Friday, 2 July 2010

Keeping a sound heart


بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

The goal of every pious believer is to stand in the presence of Allah, seeking His Divine Countenance. We see this in the Holy Qur’an and we should try to work towards this every single day. Take for example our Salaat, where we are actually meeting Allah face to face. Before we begin we say;

'Inni -y wajjahtu wajh -e li- 'alladhe fat.ara as- samaawaat wa- al- 'ard hanef (an) wa- maa 'anaa min al-mushriken '

"For me, I have set my face, firmly and truly, towards Him(Who is facing me) Who created the heavens and the earth, and never shall I give partners to Allah."

Islamic sprituality teaches a person to aspire to attain this feeling of being in the Divine Presence. In order to attain this one must purify himself. Allah says in His Holy Words;

‘The Day whereon neither wealth nor sons will avail, but only he (will prosper) that brings to Allah a sound heart’. (26 : 88-89)

Only those who ‘bring to Allah a sound heart’, free from ‘blemishes’ will be among the successful ones. Allah is pure and as such only those whose personality is clean and pure will be able to feel himself standing in the Divine Presence. One example of such a person is Prophet Abraham (as) as Allah mentions in the Qur’an;
‘Verily among those who followed His way was Abraham. Behold! He approached His Lord with a sound heart’. (37 : 83-84)

Abraham (as) was one who purified himself from the impurities of this world, thus Allah refers to him as one who followed the rightous path.

It is important to note that purification from impurities also implies purifying the environment and the company we keep. Allah advises us that we should interact or socialize with the true believers. There was this one time where some Jews came to see Prophet Muhammad (saw) while he was in the company of his Companions. The Jews requested private meeting with him, away from his Companions. As such Allah revealed the following ayat;

‘and keep thy soul content with those who call on Lord morning and evening, seeking His Face; and let not thine eyes pass them, seeking the pomp and glitter of this life; no obey any whose heart have permitted to neglect the remembrance of Us, one who follows his own whose case has gone beyond all bounds’. (18:28)

It is better for us to stay in the company of believers who engages in those activities that leads to seeking the Divine Countenance of Allah. Running after the world and idolizing the wealthy and powerful serves no benefit to you.

Works towards feeling yourself in the Divine Presence of our Lord and Master and through this process Allah will grant you success. Be mindful of what is inside the heart and the company you keep, as Allah is All Seeing and He knows what our true status are. May Allah bless us and take care of our affairs.

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