In the name of Allah, the Most-Merciful, the All-Compassionate

 

"May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon You"

 

   Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam 'ala Rasulillah

          As-Salaam Alaykum Wa-Rahmatullahi Wa-Barakaatuh

 

1) Types Of Heart

Just as the heart may be described in terms of being alive or dead, it may also be regarded as belonging to one of three types; these are the healthy heart, the dead heart, and the sick heart. 

:::The Healthy Heart:::

On the Day of Resurrection, only those who come to Allah with a healthy heart will be saved.

Allah says:" The day on which neither wealth nor sons will be of any use, except for whoever brings to Allah a sound heart. (26:88-89) 

"In defining the healthy heart, the following has been said: "It is a heart cleansed from any passion that challenges what Allah commands, or disputes what He forbids. It is free from any impulses which contradict His good. As a result, it is safeguarded against the worship of anything other than Him, and seeks the judgement of no other except that of His Messenger . 

Its services are exclusively reserved for Allah, willingly and lovingly, with total reliance, relating all matters to Him, in fear, hope and sincere dedication. When it loves, its love is in the way of Allah. If it detests, it detests in the light of what He detests. When it gives, it gives for Allah. If it withholds, it withholds for Allah. Nevertheless, all this will not suffice for its salvation until it is free from following, or taking as its guide, anyone other than His Messenger." A servant with a healthy heart must dedicate it to its journey's end and not base his actions and speech on those of any other person except Allah's Messenger. He must not give precedence to any other faith or words or deeds over those of Allah and His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Allah says:

"Oh you who believe, do not put yourselves above Allah and His Messenger, but fear Allah, for Allah is Hearing, Knowing. (49:1)"

::::The Dead Heart::::

This is the opposite of the healthy heart. It does not know its Lord and does not worship Him as He commands, in the way which He likes, and with which He is pleased. 

It clings instead to its lusts and desires, even if these are likely to incur Allah's displeasure and wrath. It worships things other than Allah. And its loves and its hatreds, and its giving and its withholding, arise from its whims, which are of paramount importance to it and preferred above the pleasure of Allah. Its whims are its Controller. Its lust is it s guide. Its ignorance is its leader. Its crude impulses are its impetus. It is immersed in its concern with worldly objectives. It is drunk with its own fancies and its love for hasty, fleeting pleasures. If it is called to Allah and the akhira from near or distance it does not respond, and instead it follows any scheming, cunning Shaytaan. Life of this world angers and pleases it, and passion makes it deaf and blind to anything except what is evil.

To associate and keep company with the owner of such a heart is to tempt illness: living with him is like taking poison, and befriending him means utter destruction.

 

::::The Sick Heart::::

This is a heart with life in it, as well as illness. The former sustains it at one moment, the latter at another, and it follows whichever one of the two manages to dominate it. 

It has love for Allah, faith in Him, sincerity towards Him, and reliance upon Him, and these are what give it life. It also has a craving for lust and pleasure, and prefers them and strives to experience them. It is full of self-admiration, which can lead to its own destruction. 

It listens to two callers: one calling it to Allah and His Prophet and the akhira; and the other calling it to the fleeting pleasures of this world. It responds to whichever one of the two happens to have most influence over it at the time.

The first heart is alive, submitted to Allah, humble, sensitive and aware; the second is brittle and dead; the third wavers between either its safety or its ruin.

May ALLAH give us all a healthy heart and protect it from getting sick and from becoming dead. Ameen!

2) The Four Kinds of Hearts according to Huthayfah ibn Yaman

????? ?? ?????? : ???????? ??????? : ???? ?????? ????? ????? ??????     ???? ???? ??????? ?????? ?????? ???? ???? ????????? ?????? ?????? ???? ????     ???????? ?????? ????? ???????? ????????? ????? ?????? ?????? ?????? ?????????     : ??????? ??????? ???????? ????? ?????? ????? ?????? ???????    ??????

Huthayfah ibn Yaman (may Allah be pleased with him) said, There are four kinds of hearts. The first heart is one that is untainted. This pure heart has a lantern which shines. This is the heart of a believer. The second kind of heart is wrapped up. This is the heart of the disbeliever. The third kind of heart is the one that is relapsed. This is the heart of the hypocrite. He knows the truth then he denies it. He sees the truth, but he closes his eyes. The fourth type of heart is the one w hich is stretched out on two bodies: 1 the body of faith and 2 the body of hypocrisy. This kind of heart is with whichever body dominates it.”

Benefits for this subject:

Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawzi (may Allah rest him in Jannah) explained the meaning of this Athar in his book “ Eghathu Lilhafan” He wrote:

“ The first heart is one that is untainted …” This means that this heart is rid of everything other than Allah and His messenger. It’s freed itself and is safe from falsehood.

“a lantern which shines…” This is the lamp of faith. Huthayfah pointed to this trait of being untainted; as it’s free from false doubts that resemble the truth and desires that lead astray. Due to the heart being in this state it has obtained a lantern that illuminates it and sends out light. This light is the radiance of knowledge and faith.

“The second kind of heart is wrapped up…” This refers to the heart of a Kafir. Reason being, the disbeliever’s heart is covered in its wrapping and cloak. Since this heart is covered tight, the light of iman and knowledge can’t reach it. This is similar to what Allah said about the Jews in the verse, “And they say, “ Our hearts are wrapped(i.e do not hear or understand Allah’s Word.)…[ Al-Baqarah 88] Allah placed this cover over their hearts. He placed it there, because they rejected the truth and arrogantly refused to accept it. Therefore, this barrier on the heart is deafness in their hearing and blindness in their sight. Moreover this casing is a veiled mask over their eyes.

Allah says, “ And when you (Muhammad) recite the Quran, We put between you and those who don’t believe in the Hereafter, an invisible veil. And We have put coverings over their hearts, lest they should understand it. And in their ear is deafness. [ Al-Isra 45,46]

Hence when Allah’s verses – The freedom of Tawheed and the freedom of following the Sunnah are mentioned, they turn on their heels fleeing.

“The third ki nd of heart is the one that is relapsed…” Huthayfah used the word relapse here to show the state of the hypocrites’ heart. Allah says, “ Then what is the matter with you that your are divided into two parties about the hypocrites? Allah has cast them back (to disbelief) because of what they have earned…” [ An-Nisa’ 88] This means that Allah has caused them suffer a relapse and go back to falsehood. They were in this falsehood because of the dishonesty in their deeds.

The relapsed heart is the worst and most wicked type of heart. It believes that falsehood and lies are true. The person with this kind of heart in his chest helps his companion, and fights falsely against the truth and its people. We seek Allah’s help.

“The fourth type of heart is the one which is stretched out on two bodies: 1st the body of faith and 2nd the body of hypocrisy…” This type of heart doesn’t have iman firmly established in it. Therefore, its light doesn’t shine. It doesn’t hold the abs olute truth inside it. The absolute truth is what Allah sent with his Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). On the contrary, it has some truth and some falsehood inside. Hence sometimes, disbelief is stronger than belief inside of it and vice verse. So, whichever one of these two elements is the strongest in the heart, then this is the one it turns to at that time.

Taken from " Ighaathat -al-lahfaan by Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawzi (may Allah have mercy on him)

Compiled, edited and adapted by Khalid Latif, e-tabligue

 

 

 

 

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