place something upon our tongues, we can discern whether it is sweet, sour, hot or cold.

In the exact same way, whenever we offer salah, keep fasts, recite the Quran, make dhikr of Allah, recite invocations and litanies, call others to goodness, recite poetry in praise of the Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم, learn Islamic knowledge or do any other good deed, our hearts are able to taste the positive and delightful effects of these actions. 

If someone was to fall ill, their ability to taste things is negatively affected instead. Everything begins tasting sour to them. This same principle applies to the heart. When the heart becomes negligent or blackened from sin, and when spiritual diseases like arrogance, selfishness, love for money and longing for fame run rampant inside it, this leads to the heart itself becoming unwell.  

When this happens, a person is deprived from the delight of salah. He finds no peace in fasting. Good deeds become difficult for him. Ultimately, the light and sweetness of faith leave his heart entirely. For someone undergoing this, it is necessary for them to cure their heart as soon as possible.

One method of curing the heart has been described by our beloved Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم. As per his beautiful elucidation, when a person is pleased with Allah as their Lord, Islam as their religion and Muhammad صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم as their Messenger, the darkness of that individual’s sins is removed, his heart is purified, and he begins to taste the spiritual illumination of faith.^[1]

The renowned hadith expert, Shaykh ꜤAbd al- Ḥaqq Dihlawi رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَلَيْه said, “Whoever is not pleased with these three matters from the bottom