"Nay! rather, what they used to do has become like rust upon their hearts."

[al-Mutaffifeen - 83:14]





"O mankind!

There has come to you an instruction from your Lord,

a cure for whatever (disease) is in your hearts,

a guidance and a blessing for the true believers." [Yunus - 10:57]





All the good deeds will become useless if the intention (Niyyah) was corrupt. Our Salah, Sadaqaat, Siyam (fasting) or our other good deeds have no value if our intention is not pure. The deeds of a Believer and of a Hypocrite might look the same (both might pray the same way) but their intentions (objectives/ purpose) will be different. Rasool Allah (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said "The reward of deeds depends upon the intention and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended". The intention is located in the heart. So, if the heart is corrupt, the intention will also be corrupt; and every deed done with wrong intention is useless.



Rasul Allah (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said:

"Beware, in the body there is a piece of flesh;

if it is sound, the whole body is sound

and if it is corrupt the whole body is corrupt,

and hearken it is the heart." [Sahih Muslim]





Al-Qur'an says that none will be saved on the Day of Judgment except him who will have a Healthy Heart (Qalbin Saleem) ["And when none shall be saved except him who will come before Allah with a pure heart (Qalbin Saleem)", 26:89]. If the heart of a person is healthy, all his A'amaal (good deeds) will be satisfactory. But if a heart contains pride, show-off, hatred, doubts, love of fame or wealth etc, then such a heart needs to be cleaned from these diseases. The term Tazkiya is used to refer to the purification of the heart or the Nafs. The purification of the heart is so important that Allah has placed it before the Dhikr and Salah, as He says:



"Indeed whosoever purifies himself [man tazakka] shall achieve success,

And remembers (glorifies) the Name of his Lord,

and prays [fasalla]".



(Qad aflaha man tazakka

Wa-thakara isma rabbihi fasalla) [al-A'laa - 87:14-15]

Rasool Allah (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam) has shown a way with which one can clean his/her heart. The Prophet ('alaihi salato was-salam) said "These hearts become rusty just as iron does when water affects it." On being asked what could clear them, he replied "A great amount of remembrance of death and recitation of the Qur'an." [Tirmidhi].





Remembrance of death is the remembrance of that day when one will stand before Allah with all his deeds, good or bad, opened in front of him. If a person constantly remembers that one day he will have to face his deeds in front of Allahu ta'ala, such a person will avoid all that which could result in receiving the anger of Allahu ta'ala. A person who fears Allah will want his sins to vanish, therefore he will repent to Allah and for those who sincerely repent, Allah will turn their bad deeds into good deeds.



"... the one who repents, becomes a true believer, and starts doing good deeds, for then Allah will change his evil deeds into good, and Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful. He that repents and does good deeds, has truly turned to Allah with good turning." [al-Furqaan - 25:70-71]





The repentance does soften the heart of a person who repents to Allah out of the fear of meeting Him one day, ["Who feared Rahman (Allah) without seeing Him, and brought a heart turned in repentance (qalbin muneeb)" [50:33]. Rasool Allah (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said "When a believer sins there is a black spot on his heart, and if he repents and asks pardon his heart is polished; but if he does more it increases till it gains the ascendancy over his heart." [Tirmidhi]. Excessive sins without any repentance will eventually cover up the whole heart with rust (or darkness); Allah says:



"Nay! rather, what they used to do

has become like rust upon their hearts."

(Kalla bal rana AAala quloobihim ma kanoo yaksiboona)

[al-Mutaffifeen - 83:14]



Therefore, we should constantly repent to Allah for all our sins, which we could be doing knowingly and unknowingly. Rasool Allah (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam) also said that a person can clean up the rust on his heart with this Qur'an. And Allah has also called this Qur'an as the "Shifa" or the "Cure" for all the heart diseases.



"O mankind!

There has come to you an instruction (Quran) from your Lord,

a cure for whatever (disease) is in your hearts,

a guidance and a blessing for the true believers." [Yunus - 10:57]



"We have revealed the Qur'an which is

a healing and a mercy to the believers,

while to the wrongdoers it adds nothing but loss." [al-Israa - 17:82]



"Allah has revealed the most beautiful message,

a Book consistent in its verses yet repeating its teachings in different ways.

Those who fear their Lord are filled with awe when they hear it,

Then their skin and their heart soften to the remembrance of Allah.

Such is the guidance of Allah:

He guides with it whom He pleases.

But he to whom He confounds shall have none to guide him."

al-Quran [Surah az-Zumar - 39:23]



Allah gives life to the dead earth with the rain. This Qur'an can give life to the dead hearts. This Qur'an is the clear reminder and the Kalam of Allah, where only Allah speaks and the believer listens. A devoted heart is the one that is filled with the love of Allah, whose objective of every action is to gain the pleasure of Allah, whose fear is the anger of Allah and whose food is the Dhikr (remembrance) of Allah. Can our bodies stay alive for long if we don't eat any food? How can these hearts stay alive without the Dhikr of Allah? Therefore, we should firmly hold this Rope of Allah (al-Quran), the rope which takes us up directly towards Him.



Rasool Allah (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam) has said that the successful is the one whose heart has become pure. He described the features of a pure heart as:



"He has been successful!

whose heart Allah has made sincere towards faith,

whose heart He has made free from unbelief,

his tongue truthful, his soul calm, his nature straight,

whose ear He has made attentive and his eye observant.

The ear is a funnel and the eye is a repository for what the heart learns.

He is successful whose heart is made retentive." [ Tirmidhi]



Ramadan is close to its departure but have we purified ourselves yet? The two sons of Prophet Adam ('alaihi salam) offered their offerings to Allah. Allah only accepted from the one but not from the other. It was then said "Allah only accepts from those who are al-Muttaqoon (the pious)" [5:27]. We have been fasting and praying this month but who knows if Allah will accept our deeds or not. Again, He only accepts from the Muttaqeen. Have we done enough to glorify Allah, to control this Nafs, or to clean this heart? We were busy with this world in the Salah and outside the Masjid. Our daily concern was the Iftar rather to attach ourselves to Him and escape ourselves from the walls of this Nafs. When Prophet Ibrahim and Ismael (peace be upon them) completed the work which Allah had asked them (raised Ka'bah), they said "Our Lord, Accept this from us" (Rabbana Taqabbal minna..) [2:127]. If the two great Prophets, the forefathers of Muhammadur Rasool Allah ('alaihi salato was-salam), are requesting Allah to accept their work, what assures us that Allah is going to accept our good deeds and forgive our defects?







We are still in Ramadan and al-Hamdulillah we still have the opportunity to clean these hearts. One can purify his heart to a certain degree within minutes (insha'Allah)! All that requires is a special chemical, which none but one's own eyes can produce. So, purify and polish these hearts with your tears! Especially in the last nights of this month. The Prophet (sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam) said: " Allah will give shade to seven (types of people) under His Shade (on the Day of Resurrection) . (one of them will be) a person who remembers Allah and his eyes are then flooded with tears" [Sahih Bukhari]. No one knows if there will be another Ramadan for us after this, neither the speaker nor the reader.



"O Allah, we are not relying on our deeds. Our deeds might have no value

in Your Sight. We are weak and only hoping for Your Mercy and Forgiveness

as You are Arhamur-Rahimeen. Our mothers would forgive us for any

mistake, but You are much more Merciful than all the mothers.

O Allah accept our good deeds and forgive all our sins as You like to Forgive.

O Allah! make us to meet You with a pure heart and

Have Mercy on us the day we will meet You.

Waman Taqis-Sayyiati Yawmaithin Faqad Rahimtah!"

Aameen.