your heart, develop the Divine fear within yourselves and remember the difficulties that are to come in the Hereafter if you commit sins. اِنْ شَــآءَالـلّٰـه, the hardness of the heart will go away.

3. Make a habit to forgive others

In order to soften your heart, make your habit that whenever someone (knowingly or unknowingly) causes harm to you, instead of a tit for tat, control your anger and forgive that person. And do keep this rule in mind that water cleans away filth, filth does not clean away filth. If we try cleaning filth with filth, rather than getting clean, it will become filthier and more impure. Likewise, if someone unknowingly misbehaves towards us and as a reply, we do the same or even more to them, then instead of calming down the situation, it will get more intensified and could lead to a fight and enmity. But, if we had responded with polite and loving behaviour and forgive one’s mistake, then اِنْ شَــآءَالـلّٰـه by seeing its results, we will surely feel the coolness in our hearts.

We are commanded to do this in part 14, Surah Ha-Meem As-Sajdah, verse 34:

اِدْفَعْ بِالَّتِیْ هِیَ اَحْسَنُ فَاِذَا الَّذِیْ بَیْنَكَ وَ بَیْنَهٗ عَدَاوَةٌ كَاَنَّهٗ وَلِیٌّ حَمِیْمٌ(۳۴)

Translation from Kanz-ul-Iman: O listener! Repel the evil with goodness, thereupon the one between whom and you was enmity, (at that time he) will become like a close friend. (Part 14, Surah Ha-Meem As-Sajdah, Ayah 34)

Tafseer Siraat-ul-Jinaan provides commentary of this blessed verse by stating that you get rid of badness with goodness, for example, get rid of anger with patience, get rid of people’s ignorance with tolerance and get rid of bad behaviour with forgiveness. So, if someone misbehaves with you, you should forgive him. This good habit will bear fruit and even enemies will begin to love you like friends. (Siraat-ul-Jinaan, vol. 8, pp. 639)

4. Make a habit to eat less