major cause in our society today. Too much entertainment — or at least excessive entertainment — will harden the heart.

Now, what is the cure? We will talk about the cure in the second part of the khutbah, insha'Allah.

Second Khutbah

I was mentioning about the sicknesses of the heart, and among the sicknesses of the heart we started talking about the hardening of the heart — qaswat al-quloob — as referred to in the Qur'an. Qaswat al-quloob is the most major disease of the heart that every human being is afflicted with until he or she dies. These diseases of the heart are not like temporary illnesses. Once you think you've cleansed yourself of them, they will keep striking, keep attacking our hearts over and over again — for Shaytan has been granted respite from Allah until the end of times. That is what he sought from Allah, calling Him his Rabb:

He asked: "Give me respite, give me time, give me some duration — أَنظِرْنِي — until the day they will be resurrected." And Allah said: "You are certainly from those granted that chance." Do your level best. So the cures:

Part Three: The Cures for the Hardened Heart

Cure 1: Continuously Monitor Your Heart

Cure number one: as with any physical illness of the body, the moment you identify it, the moment you know what caused it, you start monitoring it. If somebody is a cardiac patient, after surgery or treatment, he or she is expected to keep their heart under check — cholesterol tests, glucose monitoring, regular checkups. So Muslims are expected to keep the inside of their hearts under a check. And how is that possible? Look at your religiosity many times, multiple times, every day. Just notice your religious level.

Religiosity is not about some external garb. Religiosity is your fearing Allah. Religiosity is your urge to please Allah. And as a result of pleasing Allah, you follow His commandments — only then is your good deed considered a good deed, if it is done solely for the pleasure of Allah. So monitor your heart. Keep assessing your level of relationship with Allah on a regular basis. And at the end of the day, count how often during the day you actually remembered Allah.

What moments of every day are we in our optimum state to easily remember Allah? Right after Salah — the momentum is built, the atmosphere is there, the imam says السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ and perhaps says the adhkar aloud. However, the greater reward is doing it when you don't have reminders around you — taking out time for that. Know that in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find solace, peace, and rest.

Cure 2: Perform Extra Nawafil After Fulfilling Obligatory Duties

Another important remedy is doing extra nawafil — supererogatory deeds — but only after fulfilling your fara'id. Only after fulfilling your obligatory duties, for they are the core. Some people do so many nawafil at the expense of their obligatory deeds — like waking up at night to pray qiyam and tahajjud, then sleeping, only to wake up after Fajr time has gone. So do extra deeds, but only after doing the obligatory ones.

And Allah said, according to a hadith qudsi, as related by Rasulullah: "Nothing a servant does can draw him closer to Me than doing the obligatory deeds." So be very careful about your obligatory deeds and their timings. Do your level best to consciously prepare for each Salah, for it is your meeting your Creator and conversing with Him at least five times a day.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6502)

Cure 3: Excessive Dhikr of Allah and Recitation of Quran

Then do excessive dhikr of Allah. I quoted the verse earlier:

"Indeed, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest." So the primary food for the soul is the dhikr of Allah. And one of the major dhikrs is the recitation of the Qur'an. You cannot say "I don't recite Qur'an because I don't have time." Why don't we have time? Because we are busy seeking our rizq — and by doing so, we are making the Provider of rizq angry. The Qur'an is the code of conduct for this body, the manual for living this life. Recite the Qur'an. Allah refers to the Qur'an as dhikr:

"Indeed, it is We who sent down the dhikr." So wherever we say the dhikr of Allah is essential, the Qur'an is one of the major forms of dhikr. You have to understand it and delve into its meanings.

Cure 4: Feed the Poor and Care for the Ummah

A Bedouin once came to Rasulullah and told him that his heart was extremely hard. What should he do about it? So Rasulullah said that in order to soften your heart, you have to physically feed the poor, feed the orphan, feed the needy. One of the ways to soften your heart is helping the people around the world — and not only helping them, but caring for them, crying for them, making du'a for them. For automatically, when you make du'a for your brother, that du'a is also counted in your book of deeds. So, care about what is going on with the affairs of the Ummah around us.

Cure 5: Be in the Company of the Righteous

Step number four: be in righteous gatherings — at least crave to be in righteous gatherings. In the gathering of people advising one another with good deeds. In the gathering of people who fear Allah. They may not be advising others in good deeds, but they are Allah-fearing. For Allah's Messenger said: "Your religion is your friend's religion. So choose your friends carefully." And this is not just a saying — this is a hadith of Rasulullah.

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 4833; Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2378)

Cure 6: Make Du'a to Allah Consistently

One of the most powerful tools — acting like a vaccine — is making du'a to Allah consistently. He is out there waiting. He loves to be asked from. He is out there waiting for you and me to cry and ask. The barakah comes when we ask for something and Allah grants it.

So, in a nutshell, these are a few of the remedies we went through. I hope and pray that Allah grants you and me the opportunity to act on these remedies — the opportunity to recognize that our hearts are hardened, the opportunity to pay heed to what causes this, and the opportunity to stay protected and to advise others.