18th August 2014
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Introduction | Meaning and Importance
Purification of the Heart | Tazkiyyah Lessons تزكية
Definition of Tazkiyyah
Tazkiyyah comes from the word ‘Zakah’.
Zakah is to purify and to grow. Just like a plant is ‘pruned’ and the dead diseased parts are cut off, to allow the new shoots to grow and blossom into beautiful flowers. This is what Tazkiyyah does. It cleanses the heart and Nafs [self] from sin, and Taqwa and Imaan blossom. Therefore Tazkiyyah means to purify oneself and develop closeness to Allah.
Purification should take place every day of the life of the Muslim every minute and every moment. Many aspects of the human life need to be cleansed, hence there are different types of ‘Tazkiyyah’, such as ‘Tazkiyyah tul Jism’ Purification of the body, ‘Tazkiyyah tul Kalaam’ Purification of speech etc.
These lessons will concentrate on purification of the Self: Tazkiyyah-tul Nafs and Matharat Al-Qulub; Purification of the heart. The reason we speak of the heart is because it is the core of the human being, once the heart is purified the Nafs will be purified also.
"He is successful who purifies himself, and remembers the name of his Lord, and so prays." (Surah 87:14-15)
“The day that neither wealth nor sons will be of any benefit except for he who comes to Allah with a pure heart.” [Holy Qur’an, Surah Ash-Shu’a’ara 26:89]
Success for the believer is purifying himself of all evil and sins, purifying all aspects of his life. His words, his actions, his thoughts and intentions, his inner and outer self.
The Messenger of God (ﷺ) was asked, "Who are the best of men?" He replied, "Every believer whose heart is cleansed." They asked, "What is the cleansed heart?" He answered, "It is the god-fearing pure heart, in which there is no fraud, nor wickedness, nor betrayal, nor hatred, nor envy."
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Cleanliness is half of faith (Iman).” [Sahih Muslim]
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “Taqwa is here,” and he pointed to his chest. [Muslim, Tirmidhi, Ahmad]
What is the Heart?
When we speak of the heart in Islam we refer to the spiritual heart which is within the physical heart. Man is made up of the body ‘Jism’, the soul ‘Ruh’ and his ‘Nafs’, the heart is connected to all three.
Many religions and cultures believe in a ‘spiritual’ heart. We often even use phrases such as ‘He has a hard heart’ or a ‘cold heart’ for cruel people. You will have also heard people say ‘soft hearted’, ‘open hearted’ or ‘big hearted.’ What we mean by this is how someone thinks, feels and responds.
In Islam our mind is within our heart; this is where we make decisions, think and feel.
Scientists have actually discovered the physical heart has its own intelligence and functions without the brain; it follows its own orders. The heart beats in the foetus before the brain is fully formed. And in surgeries where the brain has been removed the heart still beats. The heart is a source of knowledge and knows when you sin. Wrong actions irritate the heart.
Ibn Taymiyyah said ‘Doctors and philosophers have said that the mind is in the brain, so we think and understand with our brains and not with our hearts.’ He then said that the centre is actually the heart. Ibn Katheer said: The arrogant philosophers say that the mind is in the brain. [Tafsir ibn Kathir Vol 4]
Qalb is the general word for heart and the root word means something that turns around, something that changes easily. When Allah (swt) refers to Iman and the diseases of the heart, He uses the word Qalb. Sadr and Fu’aad are also used for the heart. There are over 30 words for heart in Arabic!
In Islam we actually believe this metaphorical heart to be real and very important to look after and cleanse. Allah swt describes certain evil doers in the Qur’an as hard hearted, black hearted, and similarly pious people with cleansed hearts.
Allah says, “Then, after that, your hearts were hardened and became as stones or even worse in hardness.” [Al-Baqarah 2:74]
Three Types of Heart
- Muslim’s heart; this is alive and constantly remembering Allah.
- Hypocrites heart; it is diseased.
- Kafir’s heart, this heart is dead and has rust over it.
References
1. The Holy Qur’an
2. Sahih Ahadith
3. Matharat Al-Qulub ‘Purification of the Heart’ [Imam Al-Mawlud]
Translated by Sheikh Hamza Yusuf
4. Iyha Ulum Udeen [Imam Ghazali]
5. ‘A Heart Serene’ course notes [Riadh Oarzi]
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