Deeds of the Hearts - Islamic Network

18/10/2012 02:20

The Islamic Network - www.islaam.net

Thursday, 2 Dhu 'l-Hijjah 1433 AH / 18th October 2012 CE

Deeds of the Hearts

by Slih bin Humayd
All praise is due to Allh, Lord of all the worlds. Peace and blessings of Allh be upon the Messenger, his household and
companions.
Fellow Muslims! Fear Allh and be dutiful to Him. Be always conscious of Him and be grateful to Him. Obey Allh for you
cannot live without His blessings and humble yourselves before Him for you cannot find a way out of His authority. Allh
says,
And know that Allh knows what is in your minds, so fear Him.
And know that Allh is Oft-Forgiving, Most Forbearing. (AlBaqarah 2:235)
Dear Muslims! Allh favours His slaves with seasons of blessings in which the reward of good deeds are multiplied and in
which sins are erased. They are seasons in which people compete to do good deeds. He who purifies his soul in these
seasons will succeed and he whose end goal is this earth and prefers the pleasure of this worldly life will lose.
Dear brethren! This month of yours is the best of all months. It is the month in which the Qurn was revealed. In this
month, gates of Paradise are open and gates of Hell are closed. Fasting of a Muslim in this month will intercede on his
behalf on the Day of Resurrection and mouth odour of the fasting Muslim is more pleasant to Allh than the aroma of
musk.
This month of yours is that of the Qurn, alms giving, generosity, Tarwh and night prayers. Your Lord describes the
month as countable days, indicating by that the speed with which it ends and alluring to its importance in the eyes of
righteous and diligent worshippers. You are now approaching its last ten days, which are the best days of the month.
Have you reviewed your deeds? Advance forward, O seeker of good, and refrain from misdeeds O seeker of evil. For
there are ones that Allh will liberate from Hell in this month.
Brethren in faith! Among things that help in self-examination is looking into the deeds of the heart, the situation of the
heart in relation to the Qurn and its concentration during remembrance of Allh. He whose aim is the Hereafter, Allh
will bless him with concentration in all that he does.
Dear brethren! Deeds of the heart are acts that sincere and serious worshippers aim at achieving, for they are the
foundation of all deeds. Deeds of the limbs are dependent on them. Shaykhul-Islm Ibn Taymiyyah said,
Deeds of the hearts, like loving Allh and His Messenger, reliance on Allh, worshipping Him with sincerity, thanking Him
for His favours, bearing His decisions with patience, fearing Him and hoping for what is with Him are all part of the
foundations and pillars of the religion.

He also said,
People are of different categories as far as deeds of the hearts are concerned: there are some who wrong their own
souls, there are those who do moderate good deeds and there are those who are in the forefront in righteous deeds by the
permission of Allh.

Fellow Muslims! Deeds of the acts are some of the most important and best acts of worship. They are obligatory acts at
all times and upon every Muslim. They are the most emphatic parts of faith. For soundness of the body is dependent on
the soundness of the heart as reported in an authentic hadth. The Prophet said,
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the soundness of the heart as reported in an authentic hadth. The Prophet said,
Indeed, there is a piece of flesh in the body, if it is sound the entire body is sound and if it is
contaminated the entire body is contaminated: it is the heart.
Certainly, acts of worship done with the heart are greater and more consistent than the ones done with the body, and
soundness of body movements depends on the soundness of heart movements. If the heart is sound and flourishing with
love of Allh, love of what Allh loves, fear of Allh and fear of what Allh detests, movements of the body will also be
sound.
Dear brethren! While you are now in the noble month seeking nearness to Allh with your righteous deeds, you should
take two great things into consideration for they are strongly related to deeds of the heart and serious self-evaluation.
These two things are: sincerity in acts of worship and being conscious of Allh.
As for sincerity in acts of worship, it is the essence of faith. Sincerity in acts of worship encompasses all acts of
righteousness and their degrees. Sincerity encompasses all branches of faith and deeds of the heart. This is so because
the Messenger of Allh said, Al-Ihsn (sincerity in acts of worship) is to worship Allh as if you are seeing Him.
Hold fast unto sincerity, for Allh loves sincere good-doers. Exert efforts to attain it for Allh loves the sincere good-doers.
And the reward of sincerity in good deeds is nothing more than good.
Sincerity demands that man perfects his actions with sure knowledge that Allh is seeing him and his deeds.
As for the quality of being conscious of Allh, it is the hearts knowledge that Allh is nearest to him. Whoever is
conscious of Allh in his secret, Allh will protect him in the public.
Fellow Muslims! You are now in the last ten days of Ramadn, which are the best and the most blessed days of the
month. Whoever endeavours to attain the Laylatul-Qadr and prays in that night with faith and a hope to achieve the
reward from Allh, all his past sins will be forgiven. Also, it is an opportunity for self-examination.
Dear brethren! Examine deeds of your hearts for that is a habit of the sincere worshippers of Allh and a manifestation of
absolute humility to Allh. Allh says,
Has not the time come for the hearts of those who believe (in the
Oneness of Allh- Islmic Monotheism) to be affected by Allhs
Reminder (this Qurn), and that which has been revealed of the
truth. (Al-Hadd 57:16)
Humiliation for Allh in acts of worship makes one revere Allh, love Him and show ones helplessness before Him. The
more the heart is concentrating in its reverence for Allh, the humbler it becomes. The hearts only goes astray if it forgets
Allhs watchfulness over it.
Concentration in acts of worship means standing of the heart before Allh in absolute humility and helplessness.
Concentration is tenderness of the heart and if the heart is concentrating, the limbs follow. The Messenger of Allh used
to say in his bowing,
[Khashiya laka sam wabasar, wamukhkh waazm]
O Allh, I humble for you my ear and my eye and my brain and my bone and whatever my feet stand on.
Concentration of the heart is its freedom from filthy thoughts and intentions that emanate from following the desires. For
whenever the heart humbles itself, all manifestations of haughtiness, arrogance and self-importance will disappear.
Fellow Muslims! Degrees of concentration of the hearts vary according to their knowledge about their Lord and according
to their understanding of the Attributes of Allh. So anyone who knows how close his Lord is to him and realises His
knowledge of his secrets and conscience and His watchfulness of all his movements, will feel a real sense of shame in
front of his Lord. If ones heart perceives the greatness of Allh and His perfection, his love for Him and his yearning to
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front of his Lord. If ones heart perceives the greatness of Allh and His perfection, his love for Him and his yearning to
Him will increase. If one realizes the power of Allh, His punishment and His sense of honour as regarding the things that
He forbids, one will fear Him and become helpless before Him. Some predecessors said describing some righteous
worshippers of Allh, Their hearts are humbled for Him so they lower their gazes.
The best act of humbleness and concentration in acts of worship is the one demonstrated by our Prophet Muhammad,
blessings and peace be upon him. When he would stand up for prayer, he would lower his head as a sign of respect for
Allh and would not look here and there and would not talk. He would even be heard crying silently.
Fellow Muslims! Review your deeds and endeavour to have of the blessings of your Lord. Emulate the righteous servants
of Allh who are sincere and worship their Lord in prostration and bowing. Their eyes flow in tears and their hearts and
skins become tender at remembrance of Allh. Whenever Allh is mentioned the hearts become fearful and when His
verses are recited to them they increase them in faith and their hearts finds peace with remembrance of Allh. In these
blessed days, show Allh the good that is in you. Allh says,
Those were they unto whom Allh bestowed His Grace from
among the Prophets, of the offspring of Adam, and of those whom
We carried (in the ship) with Nh (Noah), and of the offspring of
Ibrhm (Abraham) and Israel, and from among those whom We
guided and chose. When the Verses of the Most Gracious (Allh)
were recited unto them, they fell down prostrate and weeping.
(Maryam 19:58)
Brethren in Islm! The righteous deed is any deed that the heart performs and with which it feels peace, fear of Allh,
submission to Him and with which it feels helpless before Him. Some righteous predecessors said, He whose heart submits
to Allh in humility, Satan will not come near to him.

Fellow Muslims! If the preacher is reminding the Muslims of good deeds and to be conscious of Allh in this blessed
month, where then is the piety of the religious ones who are believers, hope for the blessings of Allh, fear His
punishment, love what Allh loves and hate what He hates? Where is then their piety as regards harming male and
female believers and spreading fear and shedding the innocent blood? Or do they want to make themselves a fuel for a
directionless crisis? What is the purpose of this evil crime in which women and children were killed in the sacred month of
Islm and in the capital city of a Muslim state? These individuals have killed innocent souls and destroyed properties. In
what way can this crime be justified? What is that ideology that snatched these young men from the houses of their
fathers and mothers that are Islmic homes and turned them into perverted individuals that perpetrated these heinous
crimes and killed innocent an armless souls in their homes?
The keen observer will find a similarity between the men, women and children who are murdered in Palestine and have
their homes and properties demolished and between men, women and children who were killed in Riyadh and had their
homes and properties demolished. The terrorist Israel perpetrates mischief in Palestine and these individuals perpetrated
mischief in Riyadh. The terrorist Israel hates the Muslims in Palestine and it kills them, confines them and expels them.
Now what do these murderers wants by the crime they committed in Riyadh? Do they share the same goal with the
terrorist Israel whose main goal is to kill as many Arabs and Muslims as possible and create a violent and unstable
atmosphere? Is there any coordination between both killers? Even if any coordination is ruled out, can we rule out
penetration and brainwashing? Or is it only a new crisis that is already revealing its ugly head? May Allh forbid.
The entire society should raise its voice and unite to protect this land and its residents from killings and destruction. For
the resultant harm and perdition will not leave out anyone.
The responsibility lies on all and not on security agents alone. War against this perverted ideology should be open in all
aspects of this Ummah, though the mass media has a special role to play. The citizens should also play their roles as real
partners. The mass media should show the citizens realities of events in their true forms and not in the form it wants them
to see it. The matter should be dealt with seriously and all impediments should be removed so that the country will be
able to employ all its energies and that of its citizens properly. These acts are criminal and they should be confronted by
all. Though it is undisputable that the criminal should be made to face the consequences of his crime, the very ideology
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all. Though it is undisputable that the criminal should be made to face the consequences of his crime, the very ideology
that leads him to that crimes should also be confronted with a counter ideology, for word is use to confront a word.
Fellow Muslims! Fasting is protection. So perform it that you may be pious. Fasting guards its performer against idle talk,
obscene utterances and false statements. If the fasting Muslim is prohibited from behaving in an undesirable manner,
shouting or insulting anyone, how can he then kill or cause mischief?
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