A sound heart

 

What's a sound heart like? Why does a heart matter and what are the matters of the heart?

A heart is not just an organ playing a vital role in the functioning of human body. It is much more than that. The role of the heart and the importance of the mind have always been subjects of research and study in the field of science and spirituality. A heart is affected by the quality of one's thoughts and the thoughts are framed according to what the heart feels. It is the mind that gives messages to the human body of pain and pleasure and the condition of the heart displays the overall health of the person. It is not so simple to connect the two and to understand the coordination they have. 

But leaving aside all the technical things if we focus on our own mind and heart we will be able to understand this better. When our heart is heavy we feel uneasy and cannot decide upon things. Why does our heart feel heavy-there can be variety of reasons for this. Sometimes we harbor ill feelings for someone like jealousy, hatred, malice and any other negative feeling. This negativity does not let our heart to work in peace. We might outwardly look or pretend to be cool and normal and display ourselves as caring a damn but inside we are having unhealthy emotions. This does not let our heart to be light and peaceful. This affects our way of thinking as well. We become very strict and narrow minded and also selective in judging about others. We like only those who match our way of thinking and slowly drift away from those whom we do not approve of. Hence our world becomes our personalized haven. While a person who is not in conflict with anyone to the point that he doesn't bother to think ill about others and keeps his heart free from any kind of malice achieves an amazing sense of peace in his heart and mind. This is not easy though. 

The health of the heart affects the whole body. Let us see what our Prophet peace be upon him has told us about the heart:

In the body there is a piece of flesh, and the whole body is sound if it is sound, but the whole body is corrupt if it is corrupt. It is the heart.”

(Bukhari and Muslim.)

The point here is not to take everything to the heart and not to process everything in a pre designed manner like many of us normally do about others. We judge others according to our learned behavior that we see around us since we are born. We are prejudiced. We do not give people chances and we do not give others some space. We think that either shunning people whom we disagree with completely is the solution or trying to claim our rights from those whom we want to keep close to is the thing that works. Both the ways are unsuccessful. Because shunning people completely might give you some peace but you will never be able to find complete peace of mind as you have brought some uneasiness to your heart. 

On the other hand claiming your rights and having expectations from others kills their freedom. The space that everyone needs is violated with this behavior. We must remember that those whom we love are with us and connected to us even if they are far away. They never go away from us spiritually. The connections stay because of the unconditional love. But when we force relationships we see that relationships might hang around but the spirit will be lost. 

The heart thus, needs to be given a comfortable haven. Where there is love for those who love you and prayers for those who don't. There must be no room for hatred or malice for anyone. If we want to have a sound heart we need to free it from all negative feelings. 

Here's an interesting story of one of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him:

The following great story reflects the rank of possessing a pure heart that is free from spite, and that it is a blessing from Allah. Anas Ibn Maalik, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated: “We were sitting with the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, once when he said: ‘A man from the dwellers of Paradise will walk in now’ so a man from the Ansaar (i.e. residents of Madinah) walked in whose beard was dripping from the effect of ablution and who held his slippers with his left hand. The next day the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said the same thing, and the same man walked in. On the third day, the Prophet said the same thing, and the same man once again walked in. When the Prophet left the gathering, ‘Abdullaah Ibn ‘Amr followed that man and said to him: ‘I had a misunderstanding with my father and swore not to stay in his house three nights, so if you permit me I would like to spend these three nights with you.’ The man said: ‘Yes, I permit you.’” 

Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, added: “ ‘Abdullaah Ibn ‘Amr told us that he spent three nights and did not notice that the man prayed the optional night prayers during any of these nights, but if he woke up during the night, he would simply mention Allah. Nonetheless, I never heard him utter except good things, so when the three nights finished, I almost belittled his deeds (as they were insignificant) and I said to him: ‘O slave of Allah! There was not dispute between me and my father or anger, but I heard the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, saying thrice: “A man from the dwellers of Paradise will walk in now” and you walked in all three times, so I wanted to sleep in your place to see what you do in order to imitate you, but I did not see that you exert extra effort in performing any extra deeds. How did you reach such a status to deserve what the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said about you?’ He replied: ‘My deeds are nothing more than what you saw.’ Then when I left, he called me back in and said: ‘My deeds are nothing more than what you saw, but the only thing I do is that I do not hold any grudge against any Muslim or envy anyone for what bounties Allah has granted them’. Thereupon ‘Abdullaah Ibn ‘Amr said to him: “This difficult quality to obtain is what granted you this rank”.  [Ahmad]

The Creator will accept only the sound heart so we need to clean our hearts of all the filth that we might be carrying unknowingly or knowingly. 

But only one who comes to Allah with a sound heart. 

The Noble Quran