Healing and Purifying the Heart

The Holy Prophet Muhammad (sal) said: “In the body of man there is a piece of flesh. If it is healthy, the whole body is healthy. This piece of flesh is the heart.” The heart is most important, as it is the seat of man’s reality, of his personality and character. The heart’s health depends on faith. Health comes through sincerity, illness through hypocrisy. Health comes through love of Allah, illness through love of Dunya. Health comes through contentedness, illness through greed. Health comes through gentleness, illness though anger. Health comes through the remembrance of the Lord, Dhikr, illness through heedlessness, forgetting Allah. Health means being with Allah, illness means to forget Allah and to be with Shaitan.

There are so many spiritual illnesses of the heart: Hypocrisy, Shirk (Polytheism), showing-off, pride, greed, envy, jealousy, hatred, stubbornness, love of this world, egoism, lying, back-biting and bad intentions. Whoever has any of these characteristics is ill and in need of treatment. The Prophet (sal) came to cure hearts. There was no illness, physical or spiritual, which he could not heal. He cured his Companions, the Sahabas, and raised them in rank, so that they became like stars in the sky. Then the Sahabas became doctors themselves and cured others. Those who followed them, the Tabiyin, became healers, too, and so on until today. Every Saint, inheritor of the Prophet, has the ability to give medicine to people for physical and spiritual illnesses. If anyone wants to know about the condition of his heart, he must go to someone who knows. But nowadays, people are so proud that they think they can cure themselves. They accept neither Saints, nor scholars, nor other people of knowledge. But even a chiefdoctor calls another doctor for help when he is ill. He doesn’t stand in front of a mirror and cure himself. And it is a Divine Order to consult those who are always in the Divine Presence, because the answers that come to their heart are sent to them by Allah Himself.

Moulana Sheikh Nazim gives the antidote for some of the Major bad characteristics of our egoistic self below:

Who is a real doctor? He is the one saving people from bad characteristics, giving them good attributes. Ordinary physicians save people from temporary death, but bad character may cause eternal death. As much as people are not interested in eternal life, so many troubles are raining on them. As much as they are interested in eternal life, troubles will go away.

Pride & Arrogance

Don’t look down upon anything or anyone. The ego only loves itself. It is Kafir, not accepting Allah, and it wants to be sitting alone on the Throne. Your ego is telling you that you are number one that nobody is like you. It is telling you that you don’t have to listen to anyone, that you are strong and know everything, and that you are your own Sheikh. And the ego is lying to us. Who is the Sheikh? He is that one who teaches you about Allah and His Prophet. How you can know by yourself? But they don’t want to accept a teacher, these Wahabi people. And whoever doesn’t accept a Sheikh, , an Imam, a guide, his teacher is Shaitan.

Always our egos are asking to show themselves as bigger; as much as possible. Shaytan is always putting his magic mirror in front of people. "Look you are such a big one, from up and down also. Hmmmm." "Really? I am that one?" Pride is of the way of Shaitan. Allah Almighty asked him to take Adam (alai) as his Master. He rejected this. He said “I won’t accept Adam (alai) as controller over me. I won’t accept any one to be above me”. That is the pride that destroyed Shaitan or Iblis. He thought He is the most knowledgeable and did not seek for Guidance whereas over every possessor of knowledge is one [more] knowing (Quran 12:76).When you say something to the Nafs, he misunderstands, he fights with you. He argues with you. He can't carry a word of advice. He says: Do I need an advice? I don't need any advice. Indeed it is the pride of Man’s nafs, that forced him to commit a sin.

To say that ‘I am something’ is a sign of disbelief that Allah Almighty never likes and retards our progress towards the heavens. The highest honor in the Divine Presence is to declare that I am nothing, O my Lord. Your ego will cheat you by saying “You are someone! No one can reach to you as you are praying, making Dhikr, as you are knowing more, and doing more…” . and you think that you have reached something, and you ultimately find out that you have reached nothing.’

Hazrat Bayazid Bastami, as he was passing in a street, a puppy, a dog, little dog. As he was passing by in his spiritual majesty, that poor dog ran across the Hazrat, was baffled! However that great saint, Sultan ul-Arifin stepped aside, giving way to the dog and that dog went by. His mureeds (disciples) were astonished and bewildered. They asked, What is the wisdom in this? He said, "Ay yaran, O beloved friends, that animal, as it was walking towards me, said to me, 'Ya Bayazid, don't be proud! The One who created us in the realm of creation, dressed you with this attribute, with this aspect. He dressed me with this aspect. I appear as a dog in this realm, you appear in human form. Praise and give thanks to your Lord, who created you a human. Don't gaze at me in arrogance.

Anger

Envy

Hypocrisy