{Quick Reflections 31} The Sound Heart 2

Again our talk continues around the ayah “The Day when neither money nor sons will profit (anyone), Except for him who comes up to Allah with a sound heart”(TMQ, 26: 88-89) . It is all about the heart. It is all about the heart.

We will live with sound hearts through a couple of stories followed by exploring our own hearts to see how sound they are at this point of time. Last time together we studied the sound heart from a somewhat academic point of view which will be our ongoing reference point.

Stories:
Most of us know the famous story about our Beloved (SAWS) announcing an unknown person who entered the Masjid as one of the residents of jannah. "Abdullaah Ibn "Umar Ibnul-Khattaab (RA) was so curious to know what was this man doing to get that position in spite of him not being one of the famous Sahabah. So he followed him to his home and asked for refuge in his home for three days in order to watch him.
He noticed that he neither prayed extra voluntary prayers nor made voluntary fasting nor was he special in any aspect. After three days he asked him how come the Prophet (SAWS) rejoiced jannah to him. His answer was that he always went to bed at night with his heart feeling having no hard feelings towards any Muslim! It is as simple and difficult as that. On the other hand, many Muslims have a lot of good deeds but their hearts are not sound and have some hardships between each other. Alas, the only condition for jannah is a sound heart. It is all about the sound heart.

I have learnt the following story directly from an old man I have known very well throughout my life.
His father died back in the thirties when he was a few months old. His illiterate mother raised him and his brother, the only 2 to remain alive out of 13 brothers and sisters, very patiently for 40 years. She was illiterate, yet very honest that people of her village used to trust her with their valuable belongings to keep away for them. She was very generous with the poor in spite of being poor herself and never denied any poor person food and temporary shelter again in spite of her modest means. She never had any hard feelings towards anyone, always forgiving, giving and caring.

The day she died her other son who was there narrates that she loudly asked, "Who is that man coming at us?" pointing in a certain direction. All those who were in the room looked there and there was no one there. She then immediately died with a big smile on her face. Most probably that was the angel of death or any other angel she saw immediately before her death.

That now-old man narrated that he was devastated by her death and kept crying for days that he isolated himself from his friends. A few days later he saw his dead mother in a dream (seeing a dead person in a dream is usually a good thing for both parties if both were in a good religious state) very healthy and happy comforting him and asking him to calm down and go out with his friends! Since then he keeps seeing her in dreams once in a while telling him about certain events that would happen; some of which I have personally witnessed.

The morale of the story is that this good old illiterate lady did not do much of great deeds or was famous or known to anyone except to some people of her small village in upper Egypt. Yet, she had a sound heart that enabled her to rise to such high ranks in the barzakh life and hence in jannah in shaa Allaah.

So again it is all about the heart.

Examining our own hearts now and everyday:

You want to know how sound your heart is now and everyday?
Ask yourself the following questions and answer them very honestly.

With Allaah:
How do you feel with Allaah while doing munajah? Tranquil, serene, afraid, hopeful, strange, detached, distracted or what?
How sincerely, honestly and freely can you "talk" to Him (SWT)? Can you really be yourself and express yourself while "talking" to Him (TWT)?
You can spend hours on the phone with a friend talking about your troubles, how long can you spend with your Creator (AWJ) talking about your troubles? A few seconds, minutes or hours?

With Qur'aan:
Do you read Qur'aan with your heart, or just with your eyes, tongue and lips? One of our sisters narrates that she new a Christian who very honestly once said, "Qur'aan never fails you when you read it with your heart".
How does Qur'aan affect you? Do you respond with happiness, fear, hope or contemplation according to each relevant ayah?
Do you believe what is stated in the Qur'aan more or what is in the newspapers or what you hear from your friends or read in other books?
Which is your basic source of knowledge, the Qur’aan, newspapers, what you hear from your friends, what you read in books, etc?
Are Qur'aan and Sunnah your only absolute standard points of reference?

With Qyaam:
Is it very difficult for you to do it? How frequently do you miss it? Do you have to force yourself to do it?
When 2 people are in deep love they search for each other all the time and seek each other's company all the time; especially if that is to be away from others. Is qyaam to you a daily date with your Creator that you yearn for all day long or is it a burden?

With Allaah's and His Prophet's (SAWS) orders:
"And in no way should a male believer or a female believer, when Allah and His Messenger have decreed a Command, have the choice in their Command”(TMQ, 32: 36). Do you hesitate and consult your inclinations, friends or other books when facing a clear direct command from Allaah (SWT) or His Prophet (SWAS) or do you obey immediately?

With other people:
Do you wish for them what you wish for yourself or even more? Or do you prefer yourself over everything else?
When you see one who is your "rival" at work, be it charity work or in any other work, loved by people more than you, do you envy him/her?
Do you know that Allaah (SWT) makes good people love (with no apparent specific reason) the ones He (SWT) loves?
Do you ever carry any hard feelings towards any Muslim?
How hard are you with non-Muslims who openly hurt other Muslims and display their enmity to Allaah (SWT)?
When you love or hate people do you love or hate them only for Allaah or because they are funny and attractive?

What are your priorities?
Are they arranged according to your personal preferences or to Allaah's orders?
How much do you love this life? Are you willing to sacrifice it for the "true" life in the hereafter?
How willing are you to donate money for the sake of Allaah? Do you have a constant deductible from your monthly income for the sake of Allaah in spite of all your hardships?
What does death mean to you? Are you ready to die now like you are ready to go to work now?
Are you fully aware and living the fact that you are only a very temporary visitor on this earth? Are you aware that temporary visitors do not need much provisions during their visit?


So again it is all about the heart not the amount or quality of deeds. However busy you are, doing good deeds, stop once in a while and assess your heart. See your "good" deeds are really for Allaah’s sake or they have turned into a mere habit; or even worse maintaining them to serve your ego?
Focus on your heart and work on it and Allaah (SWT) will bless your deeds and guide you to do more and to serve Him (AWJ) better.

Kindly refer to last month's little study for answers to questions regarding the sound heart.
May Allah grant us all steadfast and sound hearts.

References:
 The Noble Qur’an.
 The Prophet’s sunnah (SAWS).
 Life of the sahaba.
 Our life.
 http://forum.amrkhaled.net/old/showthread.php?t=2033

Special thanks to our sister who helped me editing the whole article.