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| The Four Poisons Of The
Heart al Ghazâlî You should know that all acts of
disobedience are poison to the heart and cause its sickness and ruin. They
result in its will running off course, against that of Allâh, and so its
sickness festers and increases. Ibn al-Mubârak said: I have seen wrong actions killing hearts, 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 Allâh, 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, that the Prophet said: At-Tirmidhî relates in a hadîth on the
authority of Ibn ‘Umar: ‘Umar Ibn al-Khattab, may Allâh be
pleased with him, said: In a hadîth related on the authority of
Mu‘âdh, the Prophet said, What is meant here by ‘the harvest of the
tongues’ is the punishment for saying forbidden things. A man, through
his actions and words, sows the seeds of either good or evil. On the Day
of Resurrection he harvests their fruits. Those who sow the seeds of good
words and deeds harvest honour and blessings; those who sow the seeds of
evil words and deeds reap only regret and remorse. A hadîth related by Abû Huraira
says, Abû Huraira also related that the
Messenger of Allâh said, The same hadîth was transmitted by at-Tirmidhî
with slight variations: Uqba ibn Amîr said: “I said: ‘O
Messenger of Allâh, what is our best way of surviving?’ He, may Allâh
bless him and grant him peace, replied: ‘Guard your tongue, make your
house suffice for sheltering your privacy, and weep for your wrong
actions.’”[8] It has been related on the authority of
Sahl ibn Sa‘d that the Prophet said, It has also been related by Abu Huraira,
may Allâh be pleased with him, that the Prophet, may Allâh bless him and
grant him peace, said, Thus talking can either be good, in which
case it is commendable, or bad, in which case it is harâm. The Prophet
said: “Everything the children of Adam say goes against them,
except for their enjoining good and forbidding evil, and remembering Allâh,
Glorious and Might is He.” This was reported by at-Tirmidhî and Ibn Mâjah
on the authority of Umm Habîba, may Allah be pleased with her.[11] Umar ibn al-Khattâb visited Abû Bakr, may
Allâh be pleased with them, and found him pulling his tongue with his
fingers. Umar said “Stop! may Allah forgive you!” Abû Bakr replied;
“This tongue has brought me to dangerous places.”[12] Abdullâh ibn Mas‘ûd said: “By Allâh,
besides Whom no god exists, nothing deserves a long prison sentence more
than my tongue.” He also used to say: “O tongue, say good and you will
profit; desist from saying evil things and you will be safe; otherwise you
will find only regret.” Abu Huraira reported that Ibn al-Abbâs
said: “A person will not feel greater fury or anger for any part of his
body on the Day of Judgement more than what he will feel for his tongue,
unless he only used it for saying or enjoining good.” Al-Hassan said: “Whoever does not hold
his tongue cannot understand his dîn.” The least harmful of a tongue’s faults is
talking about whatever does not concern it. The following hadîth of the
Prophet is enough to indicate
the harm of this fault: “One of the merits of a person’s Islâm is his
abandoning what does not concern him.”[13] Abu Ubaida related that al-Hassan said:
“One of the signs of Allâh’s abandoning a servant is His making him
preoccupied with what does not concern him.” Sahl said, “Whoever talks about what does
not concern him is deprived of truthfulness.” As we have already mentioned above, this is the least harmful of the tongue’s faults. There are far worse things, like backbiting, gossiping, obscene and misleading talk, two-faced and hypocritical talk, showing off, quarrelling, bickering, singing, lying, mockery, derision and falsehood; and there are many more faults which can affect a servant’s tongue, ruining his heart and causing him to lose both his happiness and pleasure in this life, and his success and profit in the next life. Allah is the One to Whom we turn for assistance. 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 in the heart of the servant. The following are a number of
them: It has been related that the Prophet
once said words to the effect: “The glance is a poisoned arrow of
shaytân. Whoever lowers his gaze for Allâh, He will bestow upon him a
refreshing sweetness which he will find in his heart on the day that he
meets Him.”[14] Shaytân 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. The unrestrained gaze causes all three
afflictions. It has been said that between the eye and
the heart is an immediate connection; if the eyes are corrupted, then the
heart follows. It becomes like a rubbish heap where all the dirt and filth
and rottenness collect, and so there is no room for love for Allâh,
relating all matters to Him, awareness of being in His presence, and
feeling joy at His proximity - only the opposite of these things can
inhabit such a heart. Staring and gazing without restraint is
disobedience to Allâh: Only the one who obeys Allâh’s commands
is content in this world, and only the servant who obeys Allâh will
survive in the next world. Furthermore, letting the gaze roam free
cloaks the heart with darkness, just as lowering the gaze for Allâh
clothes it in light. After the above ayah, Allâh, the Glorious and
Mighty, says in the same sûrah of the Qur’ân: “Allâh is the light of the heavens and
the earth: the likeness of His light is as if there were a niche, and in
the niche is a lamp, and in the lamp is a glass, and the glass as it were
a brilliant star, lit from a blessed tree, an olive, neither of the east
nor of the west, whose oil is well nigh luminous, though fire scarce
touched it. Light upon light. Allâh guides whomever He wants to His
Light. Allâh strikes metaphors for man; and Allâh knows all things.”
(24:35) When the heart is a light, countless good
comes to it from all directions. If it is dark, then clouds of evil and
afflictions come from all directions to cover it up. Letting the gaze run loose also makes the
heart blind to distinguishing between truth and falsehood, between the
sunnah and innovation; while lowering it for Allâh, the Might and
Exalted, gives it a penetrating, true and distinguishing insight. A righteous man once said: “Whoever
enriches his outward behaviour by following the sunnah, and makes his
inward soul wealthy through contemplation, and averts his gaze away from
looking at what is forbidden, and avoids anything of a doubtful nature,
and feeds solely on what is halâl - his inner sight will never falter.” Rewards for actions come in kind. Whoever
lowers his gaze from what Allâh has forbidden, Allâh will give his inner
sight abundant light. Too Much Food The consumption of small amounts of food
guarantees tenderness of the heart, strength of the intellect, humility of
the self, weakness of desires, and gentleness of temperament. Immoderate
eating brings about the opposite of these praiseworthy qualities. Al-Miqdâm ibn Ma’d Yakrib said: “I
heard the Messenger of Allâh say:
“The son of Adam fills no vessel more displeasing to Allâh than his
stomach. A few morsels should be enough for him to preserve his strength.
If he must fill it, then he should allow a third for his food, a third for
his drink and leave a third empty for easy breathing.”[15] Excessive eating induces many kinds of
harm. It makes the body incline towards disobedience to Allâh and makes
worship and obedience seem laborious - such evils are bad enough in
themselves. A full stomach and excessive eating have caused many a wrong
action and inhibited much worship. Whoever safeguards against the evils of
overfilling his stomach has prevented great evil. It is easier for shaytân
to control a person who has filled his stomach with food and drink, which
is why it has often been said: “Restrict the pathways of shaytân by
fasting.”[16] It has been reported that when a group of
young men from the Tribe of Israel were worshipping, and it was time for
them to break their fast, a man stood up and said: “Do not eat too much,
otherwise you will drink too much, and then you will end up sleeping too
much, and then you will lose too much.” The Prophet
and his companions, may Allâh be pleased with them, used to go
hungry quite frequently. Although this was often due to a shortage of
food, Allâh decreed the best and most favourable conditions for His
Messenger, may Allâh bless him and grant him peace. This is why Ibn Umar
and his father before him - in spite of the abundance of food available to
them -modelled their eating habits on those of the Prophet . It has been
reported that Aisha, may Allâh be pleased with her, said: “From the
time of their arrival in Madîna up until his death , the family of
Muhammad never ate their fill of
bread made from wheat three nights in a row.”[17] Ibrâhîm ibn Adham said: “Any one who controls his stomach is in control of his dîn, and anyone who controls his hunger is in control of good behaviour. Disobedience towards Allah is nearest to a person who is satiated with a full stomach, and furthest away from a person who is hungry.” 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 Allâh’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. A servant should benefit from
companionship. In order to do so he should divide people into four
categories, and be careful not to get them mixed up, for once one of them
is mixed with another, then evil can find its way through to him: The first category
are 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 be
until he requires it again, and so on. These are the people with knowledge
of Allâh - of His commands, of the scheming of His enemies, and of the
diseases of the heart and their remedies - who wish well for Allâh, His
Prophet 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 dîn 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 [18] 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
Allâh 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 Allâh
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. What Gives the Heart Life and Sustenance You should know that acts of obedience are
essential to the well being of the servant's heart, just in the same way
that food and drink are to that of the body. All wrong actions are the
same as poisonous foods, and they inevitably harm the heart. The servant feels the need to worship his
Lord, Mighty and Glorious is He, for he is naturally in constant need of
His help and assistance. In order to maintain the well being of his
body, the servant carefully follows a strict diet. He habitually and
constantly eats good food at regular intervals, and is quick to free his
stomach of harmful elements if he happens to eat bad food by mistake. The well being of the servant’s heart,
however, is far more important than that of his body, for while the well
being of his body enables him to lead a life that is free from illnesses
in this world, that of the heart ensures him both a fortunate life in this
world and eternal bliss in the next. In the same way, while the death of the
body cuts the servant off from this world, the death of the heart results
in everlasting anguish. A righteous man once said, “How odd, that some
people mourn for the one whose body has died, but never mourn for the one
whose heart has died – and yet the death of the heart is far more
serious!” Thus acts of obedience are indispensable to the well being of the heart. It is worthwhile mentioning the following acts of obedience here, since they are very necessary and essential for the servant’s heart: Dhikr of Allâh ta‘Ala, recitation of the Noble Qur’ân, seeking Allâh’s forgiveness, making du‘â, invoking Allâh’s blessings and peace on the Prophet, may Allâh bless him and grant him peace, and praying at night. Notes: [1] Da‘îf hadîth, Al-Mundhari, 3/234;
and al-Iraqi in al-Ihya, 8/1539. Source: |