Process of Purifying Your Heart
by Muhammad Javed
{Excerpt from the book, Emotional Intelligence: Reflecting On The Prophetic Way}
The process of purification consists of multiple steps as is outlined in the picture above. In this article, we will be focusing on repenting and staying away from sins.
Stay away from sins (especially habitual sins that accumulate like backbiting / gossip, smoking cigarettes, forbidden gaze (porn / staring at woman etc.)), etc. as they add up and can have a chaotic impact on own spirituality and performance as time also get wasted and we slip into worse things.
Repent constantly for slipping into sins
We should constantly repent for falling into sins as all human are prone to error. Allah(swt) loves when his slaves turn to Him, admits his sins and repents through tawba and istigfar.
The negative situations and states we find ourselves in is because of our mistakes, sins and transgression as the Almighty states:
وَمَا أَصَابَكُم مِّن مُّصِيبَةٍ فَبِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِيكُمْ وَيَعْفُو...
What is the Condition of Your Heart?
What is the Condition of Your Heart?
(Excerpt from the Book - Emotional Intelligence; Reflecting on the Prophet’s Way)
By Muhammad Javed
The heart is certainly the spiritual seat/throne of the individual where the feelings, emotions and even thoughts rest. It is also the seat of the soul, and the king of our bodies. As Allah ﷻ says,
“The Day when there will not benefit [anyone] wealth or children. But only one who comes to Allah with a sound heart.” [Quran 26:88-89]
While some argue that the brain is the pilot of our human self, it is a well-acknowledged fact that the seat of our emotions is our heart. Studies have also shown that there are 1000’s of neuron receptors in our heart, which convey signals to our brains. {As a proof, heart patients experience severe emotional disorders!}[1]
The seat of faith or eman is also in the heart. Allah has explained that there are three types of hearts: The Dead Heart, the Intermediate heart and the Sound heart.
Our...
How Pure Is Your Intention?
In the famous hadith on intention narrated by Umar Ibn Khattab (ra), Prophet Muhammad ﷺ stated:
“Verily, deeds are only with intentions. Verily, every person will have only what they intended. Whoever emigrated to Allah and his messenger, his emigration is for Allah and his messenger. Whoever emigrated to get something in the world or to marry a woman, his emigration is for that to which he emigrated.”[1] (Bukhari and Muslim)
Intention is one of the critical factors that we would be judged upon in the day of Judgement. Any good or religious deed, was it done to please Allah alone or to please others or for the sake of fame, money etc.? Such religious deeds done for others’ sake leads to the Hellfire, as Allah only accepts deeds done purely for His sake. This includes all religious deeds such as prayer, reading Qur’an, gaining religious knowledge and teaching it, giving charity or zakat, striving in Allah’s path and more. However, worldly...
