The heart is the compass of your destination and the leader that leads other of human’s organs. The prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said ”(O people!) Beware! Every king has a Hima and the Hima of Allah on the earth is His illegal (forbidden) things. Beware! There is a piece of flesh in the body if it becomes good (reformed) the whole body becomes good but if it gets spoilt the whole body gets spoilt and that is the heart.” Sahih al-Bukhari. Your actual actions depend on your heart orders, the heart desires a thing and the body confirms this desire or deny it. If the Love and Fear of Allah are immense, this will urge the heart to do the good and abandon the evil including doubtful things. On the other hand, if the Fear and Love of Allah in the heart is dull and weak, this will result into committing sins and abandon good deeds. It is reported that ʿUmar b. ʿAbd Al-‘Azīz once wrote to Al-Ḥasan Al-Baṣrī to get a brief exhortation from him, so Al-Ḥasan wrote back , “The dunyā distracts and preoccupies the heart and body, but al-zuhd (asceticism, not giving importance to worldly things) gives rest to the heart and body. Verily, Allāh will ask us about the ḥalāl things we enjoyed, so what about the ḥarām!” Al-Bayhaqī, Al-Zuhd Al-Kabīr.
Reasons and Cure of the hardness of the heart
Allah gave a stern warning to the people whose hearts are hardened, and said in Surah Az-Zummar, Ayah 22 ”So is one whose breast Allah has expanded to [accept] Islam and he is upon a light from his Lord [like one whose heart rejects it]? Then woe to those whose hearts are hardened against the remembrance of Allah. Those are in manifest error.” (أَفَمَن شَرَحَ اللَّهُ صَدْرَهُ لِلْإِسْلَامِ فَهُوَ عَلَىٰ نُورٍ مِّن رَّبِّهِ ۚ فَوَيْلٌ لِّلْقَاسِيَةِ قُلُوبُهُم مِّن ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ فِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ). If the people with hardened hearts realized what sorts of punishment Allah has prepared for them, they would have done everything to melt their hearts before meeting Allah. And, nothing is hard as the heart being punished by committing sins and enjoy a life away from Allah. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Verily, when the slave (of Allah) commits a sin, a black spot appears on his heart. When he refrains from it, seeks forgiveness and repents, his heart is polished clean. But if he returns, it increases until it covers his entire heart. And that is the ‘Ran’ which Allah mentioned: ‘Nay, but on their hearts is the Ran which they used to earn.’ For that reason, it is significantly important to mention some reasons that causes the hardness of the heart.
Love of the worldly life. When the heart is crowded with desires and lust, it would rather do what meets these desires than worshiping Allah. Whoever makes the Hereafter his goal, Allah makes his heart rich, and organises his affairs, and the world comes to him whether it wants to or not. And whoever makes the world his goal, Allah puts his poverty right before his eyes, and disorganises his affairs, and the world does not come to him, except what has been decreed for him. The Muslim needs to realise that all the pleasure of this life is false and temporary, and that it is all controlled by the Allah. Allah said in Surah Fatir, Ayah 5 ”O mankind, indeed the promise of Allah is truth, so let not the worldly life delude you and be not deceived about Allah by the Deceiver.” (يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّ وَعْدَ اللَّهِ حَقٌّ ۖ فَلَا تَغُرَّنَّكُمُ الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا ۖ وَلَا يَغُرَّنَّكُم بِاللَّهِ الْغَرُورُ). Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “Were this world worth a wing of mosquito, He would not have given a drink of water to an infidel.” The love of the worldly life can be cured with this fact that this life is less than a wing of mosquito. The old beliefs must be replaced with a new ones that is strong as much as the old beliefs. Through this cure that heart can find its salvation and enjoy the worshiping of Allah.
Committing Sins without Repentance. Sins lead to sins even if its little, that is the nature of things. The committer of sins will not realize this danger until it is too late. The believer is not required to be flawless, but he is required to repent when he makes a mistake. He needs to remind himself with the consequences of his actions, and remember that Allah is watching. When the heart acts upon the fact that Allah is watching, it would sins less and fear Allah more. He is required to hasten to Tawbah (repentance), no matter how sinful the heart is, you will find Allah is the Most Forgiving. Allah wants to make things easy for us, He said in Surah Az-Zummar, Ayah 53 ”Say, “O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful. (قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا ۚ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ). It is reported that Masrūq – Allāh has mercy on him – said, ”Everyone should have times when they sit alone, remember their sins, and thus seek [Allāh’s] forgiveness for them.” Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal, Al-Zuhd.
Remember, now you have the opportunity to repent but who knows who will live tomorrow, so let us repent now and ask Allah’s Forgiveness.
