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اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰہِ رَبِّ الْعٰلَمِیْنَ وَ الصَّلٰوۃُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلٰی سَیِّدِ الْمُرْسَلِیْنَ ط
اَمَّا بَعْدُ فَاَعُوْذُ بِاللّٰہِ مِنَ الشَّیْطٰنِ الرَّجِیْمِ ط بِسْمِ اللہِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّ حِیْم ط
Necessity of rectifying one’s heart
Dear Islamic brothers! The Beloved Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ تَعَالٰى عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم has stated, ‘Beware, there is a piece of flesh in the body, if it is good then the whole body is good, and if it is bad then the whole body is bad. Listen! It is the heart.’ (Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, Kitāb-ul-Īmān, vol. 1, pp. 33, Ḥadīš 52)
The renowned Quranic commentator, Ḥakīm-ul-Ummat Muftī Aḥmad Yār Khān عَـلَيْهِ رَحْـمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ الْـحَـنَّان has explained this Ḥadīš saying: I.e. the heart is a king and the body is its subject, just as a whole country is good if its king is good, the whole human body is sound if the heart is sound. The heart makes intentions and the body tries to act upon them, which is why the honourable mystics applied immense emphasis on the rectification of the heart. (Mirāt-ul-Manājīḥ vol. 4, pp. 231)
Ḥujjat-ul-Islam Sayyidunā Imām Muhammad Ghazālī عَـلَـیۡـهِ رَحْـمَـةُ الۡـوَالِی wrote: It is compulsory for you to guard your heart, rectify it and struggle to keep it sound because the matter of the heart is more dangerous than all other limbs, and its influence is greater than that of the rest. (He رَحْمَةُ اللهِ تَعَالٰی عَلَيْه also wrote): There is a special relationship between a human’s physical actions and his inner characteristics. If your inner self is corrupt then your outer actions will also be corrupt. If your inner self is free from vices such as jealousy, showing off, arrogance etc. then your outer actions will also be admirable. If a man considers his good deeds to be accredited to the grace and mercy of his Creator عَزَّوَجَلَّ then that is fine, but if he believes that they are due to his personal excellence then this self-conceit will ruin those deeds. For this reason, your outer physical deeds cannot be rectified you have acquired knowledge of the relationship between your inner characteristics and your, outer actions, and the effect of the former on the latter, and the method of protecting your outer actions through your inner attributes. (Minĥāj-ul-‘Ābidīn, pp. 13, 67)
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