The
Four Poisons of the Heart
From the works of Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali, Ibn Al-Qayyim
al-Jawziyya, and Imam Ghazali RA
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"And keep yourself (O Muhammad!) patiently
with those who call on their Lord (your companions who remember
their Lord with glorification, praising in prayers, etc.,
and other righteous deeds, etc.) morning and afternoon, seeking
His Face, and let not your eyes overlook them, desiring the
pomp and glitter the life of the world; and obey not him whose
heart We have made heedless of Our Remembrance, one who follows
his own lusts and whose affair (deeds) has been lost."
The Noble Quran: 18:28.
All
acts of disobedience are poison to the heart and cause it
sickness and ruin. They result in its will running off course,
against that of Allah, and so its sickness festers and increases.
Ibn al-Mubarak said: I have seen wrong actions killing hearts,
and their degradation may lead to their becoming addicted
to them. Turning away from wrong actions gives life to the
hearts, and opposing your self is best for it. Whoever is
concerned with the health and life of his heart, must rid
it of the effects of such poisons, and then protect it by
avoiding new ones. If he takes any by mistake, then he should
hasten to wipe out their effect by turning in repentance and
seeking forgiveness from Allah, as well as by doing good deeds
that will wipe out his wrong actions.
By
the four poisons we mean: unnecessary talking, unrestrained
glances, too much food, and keeping bad company . Of all the
poisons, these are the most widespread and have the greatest
effect on a heart's well-being.
Unnecessary
Talking
It is reported in al-Musnad, on the authority of
Anas RA that Rasulullah SAW said: "The faith of a servant
is not put right until his heart is put right, and his heart
is not put right until his tongue is put right."
1.
This shows that Rasulullah SAW has made the purification of
faith conditional on the purification of the heart and the
purification of the heart conditional on the purification
of the tongue.
2. At-Tirmidhi relates in a Hadith on the authority of Ibn
Umar: "Do not talk excessively without remembering Allah,
because such excessive talk without the mention of Allah causes
the heart to harden, and the person furthest from Allah is
a person with a hard heart."
3. Umar Ibn al-Khattab RA said: "A person who talks too
much is a person who often makes mistakes, and someone who
often makes mistakes, often has wrong actions. The Fire has
a priority over such a frequent sinner."
Unrestrained
Glances
The unrestrained glance results in the one who looks
becoming attracted to what he sees, and in the imprinting
of an image of what he sees in his heart. This can result
in several kinds of corruption. The following are a number
of them:
14.
It has been related that Rasulullah SAW once said words to
the effect: "The glance is a poisoned arrow of shaytan.
Whoever lowers his gaze for Allah, He will bestow upon him
a refreshing sweetness which he will find in his heart on
the day that he meets Him."
Shaytan
enters with the glance, for he travels with it, faster than
the wind blowing through an empty place. He makes what is
seen appear more beautiful than it really is, and transforms
it into an idol for the heart to worship. Then he promises
it false rewards, lights the fire of desires within it, and
fuels it with the wood of forbidden actions, which the servant
would not have committed had it not been for this distorted
image. This distracts the heart and makes it forget its more
important concerns. It stands between it and them; and so
the heart loses its straight path and falls into the pit of
desire and ignorance.
Keeping
Bad Company
Unnecessary companionship is a chronic disease that
causes much harm. How often have the wrong kind of companionship
and intermixing deprived people of Allah's generosity, planting
discord in their hearts which even the passage of time-even
if it were long enough for mountains to be worn away-has been
unable to dispel. In keeping such company one can find the
roots of loss, both in this life and in the next life. One
should benefit from companionship. In order to do so one should
divide people into four categories, and be careful not to
get them mixed up, for once one of them is mixed with another,
and then evil can find its way through to him.
The
first category is those people whose company is like food:
it is indispensable, night or day. Once a servant has taken
his need from it, he leaves it until he requires it again,
and so on. These are the people with knowledge of Allah-of
His commands, of the scheming of His enemies, and of the diseases
of the heart and their remedies- who wish well for Allah,
His Prophet (s) and His servants. Associating with this type
of person is an achievement in itself.
The
second category are those people whose company is like a medicine.
They are only required when a disease sets in. When you are
healthy, you have no need of them. However, mixing with them
is sometimes necessary for your livelihood, businesses, consultation
and the like. Once what you need from them has been fulfilled,
mixing with them should be avoided.
The
third category are those people whose company is harmful.
Mixing with this type of person is like a disease, in all
its variety and degrees and strengths and weaknesses. Associating
with one or some of them is like an incurable chronic disease.
You will never profit either in this life or in the next life
if you have them for company, and you will surely lose either
one or both of your Deen and your livelihood because of them.
If their companionship has taken hold of you and is established,
then it becomes a fatal, terrifying sickness.
Amongst
such people are those who neither speak any good that might
benefit you, nor listen closely to you so that they might
benefit from you. They do not know their souls and consequently
put their selves in their rightful place. If they speak, their
words fall on their listeners' hearts like the lashes of a
cane, while all the while they are full of admiration for
and delight in their own words. They cause distress to those
in their company, while believing that they are the sweet
scent of the gathering. If they are silent, they are heavier
than a massive millstone-too heavy to carry or even drag across
the floor.
All
in all, mixing with anyone who is bad for the soul will not
last, even if it is unavoidable. It can be one of the most
distressing aspects of a servant's life that he is plagued
by such person, with whom it may be necessary to associate.
In such a relationship, a servant should cling to good behaviour,
only presenting him with his outward appearance, while disguising
his inner soul, until Allah offers him a way out of his affliction
and the means of escape from this situation.
The
fourth category are those people whose company is doom itself.
It is like taking poison: its victim either finds an antidote
or perishes. Many people belong to this category. They are
the people of religious innovation and misguidance, those
who abandon the sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws) and
advocate other beliefs. They call what is the sunnah a bid'a
and vice-versa. A man with any intellect should not sit in
their assemblies nor mix with them. The result of doing so
will either be the death of his heart or, at the very best,
its falling seriously ill. |