Nafsiya Reflections: Pure Hearts

The moment we open our eyes to this world, taking our first breath, our life begins. Our hearts are pure, white. No expectations, no experiences, a clean slate. And as time passes our minds begin to be shaped by our parents, our siblings, our neighbors and society. We feel safe in our homes, protected. Growing a little more we started school, met new people, new ideas, were introduced to another world outside of our own. A world controlled by the opinions and concepts of others.

Collision.

The ideas we grew up with, we believed, are now under scrutiny. We learn to develop relationships, strengthened by what we have in common, or weakened by what we don’t. We sacrifice. We fall into sin. We may deviate, we may backbite, gossip, grow jealousy and resentment within our hearts, in looking over the fence, knees deep in comparison and envy. For how do they have what I don’t? Why do they get to travel and I don’t? Why do they get all the attention? He’s too young, why does he get the job?! Why doesn’t my husband make as much money? We grow hate, resentment, jealousy... diseases of the heart.

What if all we were introduced to through our lives was a deviation from the path of Allah? What if our homes that once felt secure, were actually creating and molding us away from true Islam? Triumphed by culture and traditions. Jahilliyah (Ignorance)!

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said,

‏"‏ إِنَّ الْعَبْدَ إِذَا أَخْطَأَ خَطِيئَةً نُكِتَتْ فِي قَلْبِهِ نُكْتَةٌ سَوْدَاءُ فَإِذَا هُوَ نَزَعَ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ وَتَابَ سُقِلَ قَلْبُهُ وَإِنْ عَادَ زِيدَ فِيهَا حَتَّى تَعْلُوَ وَهُوَ الرَّانُ الَّذِي ذَكَرَ اللَّهُ ‏:
‏ ‏(‏ كلاَّ بَلْ رَانَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ ‏) ‏"‏

“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.’”

How do we purify our hearts after that? How do we remove greed, selfishness, hate, grudges, envy? How does one correct their path? And most importantly how do we know that this time we are on the right one?

We cure a body from diseases, we must reflect on our hearts and diagnose. Once we diagnose we can prescribe the medication, find the cure. Asking ourselves, am I jealous... why? Am I resentful? Why? Why am I backbiting? Do I have too much time on my hands? See, Umar ibn Al-Khattab said, “If work is exhausting then being Idle is corrupting”. To cure our heart, removing those black spots, we must gain knowledge and practice it. We must give purpose to our lives. The purpose of our existence in the first place.

(رَبَّنَا وَابْعَثْ فِيهِمْ رَسُولًا مِّنْهُمْ يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِكَ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ ۚ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ)

Our Lord, and send among them a messenger from themselves who will recite to them Your verses and teach them the Book and wisdom and purify them. Indeed, You are the Exalted in Might, the Wise." [Surah Baqara: Aya 129 ]

It is so surprising how we can go through life looking for answers while we hold the noblest guide, the book of Allah in our hands, yet we don’t study its Tafseer. We don’t fully understand Allah’s words, His message to us! May Allah forgive our shortcomings.

Where do we even start? And how do we know we are learning from an accurate source? That brings me to the final cure. You can cure a body with medication, you can lower the body’s temperature, you can numb the pain, take antibiotics to cure the actual infection, but if we don’t find a way to kill the disease it will come back even fiercer. We work on our shortcomings...

Today we live in a world that tests us, throws temptations in our way. We can simply grab our phone, we don’t even have to leave our homes. Scrolling through social media, scrolling the web, ads. We go outside and we see the manifestation of all those accounts and ads. The disease...

In purifying our hearts, seeking wisdom and practicing Islam, reciting the Noble Quran, saying the azhkar and in finding the purpose behind our first breath, we can finally remove the disease. We can remove all the diseases that have corrupted our hearts. While finding the most reliable prevention in doing so; to live with purpose, not lost in materialism but living the life Allah (swt) blessed us with, following the footsteps of his beloved prophet Muhammad saw, building a life with true meaning, bringing real change to the corrupted world we live in, making a difference in the world. To carry the light of Islam, into every home, in working to restore the Islamic way of life, the Khilafah ar-Rashidah (Caliphate) on the method of prophethood to work for the Khilafah to restore the Islamic disposition (Nafsiya) in society and to raise our future generation with the upright Islamic personality to help cure the diseased hearts. A society that helps the future and present generation steer in the right direction to focus on their Akhira rather than Materialistic possessions, gossip, a society creating real men, and uprooting corrupt Western ideas.

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