Because the heart is described as possessing life or death, it is classified into three types:
The First: The Correct and Sound Heart.
This is the truthful and secure (salīm) heart, the only type of heart that its owner can bring to Allāh which will rescue him on the Day of Judgement [from the Grievous Punishment]. Allāh, the Exalted says,
The Day when neither wealth nor sons will avail, except he who brings to Allāh a truthful and secure heart.[1]
The meaning of salīm (secure) is sālim (the one who is secure), it has come in this form because it depicts an innate attribute or description of the described. As such it is grammatically like the words tall (tawīl), short (qasīr) or graceful and charming (dharīf).
Therefore the one whose heart is described as salīm is characterised so because this attribute of truthfulness and security has become a constant and established description of it. In this respect it is like the terms, ‘the one who knows’ (‘alīm) and ‘the one who has power’ (qadīr). It is also the opposite of diseased (marīd), sick (saqīm) and ailing (‘alīl).
The statements of the people explaining the meaning of the secure and truthful heart have differed. However they all revolve around the [following] basic concept,
[The truthful and secure heart] is that which is secure from every carnal desire that opposes the order and prohibition of Allāh. It is secure from every doubt and uncertainty that would obscure or go against His narrative.
Therefore the truthful and secure heart is that heart which is secure from committing any form of shirk whatsoever and instead its servitude is only directed to, and purely for Allāh, the Exalted. Its desire, love, trust and reliance, repentance, humbleness, dread and reverential hope is only for Allāh and its actions are purely for His sake. Hence if it loves, it loves for the sake of Allāh; if it hates, it hates for the sake of Allāh; if it gives, it gives for the sake of Allāh; and if it withholds, it withholds for the sake of Allāh.
But this alone does not suffice until the heart becomes secure from submitting to, and going to anybody else but the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) for judgement. Therefore the heart ties a firm bond with him (peace be upon him), resolving to follow him and obey him alone in sayings and actions. These sayings comprise the saying of the heart – which are the matters of belief, and the sayings of the tongue – which conveys what the heart contains.
Therefore the judge for all these matters – the major and minor of them – is that which the Messenger (peace be upon him) came with. Hence the heart does not put itself before him in any matter related to belief, saying and action. Allāh, the Exalted says,
O you who believe! Do not put yourself forward in front of Allāh and His Messenger.[2]
meaning: do not speak [of a matter] until he has spoken of it and do not act until he has commanded it.
Some of the Salaf said,
There is no action, even if it be small, except that two records will be unfurled for it: why? and how?
meaning: why did you do it? How did you do it?
The first question enquires about the cause, onset and motive of the action. Was it done for some temporary, worldly gain or for some worldly purpose such as attaining the praise of people? Was it done for fear of the blame of people, to attain some worldly desire, or to repress some worldly dislike? Or was the motivation of this action the establishment of the rights of servitude [to Allāh], the seeking of increasing ones love of and closeness to Allāh, the Glorious and Exalted, and seeking the means of drawing close (wasīlah) to Him?
The essence of this question is: was it upon you to perform this action for the sake of your Master or did you perform it for some personal gain or by way of following your base desires?
The second question enquires about the following of the Messenger (peace be upon him) in that action of worship. Meaning: was that action you did from those actions which have been legislated for you upon the tongue of the My Messenger or was it an action that I did not legislate and was not pleased with?
Therefore the first question concerns sincerity (ikhlāş) and the second concerns following (mutāba‘ah) for indeed Allāh does not accept any action until both these pre-requisites are met.
The method of absolution from the first question is to purify ones sincerity such that it is for Allāh Alone.
The method of absolution from the second question is to actualise the following of the Messenger (peace be upon him) and by securing the heart from any intent that would impair its sincerity and any base desire that would impair its following.
This is the reality of the secure and truthful heart from which ensues victory and bliss.
The Second: The Dead Heart
This is the heart that contains no life. It does not know its Lord and it does not worship Him by complying to His command and doing that which He Loves and is Pleased with. Instead it is a slave to its carnal desires, temptations and pleasures, even if these lead to the Displeasure of its Lord and His Anger. As long as it fulfils its cravings and attains its worldly desires, it does not care if its Lord is Pleased or Displeased. Therefore it worships other than Allāh.
Base desires are its leader, carnal desires are its commander, ignorance is its driving force, and negligence is the vessel [upon which it travels]. It is completely engrossed in contemplating how to attain its worldly desires.
An enemy to whosoever she displays enmity and at peace with those she likes
Whosoever she draws close to, he loves and draws close to.
Mixing with the person who has this heart is a sickness, interacting with him is poison and sitting with him is destruction.
The Third: The Diseased Heart
This is the heart that contains life but also possesses a defect. It has two urges calling it, one leading it to life and the other leading it to death and it follows whichever of the two that predominates.
It contains love of Allāh, the Exalted, faith in Him, sincerity to Him and trust and reliance upon him from those matters that are essential to its life.
It also contains the love of its carnal desires, giving preference to them and eagerness to attain them. It contains jealousy, arrogance, self-amazement, and love of ranking and sowing corruption in the land through attaining leadership from those matters that necessarily lead to its destruction and devastation.
It is constantly being tried by two callers, one calling it to Allāh, His Messenger and the Abode of the Hereafter and the other calling it to temporal, worldly matters. It responds to the one that is closest and most predominant at that time.
Therefore the first type of heart is the living, humble, soft, attentive and heedful heart.
The second type is the brittle, dry and dead heart.
The third type is the diseased heart, either it is closer to securing itself or it is closer to its devastation
Allāh, the Glorious, has mentioned these types of the hearts in His saying,
In these three verses, Allāh, the Glorious and Exalted, has mentioned two types of hearts put to trial and one type that is victorious. The two types of heart that are put to trial are the diseased and the harsh and dry. The victorious heart is the heart of the believer that is humble before its Lord, it is at rest and satisfaction with Him, submissive and obedient to Him.
This is because it is desired from the heart and other limbs that they be healthy and secure, having no defect so that they can do that which agrees to their nature and the purpose for which they were created. The hearts’ stepping outside the bounds of steadfastness in obedience (istiqāmah) could either be due to its dryness and harshness or the absence of doing that which is desired of it [comprising the worship of its Lord].
This is why the hearts have been classified into three types:
1. The healthy, secure heart which contains no impediment preventing it from accepting the truth, loving it and giving it preference other than its coming to know of it. Therefore its recognition of the truth is correct and it is complete with respect to its submission and acceptance of it.
2. The dead, harsh and dry heart that does not accept the truth nor submit to it.
3. The diseased heart, when its disease predominates than it joins the ranks of the dead and harsh heart but if its soundness predominates it joins the ranks of the truthful and secure heart.
Anything that is directed to the person by Shaytān such as his making him hear certain words, or suggests to the heart such as suspicion and doubt act as a trial for the latter two types of hearts and serve to further strengthen the living, truthful and secure heart.
This is because the living heart rejects all of this, dislikes it and hates it for it knows that the truth opposes it. Therefore it submits to the truth, is satisfied with it and submits to it. It knows the fallacy of that which Shaytān has directed to it and therefore increases with respect to its certainty of the truth, its love of it, its rejection of falsehood and its dislike of it.
However the heart put to trial remains in doubt and dispute concerning what was directed to it by Shaytān. The healthy, secure heart, on the other hand, is not harmed by what Shaytān directs to it.
Hudhyafah bin al-Yamān said that the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) said,
Hence he likened the appearance of trails to the heart to knotting the reeds of a mat, one after the other.
He divided the hearts into two types based on how they react to these trials:
1. A heart that accepts the trials when presented to it in the same way that a sponge soaks in water. Therefore it has a black spot form on it, and it will keep on accepting these trials until it becomes totally black and inverted. This is the meaning of his saying, “like an overturned vessel” i.e. inverted.
a. Its confusion of the good and evil, hence it does not know the good or reject the evil. It is also possible that its disease lead him to believing the good to be evil and the evil to be good, Sunnah to be bid‘ah and bid‘ah to be Sunnah and truth to be falsehood and falsehood to be truth.
b. Its giving precedence to its base desires when seeking judgement rather than that which the Messenger (peace be upon him) came with, its yielding to them and following them.
2. A white heart that has been set ablaze with the light of faith and its niche has been illuminated. When a trial is presented to it, it rejects it and represses it and hence its light, blaze and strength increase.
The trials that are presented to the hearts are the causes of its disease. They are the trials of carnal desires and doubts, the trials of aimless wandering and misguidance, the trials of sins and innovations and the trials of oppression and ignorance.
The first type [i.e. carnal desires] lead to the corruption of desire and intent and the second type [i.e. doubts] lead to the corruption of knowledge and belief.
The Companions (RAM) divided the hearts into four categories as is authentically reported from Hudhayfah bin al-Yamān that the hearts are of four types:
The meaning of his saying, ‘a heart that has solely…’ means a heart that has detached itself of everything besides Allāh and His Messenger. Therefore it has separated and secured itself from everything save the truth.
The meaning of his saying, ‘illuminated by a blazing torch’ refers to the niche of faith. Therefore he indicated by his words, ‘that has solely…’ that is secure from the false doubts and misguiding carnal desires. He indicated by his words, ‘a blazing torch’ that it was set ablaze and illuminated by the light of knowledge and faith.
The ‘encased heart’ refers to the heart of the disbeliever because it is immersed by a veil and covering and hence the light of knowledge and faith cannot reach it. This is as Allāh said, relating from the Jews that they said,
And they say: our hearts are wrapped.[6]
This veil is the covering that Allāh has placed on their hearts by way of punishment for their rejecting the truth and being too arrogant to accept it. Therefore it is a covering upon the hearts, a seal for the ears and a blindness for the eyes. This is the obscuring screen upon the eyes talked about in His saying,
And when you recite the Qur’ān, We out between you and those who believe not in the Hereafter, an obscuring screen. We have put coverings over their hearts lest they should understand it and deafness in their ears.[7]
When the people who have these types of hearts are admonished to purify their Tawhīd and following (ittibā‘), they turn on their heels and run!
The ‘inverted heart’ refers to the heart of the hypocrite as Allāh, the Exalted says,
This means that he causes them to relapse and return to the falsehood that they used to be in due to their earning their invalid and false deeds.
These are the most evil of hearts and the vilest of them for it believes falsehood to be the truth and shows love and allegiance to those who follow it. It also believes the truth to be falsehood and displays enmity to those who follow it. The Aid of Allāh is sought!
The ‘heart that has two urges’ refers to the heart that has not become established upon faith and neither has its torch illuminated it because it has not devoted itself solely to the truth that Allāh sent His Messenger with.
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