Prophet Muhammad said, “Surely in the breast of humanity there is a lump of flesh, if sound, the whole body is sound, and if corrupt, the whole body is corrupt. Truly that is the heart.” Many of his other sayings mention the importance of a sound heart.
The Quran contains around 130 verses that focus on the heart and its spiritual state. It ties all of human action to the intent of the heart. The book describes hypocrisy, doubt, suspicion, injustice, heedlessness and oppression as diseases of the qalb, heart.
Then there is the heedless heart, one which is unmindful of God. We are told to keep away from people who are lacking in God consciousness and advised to awaken the heart with remembrance of God.
The idea that people are prone to ghaflah or heedlessness, ignoring the fact that they will be held accountable for their actions on the day of judgement, is a central theme of the Quran. Alluding to a heart deprived of spirituality and one that lacks the “inner eye”, it describes the heedless as “those with hearts, but do not understand with them, those with eyes but cannot see, those with ears but cannot hear”.
Reminding us that there are no exit strategies with God, Prophet Muhammad said, “Take yourself to account before you are taken into account.” Prophet Muhammad once asked his companions to define a bankrupt man.
They replied, “One who has no money or property.” The Prophet replied, “The bankrupt one amongst you is one who will come with a good record of prayer, fast and other mandatory acts, but has abused and slandered another, usurped the good of another, killed or murdered an innocent person.” He explained that on the day of judgement, when deeds are weighed in the court of the Lord, the aggrieved person will be given the good deeds of the oppressor. Purification of the heart is a precondition to acts of worship being accepted by God.
Sadia Dehlvi is a Delhi-based writer and author of Sufism: The Heart of Islam. She can be contacted at sadiafeedback@gmail.com
