A man is the one who fears the death of his heart, not his body.
— Imam Ibn Qayyim رحمه الله
Source: Madarij Al-Salikeen 3/248
Question: What is the (proper) way to rectify and cleanse the heart from rancor and envy? And what are the most effective ways to reform the heart in this life?
Answer by Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan: Rectification of the heart takes place in different ways.
Continue reading“How to Attain Righteous Heart by Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan”
In short, there is nothing more beneficial for the heart than reading the Quran and with contemplation and reflection. The Quran encompasses all the levels of the travelers, the conditions of the workers, and stations of those possessing knowledge. It is the Quran that generates love, desire, fear, hope, repentance, reliance, pleasure, entrustment, gratitude, patience, and the rest of the different states that are life to the heart and perfection of it. Likewise, it repels all the rebuked characteristics and actions that cause the corruption and ruin of the heart.
If people were to possess a realization of what recitation of the Quran with contemplation contains, they would devote themselves to it at the expense of anything else. When the person reads it with reflection and he comes across an aayah that he is in need of, for the cure of his heart, he repeats it, even if he does so a hundred times or the whole night. Hence, to recite a single aayah of the Quran with contemplation and reflection is better than reciting the Quran to completion without any contemplation or reflection. It is also more beneficial for the heart and more conducive to attaining eemaan (faith) and tasting the sweetness of the Qur‘an.
— Imam Ibn Qayyim
Source: Causes Behind the Increase and Decrease of Eemaan by Shaykh ‘Abdur-Razzaaq al-‘Abbaad pg. 38
Imam Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (1292-1350CE / 691-751AH) رحمه الله in which he explains the motives and causes of love, how these vary among people and discusses compatibility between souls. He رحمه الله says:
“Compatibility between souls is one of the strongest causes of love. Every person is attracted towards that which is compatible with him, and this compatibility is of two types: original compatibility which is ingrained in the essence and that which comes later because of living together or having something in common.
If your aims match his aims, there will be harmony between your soul and his, but if the aims are different, then harmony will no longer exist.
As for original compatibility, it is a kind of similarity in attitude and similarity of souls. Each soul longs for other souls that are similar to it, because what is similar to something is naturally attracted to it, so the two souls may be similar in original creation, thus there will be a natural attraction to one another.
This is what made some people say that love is not only caused by physical beauty, and the lack of physical beauty does not mean that there can be no love; rather it is similarity between souls and similarity in their characteristics which are created in them that matter.
The reality of love is that it is like a mirror in which the lover sees his characteristics and kindness in the image of the one he loves, so in reality he loves nothing but himself and his characteristics and the one who has similar characteristics.
إِن يَنصُرۡكُمُ ٱللَّهُ فَلَا غَالِبَ لَكُمۡۖ وَإِن يَخۡذُلۡكُمۡ فَمَن ذَا ٱلَّذِى يَنصُرُكُم مِّنۢ بَعۡدِهِۦۗ وَعَلَى ٱللَّهِ فَلۡيَتَوَكَّلِ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنُونَ (١٦٠)
If Allah helps you, none can overcome you; and if He forsakes you, who is there after Him that can help you? And in Allah (Alone) let believers put their trust.
اور خدا تمہارا مددگار ہے تو تم پر کوئی غالب نہیں آسکتا۔ اور اگر وہ تمہیں چھوڑ دے تو پھر کون ہے کہ تمہاری مدد کرے اور مومنوں کو چاہیئے کہ خدا ہی پر بھروسا رکھیں
..Tawheed is the most fundamental principle, and the greatest understanding (Fiqh al-akbar). It is the first thing that the writers should write about, and it is what the callers to guidance, and what the supporters of the truth should focus on. It is the most important science that they should grab onto with their molar teeth, and it should be spread among all societies, until they know its reality, and until they distance themselves from whatever opposes it.
— Imam Bin Baaz رحمه الله
Salih Aal ash-Shaikh said: One must keep his soul tied to some acts of worship. No doubt, one must keep his soul tied to some acts of obedience. If you force the soul to be obedient, it will become obedient. If you abandon it, then it will be a soul that gravitates toward wrongdoing.
It has been related that the Prophet ﷺ said (what means):
من يتصبر يصبره الله، ومن يتعلم يعلمه الله، ومن يتحر الخير يعطه، ومن يتوق الشر يوقه
“Whoever shows enduring patience, Allah will make him firm upon patience. Whoever seeks knowledge, Allah will teach him. Whoever hunts for good, he will be given it. Whoever expects evil, he will be made to fall into it.” 1
Source: Dedicating One’s Youth to Worship | Bakkah.net | Benefits from the Life and Works of Imam Ahmad