The King’s Affair – Introduction

The heart is the king of our body including our mind. We may have not realize it but it is. Can I prove it scientifically? Well I might need to do more research on that.

When we talk about the state of the heart, it is always about our own and not others. The knowledge that we acquire about the heart is for us to analyze and reflect upon ourselves. The moment we use it against others, it just sums up the actual state of our heart.

The Heart is very personal and customized, to the extent that only Allah and one self can judge it. Others cannot do so. Usama bin Zaid R.A was sent in an expedition, he spoke about one man in the battlefield, he said:

“… I saw one of them, he said “laa ilaaha illallah”. I stabbed him, and after that I felt bad and so told Muhammad (saw) what I did. The Prophet (saw) asked: “did he say laa ilaha illallah, and you killed him?” I said: “He said it, but only out of fear for my sword.” He (saw) asked “did you check his heart to see if he believed it?” he kept on repeating that question until I wished that I was not Muslim yet until that day.” [Muslim V-2 P-107]

Usama bin Zaid R.A was dispraised by Prophet Muhammad (SAW) strongly because he judged someone’s intention. It was clearly manifested by the Prophet SAW that when it comes to  matters of the heart it is for Allah to judge. Even the angels do not judge us by our intentions, rather our actions. So who are we to judge others by assuming their intention? Can we conduct an operation, take out their heart and look what is written in it? Certainly not!

Whenever we learn about our heart, it is important to be sincere and true to ourselves because when we know the reality of the heart, it will be the door for syaitaan to come in and tell us how difficult it is to be sincere to our own self. He will paint a picture in your mind that to have a noble heart is actually impossible and so therefore, we should stop wasting time to achieve it.

That is why when judging one’s heart it is important for us to be sincere with ourselves. Wallahi we know our heart and only we can cheat ourselves, but what’s the point? Denying reality? If we cannot be true to ourselves then how can we be true to others? If we are living a lie, what can ensure us that we live our lives upon the truth? How can others trust us when we can’t even trust ourselves?

I would like to remind myself, first and foremost and all of you that the knowledge of the heart is a guideline for us to reflect upon ourselves, not to use it against others. It is not our job to check what’s in other people’s heart. Indeed human are insaan (which comes from the root word; forgetful), we cannot be perfect and we will never be perfect. However, perfect is not a state to achieve, perfect is a journey. We need to constantly strive to be perfect because perfection is the characteristic of Allah SWT, and journey to perfection is journey to be close to Allah SWT.

I ask Allah SWT to forgives us for our previous sins and for Him to turn those sins into good deeds. May Allah guide us and give us a deeper understanding in learning about our heart. May He keep us steadfast, may He make us amongst those who have taqwa to Him and may He grant us hidayah and taufiq for us to implement our knowledge.

"This is an article base on the compilation, and digestion of notes from a lecture entitled Matters of the Heart by Sheikh Saad Tasleem, at Heart Therapy Camp organized by iMuslim."