|
Spiritual
Health
By Dr. Muzammil H.
Siddiqi
[By
the Soul, and the proportion and order given to it; and its
enlightenment as to its wrong and its right; truly he succeeds that
purifies it, and he fails that corrupts it!]
(Ash-Shams 91:7-10)
[But
those will prosper who purify themselves.]
(Al-A`la 87:14)
We human beings do not have only
our body and mind; we also have a soul. The soul is sometimes
described as spirit (ruh) or heart (qalb). We know
that our heart has physical functions, but there is no scientific
evidence to prove that it does not have any spiritual functions. The
soul probably resides in the heart or is attached to it. The soul is
the inner dimension of our being. It is related to the body and mind
as well, but it has its own being and existence, most probably, in
or near the heart.
Spiritual health is as important,
if not more, as the physical and mental health. On the physical and
mental health depend our meaningful life and success in this world,
but on the spiritual health depends our success and salvation both
in this world and in the hereafter.
Imam Ghazali in his book Ihya’
says that every organ of our body has a function; when it fails to
do its function, it means it is not well. The function of the soul
or the spiritual heart is to know its Creator, to love Him, and to
seek closeness to Him. If the heart fails in this function then we
must know that it is sick.
It is important to know the
ailments that make the heart weak and sick. In the language of the
Qur’an, it is not only the eyes that get blind; the hearts also
become blind.
[Do
they not travel through the land, so that their hearts may thus
learn wisdom and their ears may thus learn to hear? Truly it is not
their eyes that are blind, but their hearts that are in their
breasts.]
(Al-Hajj 22:46)
The Qur’an has spoken in many
places about the sickness of the hearts. Allah says in the Qur’an:
[In
their hearts is a disease; and Allah has increased their disease:
and grievous is the penalty they (incur), because they are false (to
themselves).]
(Al-Baqarah 2:10)
When the heart gets sick, it loses
its desire and ability to do right and good deeds. This affects the
morals and manners of a person and his general behavior. What are
the major diseases that affect the hearts? And how can we take
precaution? And what are the cures in case one is affected with
these ailments? Following are some of the diseases of the hearts:
1. Arrogance and conceit (al-kibr
wa al-ghurur)
2. Ostentation (ar-riya’)
3. Jealousy or envy, hate and
deceit (al-hasad, al-hiqd, al-ghish)
4.
Suspicion (su’ az-zann)
5.
Anger (al-ghadab)
6. Stinginess (al-bukhl)
7. Love of power, money, position,
and fame (jah)
These are called “diseases of the
heart” (amrad al-qalb), and they lead to major sins if they
are not controlled and carefully treated. In the Qur’an and Sunnah
and in the spiritual writings of Muslim scholars such Al-Ghazali and
Ibn Al-Qayyim Al-Jawziyah, we find a lot of discussion for the
treatment of these ailments.
Arrogance and conceit stem from
egotism and overestimation of oneself and one’s abilities or
merits. This leads sometimes to the denial of the Creator, as
happened to Satan. The best treatment of this disease is to
cultivate modesty. We have to remind ourselves always that we are
the servants and slaves of Allah. We totally depend on Him for our
being and existence.
Ostentation is called “hidden
idolatry” (ash-shirk al-khafiyy). It is a desire to show
off and seek praises from others. It takes away sincerity and
seriousness to pursue one’s goals and objectives. When a person
becomes too much involved with ostentation, he becomes shallow and
superficial. It may also lead to hypocrisy. The best cure for it is
to check the intention (niyyah) before any action. A believer
must remind himself that his work is for the sake of Allah alone.
Jealousy, envy, hate, and deceit
stem from the lack of respect, mercy, and love for others. A jealous
person does not like to see others happy, successful, and
prosperous. Very often jealousy and envy lead to hate, deceit, and
violence. The best treatment is to have positive envy by competing
with others in acts of goodness and use this as an incentive to
achieve more and better.
Suspicion comes from lack of trust
and confidence in others. Allah says in the Qur’an [Some
suspicion is sin.]
Suspicion creates cynicism and takes away hope and optimism.
Suspicious persons or cynics are those who, when they see actions
and hear some words that have the possibility of being positive or
negative, they take the negative and evil. Suspicion sometimes also
leads to violence. It is good to be cautious and careful, but we
must keep our attitude positive. If we want to be trusted, we must
trust others as well.
Anger is given to human beings as a
mechanism for self-defense, but if it is not properly controlled, it
becomes very destructive. In the Hadith it is called “fire.” The
Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said that when you get
angry change your environment, change your position, and drink some
water. Imam Ghazali said, “Love of Allah extinguishes the fire of
anger.”
Stinginess is a terrible disease.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taught us to seek
Allah’s refuge from stinginess. Stinginess stems from selfishness,
materialism, and too much love of this world. It means lack of care
and consideration for others. It holds people from fulfilling their
duties and recognizing the rights of others. It leads sometimes to
cheating and dishonesty. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon
him) said, “Be aware of stinginess. It destroyed many nations
before you. It made them to shed the blood of each other and
misappropriate what was sacrosanct.” (Muslim, 2578)
Love of jah — that is, the
extreme desire for money, power, position, and fame — is another
major disease of the heart. This is also called in the Qur’an and
Hadith as “love of this world” (hubb ad-dunya). In a
hadith it is reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon
him) said, “Two hungry wolves in a herd of sheep are not as
destructive and harmful as the love of money and extravagance are
for the religion of a person.” (At-Tirmidhi 2376)
The cure for this is to remind
oneself always that this world is fitnah (a test and trial)
and the real world is the Hereafter.
Spiritual health comes with our
sincere devotion to Allah with prayers, reading of the Qur’an, and
being in the company of the good people. May Allah keep us all in
good physical, mental, and spiritual health. Ameen.
(Khutbah at Islamic Center
of Orange County
, Garden Grove
,
California
, 25 Jumada Awwal 1424/25
July 2003)
http://www.pakistanlink.com
|
