MashaAllah, TabarakAllah
I just completed reading the book titled "The Commentary on Ibn Taymiyyah's Essay on the Heart by Dr Bilal Philips" and I just love it. I just have to share it here! I bought the copy from Dakwah Bookstore and I wasn't expecting that it took me so long to finish reading it for I was soaked with every lines and sentences and did reflect each of them of my own pace.
If any of the readers are looking for the brief manual of the purpose of heart, this is just perfect enough for you to start with.
The opening paragraph telling readers that the purpose of human heart is to know things says it all. Heart reflects who we are and where we are going.
It is agreeable by many that heart is where all begins. And having to be able to read what Ibn Taymiyyah said and the explanation by Dr Bilal, I knew right away that I have to own this book and read it instantaneously. I just have to!
I'm not sure whether the medical terms for heart is referring to the spiritual terms of heart. As a matter of fact, in Bahasa Malaysia itself, the word qalb, قلب, in Arabic if were to translate it to Malay would mean kalbu, which is the soul / spiritual, where the emotions and feelings originated from. As for the literal meaning of heart in Bahasa Malaysia, it is called hati (which is to be translated as liver) while the physical heart (that pumps blood to the body and so forth) is known as jantung.
Don't ask me for any conclusion or why I'm telling you this. I don't know. Yet, I am still wondering if the medical scholars would agree with the Islamic scholars that the heart that pumps blood is also the heart that has emotion that able to react to oneself.
Purpose of the Heart
Back to Ibn Taymiyyah's thoughts. It is interesting when he wrote that heart main purpose is to know things. In my layman understanding, heart in oneself is the one who is doing the thinking, which not surprising
What is the things that heart needs to know? The truth ~ and the ultimate truth is Allah. Use it the proper way. Use it to please Allah for that would be the only way to ensure that the heart serves it purpose and be used rightfully.
As Ibn Taymiyyah put in, an unused (or even under-utilised) heart are those of who are cheating oneself. Imagine if you have a tool that requires you to know things, to know the truth, but you don't utilised it to the max, would just get back at you! You opt for 'making life easy' and for your own pleasure, and not to learn the truth and serves it, you are nothing less than a cheater, a hypocrite to your ownself.
On the other hand, for the one who contradicts its usage which is to know the truth, are risking more harm. These people are those would have the tendency to be misguided or even worse on their way to their own self-destruction.
Heart is the master of all the limbs that makes our body functions. It is the heart that would be the head while the limbs are the armies that follow suit. Being the master, it is equipped with conscience, which comprises of inner thoughts, outer actions and alerts systems. A master should be able to identify good or bad inner thoughts that would brings out correct or incorrect outer actions. This would tie back to the knowledge of the master.
A heart that is used in a proper way, would bring good to the person. Every one of us is given the conscience that would result on how we should use our heart. On top of that, it also come with guidance and alert system. Should one have good inner thoughts, trigger correction actions, aware of the warning and be mindful of it, it would direct him / her to know the right & true things which would be oneself to being righteous. Alternately, a bad inner thoughts that trigger incorrect actions and not aware or some might aware but ignore the warning, would bring a person to blindness and should he / she never repents could make himself / herself be in the wrong.
So, what would be appropriate to be the purpose of the heart? The medical doctors are telling us that mind that thinks are the brain, the philosophers are saying mind is in the heart and Ibn Taymiyyah states that the purpose of the heart is to know and have knowledge that are true and no doubt the ultimate truth is Allah.
A heart with righteous conscience that know the truth would be filled with good inner thoughts and reflects correct outer actions. The warning alert in the heart would be activate should there's any 'deviations' and one should be able to be aware of the alert and act upon it, or purely unaware, or even worst ignore the alert.
As the hadith goes:
On the authority of Abu 'Abdullah al-Nu'man bin Bashir RA who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah SAW say:
"The halal is clear and the haram is clear, and between them are matters unclear that are unknown to most people. Whoever is wary of these unclear matters has absolved his religion and honor. And whoever indulges in them has indulged in the haram. It is like a shepherd who herds his sheep too close to preserved sanctuary, and they will eventually graze in it. Every king has a sanctuary, and the sanctuary of Allah is what He has made haram. There lies within the body a piece of flesh. If it is sound, the whole body is sound; and if it is corrupted, the whole body is corrupted. Verily this piece is the heart." [Bukhari & Muslim]
May we be guided to serve the heart that within us with the right purpose. Allahumma ameen
Disclaimer: The notes are sharing from the Book "The Commentary on Ibn Taymiyyah's Essay on the Heart by Dr Bilal Philips"
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