ISLAM: Four Poisons of the Heart...(part 2)

Subject: ISLAM: Four Poisons of the Heart...(part 2) Sun Aug 26, 2007 12:46 am

Four poisons of the heart

‘The Purification of
the Soul’

By Ali-ziad Natcher Alam Sali

Unrestrained Glances

The unrestrained glance results in the one who looks becoming attracted to

what he sees, and in the imprinting of an image of what he sees in his
heart. This can result in several kinds of corruption in the heart of
the servant. The following are a number of them:
It has been related that the Prophet once said words to the effect: “The

glance is a poisoned arrow of shaytan. Whoever lowers his gaze for
Allah, He will bestow upon him a refreshing sweetness which he will
find in his heart on the day that he meets Him.”[14]

Shaytan enters with the glance, for he travels with it, faster than the wind

blowing through an empty place. He makes what is seen appear more
beautiful than it really is, and transforms it into an idol for the
heart to worship. Then he promises it false rewards, lights the fire of
desires within it, and fuels it with the wood of forbidden actions,
which the servant would not have committed had it not been for this
distorted image.
This distracts the heart and makes it forget its more important concerns. It
stands between it and them; and so the heart loses its straight path and
falls into the pit of desire and ignorance. Allah, the Mighty and Glorious,
says:

“And do not obey anyone whose heart We have made forgetful in
remembering Us – who follows his own desires, and whose affair has
exceeded all bounds.”
(18:28)

The unrestrained gaze causes all three afflictions.
It has been said that between the eye and the heart is an immediate
connection; if the eyes are corrupted, then the heart follows. It becomes
like a rubbish heap where all the dirt and filth and rottenness collect, and
so there is no room for love for Allah, relating all matters to Him,
awareness of being in His presence, and feeling joy at His proximity –only
the opposite of these things can inhabit such a heart. Staring and gazing
without restraint is disobedience to Allah:

“Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that is
more purifying for them. Surely Allah is aware of what they do.” (24:30)
Only the one who obeys Allah’s commands is content in this world, and only
the servant who obeys Allah will survive in the next world.

Furthermore, letting the gaze roam free cloaks the heart with darkness, just
as lowering the gaze for Allah clothes it in light. After the above ayah,
Allah, the Glorious and Mighty, says in the same surah of the Qur’an:

“Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth: the likeness of His light
is as if there were a niche, and in the niche is a lamp, and in the lamp is a
glass, and the glass as it were a brilliant star, lit from a blessed tree, an
olive, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil is well nigh luminous,
though fire scarce touched it. Light upon light. Allah guides whomever He
wants to His Light. Allah strikes metaphors for man; and Allah knows all
things.” (24:35)

When the heart is a light, countless good comes to it from all directions. If
it is dark, then clouds of evil and afflictions come from all directions to
cover it up.
Letting the gaze run loose also makes the heart blind to distinguishing
between truth and falsehood, between the sunnah and innovation; while
lowering it for Allah, the Might and Exalted, gives it a penetrating, true
and distinguishing insight.
A righteous man once said: “Whoever enriches his outward behaviour by
following the sunnah, and makes his inward soul wealthy through
contemplation, and averts his gaze away from looking at what is forbidden,
and avoids anything of a doubtful nature, and feeds solely on what is halal – his inner sight will never falter.”
Rewards
for actions come in kind. Whoever lowers his gaze from what Allah
hasforbidden, Allah will give his inner sight abundant light.

Too Much Food

The consumption of small amounts of food guarantees tenderness of the
heart, strength of the intellect, humility of the self, weakness of
desires, and gentleness of temperament. Immoderate eating brings about
the opposite of these praiseworthy qualities.

Al-Miqdam ibn
Ma’d Yakrib said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah say: “The son of Adam
fills no vessel more displeasing to Allah than his stomach. A few
morsels should be enough for him to preserve his strength. If he must
fill it, then he should allow a third for his food, a third for his
drink and
leave a third empty for easy breathing.”[15]

Excessive eating induces many kinds of harm. It makes the body incline

towards disobedience to Allah and makes worship and obedience seem
laborious – such evils are bad enough in themselves. A full stomach and
excessive eating have caused many a wrong action and inhibited much
worship. Whoever safeguards against the evils of overfilling his
stomach has prevented great evil. It is easier for shaytan to control a
person who has filled his stomachwith food and drink, which is why it
has often been said: “Restrict the pathways of shaytan by fasting.”[16]

It has been reported that when a group of young men from the
Tribe of Israel were worshipping, and it was time for them to break
their fast, a man stood up and said: “Do not eat too much, otherwise
you will drink too much, and then you will end up sleeping too much,
and then you will lose too much.”

The Prophet and his
companions, may Allah be pleased with them, used to go hungry quite
frequently. Although this was often due to a shortage of food, Allah
decreed the best and most favourable conditions for His Messenger, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace. This is why Ibn Umar and his
father before him – in spite of the abundance of food available to them
– modelled their eating habits on those of the Prophet. It has been
reported that ‘Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said: “From the
time of their arrival in Madina up until his death, the family of
Muhammad never ate their fill of bread made from wheat three nights in
a row.”[17]

Ibrahim ibn Adham said: “Any one who controls his stomach is in control of

his deen, and anyone who controls his hunger is in control of good
behaviour. Disobedience towards Allah is nearest to a person who is
satiated with a full stomach, and furthest away from a person who is
hungry.”

Keeping Bad Company

Unnecessary companionship is a chronic disease that causes much harm.
How often have the wrong kind of companionship and intermixing deprived
people of Allah’s generosity, planting discord in their hearts which
even the passage of time-even if it were long enough for mountains to
be worn away-has been unable to dispel. In keeping such company one can
find the roots of loss, both in this life and in the next life.
A servant should benefit from companionship. In order to do so he should
divide people into four categories, and be careful not to get them mixed up,
for once one of them is mixed with another, then evil can find its way
through to him:
The first category are those people whose company is like food: it is
indispensable, night or day. Once a servant has taken his need from it, he
leaves it be until he requires it again, and so on. These are the people with

knowledge of Allah – of His commands, of the scheming of His enemies,
and of the diseases of the heart and their remedies – who wish well for
Allah, His Prophet and His servants. Associating with this type of
person is an
achievement in itself.

The second category
are those people whose company is like a medicine. They are only
required when a disease sets in. When you are healthy, you have no need
of them. However, mixing with them is sometimes necessary for your
livelihood, businesses, consultation and the like. Once what you need
from them has been fulfilled, mixing with them should be avoided.
The third category are those people whose company is harmful. Mixing with
this type of person is like a disease, in all its variety and degrees and
strengths and weaknesses. Associating with one or some of them is like an
incurable chronic disease. You will never profit either in this life or in
the next life if you have them for company, and you will surely lose either
one or both of your deen and your livelihood because of them. If their
companionship has taken hold of you and is established, then it becomes a
fatal, terrifying sickness.

Amongst such people are those who neither speak any good that might
benefit you, nor listen closely to you so that they might benefit from
you. They do not know their souls and consequently put their selves in
their rightful place. If they speak, their words fall on their
listeners’ hearts like the lashes of a cane, while all the while they
are full of admiration for and
delight in their own words.

They cause distress to those in their company, while believing that
they are the sweet scent of the gathering. If they are silent, they are
heavier than a massive millstone-too heavy to carry or even drag across
the floor [18]
All in all, mixing with anyone who is bad for the soul will not last, even if
it is unavoidable. It can be one of the most distressing aspects of a
servant’s life that he is plagued by such person, with whom it may be
necessary to associate. In such a relationship, a servant should cling to
good behaviour, only presenting him with his outward appearance, while
disguising his inner soul, until Allah offers him a way out of his affliction
and the means of escape from this situation.

The fourth category are those people whose company is doom itself. It
is like taking poison: its victim either finds an antidote or perishes.
Many people belong to this category. They are the people of religious
innovation and misguidance, those who abandon the sunnah of the
Messenger of Allah and advocate other beliefs. They call what is the
sunnah a bid’a and vice-versa. A man with any intellect should not sit
in their assemblies nor mix with them. The result of doing so will
either be the death of his heart or, at the very best, its falling
seriously ill.

What Gives the Heart
Life and Sustenance

You should know that acts of obedience are essential to the well-being
of the servant’s heart, just in the same way that food and drink are to
that of the body. All wrong actions are the same as poisonous foods,
and they inevitably harm the heart.
The servant feels the need to worship his Lord, Mighty and Glorious is He,
for he is naturally in constant need of His help and assistance.

In order to maintain the well being of his body, the servant carefully
follows a strict diet. He habitually and constantly eats good food at regular
intervals, and is quick to free his stomach of harmful elements if he happens
to eat bad food by mistake.
The well-being of the servant’s heart, however, is far more important than
that of his body, for while the well being of his body enables him to lead a
life that is free from illnesses in this world, that of the heart ensures him
both a fortunate life in this world and eternal bliss in the next.

In the same way, while the death of the body cuts the servant off from
this world, the death of the heart results in everlasting anguish. A
righteous man once said, “How odd, that some people mourn for the one
whose body has died, but never mourn for the one whose heart has died
and yet the death of the heart is far more serious!”
Thus acts of obedience are indispensable to the well being of the heart. It

is worthwhile mentioning the following acts of obedience here, since
they are very necessary and essential for the servant’s heart: Dhikr of
Allah ta’ala, recitation of the Noble Qur’an, seeking Allah’s
forgiveness, making du’as, invoking Allah’s blessings and peace on the
Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and praying at night.

Sincerely yours,

ALI-ZIAD NATCHER ALAM SALI
( aznas0429@yahoo.com )

Subject: Unrestrained Glances Sun Nov 16, 2008 6:01 pm

Unrestrained Glances Shocked

By Imaam Ibnul-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah

Whosoever lets his sight roam free will find that he is in a
perpetual state of loss and anguish for sight gives birth to love
(mahabbah) the starting point of which is the heart being devoted and
dependant upon that which it beholds. This then intensifies to become
fervent longing (sabaabah) whereby the heart becomes totally dependant
and devoted to the (object of its desire). Then this further
intensifies and becomes infatuation (gharaamah) which clings to the
heart like the one seeking repayment of a debt clings firmly to the one
who has to pay the debt. Then this intensifies and becomes passionate
love (ishk) and this is a love that transgresses all bounds. Then this
further intensifies and becomes crazed passion (shaghafa) and this a
love that encompasses every tiny part of the heart. Then this
intensifies and becomes worshipful love (tatayyuma). Tatayyum means
worship and it is said: tayyama Allaah i.e. he worshipped Allaah.

_________________________________

When you sent your eye as a guide
For your heart one day, the object of sight fatigued you
For you saw one over whom you had no power
Neither a portion or in totality, instead you had to be patient.
Therefore when the sight is prevented from looking
and investigating the heart finds relief from having to go through the
arduous task of (vainly) seeking and desiring.

Reported on the authority of Jabir Ibn.Abdillah, that the Nabi Sallallahi alaihi wassallam said:

“LAA TA’ALLAMUL ‘ILMA LITUB-HUU BIHIL ‘ULAMA’, WA LAA LITUMAARU BIHIS-SUFAHA’ WA LAA THAKAY-YARUU BIHIL MAJAALISA, FAMAN FA’ALA DHALIKA FANNAA RANNAAR...”

WHICH MEANS: “DO NOT ACQUIRE KNOWLEDGE IN ORDER TO SHOW OFF TO THE SCHOLARS, NOR IN ORDER TO DISPUTE WITH THE FOOLISH PEOPLE, NOR CHOOSE SELECTED SEATS IN GATHERINGS, FOR WHOEVER DOES SO, THE FIRE.. THE FIRE…”

Allahu akbar..Allahu akbar..Allahu akbar...

in the service of islam,
ALI-ZIAD N.A. SALI
( aznas0429@yahoo.com )

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