Heart

The heart is a muscular organ in most animals, which pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. Blood provides the body with oxygen and nutrients, as well as assisting in the removal of metabolic wastes. In humans, the heart is located between the lungs, in the middle compartment of the chest.In humans, other mammals, and birds, the heart is divided into four chambers: upper left and right atria and lower left and right ventricles.

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Forgiveness . Heart . Sin . God (Allah)

I have sinned many times and I subsequently asked for forgiveness from Allah as a result of which I feel a sense of relief in my heart. Is this me forgiving myself or is it a path to being a better Muslim that Allah puts this feeling in us?

Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answered 4 years ago

Seeking forgiveness is compulsory to avoid the dangerous consequences of the sin. Beside its necessity to repair the damage of the sin, it gives a feeling of relief and comfort to the sinner because it is part of remembering Allah which is the only source of peace of mind (Sura 13, Verse 28).

Nevertheless, it does not mean definitely that Allah (SWT) Has forgiven the sin. Allah forgives our sins if we sincerely seek forgiveness and decide not to do it again, and give back the rights of others, but He knows when?

We need always to remember our previous sinful acts and keep on seeking forgiveness.

Wassalam.

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Heart . Faith (Iman) . Death

Can the religious faith of a person become so low that it dies or leaves a person's heart?

It depends on the state of the heart and the love of Allah in the heart. There are faithful persons living the love of Allah in their hearts more than loving anything or anyone else, so they enjoy this love and get ample of blessings and bounties from the love of Allah. Love of Allah makes them always remember Him, obey Him and be with Him.
On the other hand, there are persons who forget Allah and ultimately forget themselves as we read in Quran about the sinners: They forgot Allah, so He let them forget themselves, those are the disobedient) (Sura 59, verse 19).

Faith in the heart can be healthy and it can be ill. Healthy faith can be more healthy (Allah grants more guidance for the guided believers)(Sura 47, verse 17). Unhealthily hearts in faith are caused from wrong thinking, following the evil desires and following Satan. Those who opt to ignore remembering Allah, and insist on turning their face from Allah will be joined by Satan to make them more blind and make their life more miserable.(Whosoever turns his face from remembering Me, his life will difficult and We will raise him up blind on the Day of Resurrection) (Sura 20, verse 124).

Remembering Allah and thinking about His countless bounties on us help us a lot to have a better life with strength and peace of mind. Repeating Estighfaar (Seeking forgiveness) and repeating Salawaat is very useful in gaining peace of mind and spirit.
Sinful acts leave blots on the heart which can be removed by sincere seeking forgiveness, but those who don't seek forgiveness will lose the light in their heart as they commit more sins till their heart can be blotted by their sins.

'We always need to seek from Allah to keep us on the right path and never let us deviate.(Our Lord, Let not our hearts deviate after You Have guided us, and grant us mercy from You, truly You are The Bestower) (Sura 3, verse 8).

Wassalam.

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Heart . Marriage

If one has been coerced into marrying unwillingly, is the Nikah valid upon accepting verbally even though one does not agree or accept it from the heart?

Zaid Alsalami, Shaykh Dr Zaid Alsalami is an Iraqi born scholar, raised in Australia. He obtained a BA from Al-Mustafa University, Qom, and an MA from the Islamic College in London. He also obtained a PhD from... Answered 4 years ago

Bismihi ta'ala

We have addressed this issue a few times, discussing coerced marriage being Islamically invalid and the worst kind of oppression.

The nikah would not be valid, because you are not willingly getting married.

Please see the other answers given on this topic of forced-marriage.

With prayers for your success.

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Love . Heart . Ibadah . God (Allah)

When I am worshipping Allah (SWT) I want to genuinely feel His love in my heart to the point where tears come out of my eyes and I am in awe of Him. How can I feel such genuine and deep love of Allah (SWT)?

Mahmood Abu Maryam, Trying to make sense of it all... Answered 4 years ago

This requires a special understanding and cognition of the reality and continuous presence and grace of God in our lives and the nature of our connection with Him as well as our utter dependence on Him.

You may find useful to watch this recently concluded series of lectures by Sh. Javad Shomali.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QYGGxWb_Cg

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Heart . Qur'an . Ghana . Hifz

I am a student from Ghana and I have a strong desire to memorize the Quran by heart which I keep on trying but it easily vanishes from my heart. What can I do in this situation?

Amina Inloes, Amina Inloes is originally from the US and has a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Exeter on Shi'a hadith. She is the program leader for the MA Islamic Studies program at the... Answer updated 4 years ago

In addition to praying for assistance in learning, I would suggest that perhaps you can try different techniques for learning. For instance, some people memorize well if they memorize to a fixed set of sounds (such as copying someone's recitation from a recording and always reciting it the same way until it is fully memorized). Others memorize well if they visualize the contents of the text well. Some people even use hand gestures with meanings to help with memorizing.

Personally, I find that knowing more about the tafsir of ayat helps me to remember them better, since I am able to put them in place better and understand how they relate to each other.

I heard of someone once who memorized the whole Qur'an during advertisements on TV. He used to sit and watch the news and then, every day during the advertisements, memorize an ayah or two. So sometimes having small habits during the day to practice can also be helpful, in addition to longer sessions.

I also find that if I wish to remember something, repeating it while I am doing something else (walking, cooking, etc) helps me to review it in such a way that it is remembered better, because it needs to come out while I am distracted and not focusing on it. Inshallah this is not disrespectful to the Qur'an, but just suggesting it as a possibility.

I am sure there are also other techniques.

I am sure you will get more suggestions from others, but I just thought I would share those.

Also to repeat what you already know daily or as often as possible helps.

Sometimes the challenge with remembering is just due to age, since children are blessed to remember almost everything they see and hear, alas, this capacity sometimes wanes with age while at the same time we grow more busy and our minds full of many other things. So this is another reason to try new techniques. Inshallah Allah will help.

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Sin . Heart . Evil . Mind . Qabd al-yadayn

Is it ever possible for a person to commit a sin inside his heart such as from evil thoughts crossing into their mind that they cannot control?

Zoheir Ali Esmail, Shaykh Zoheir Ali Esmail has a Bsc in Accounting and Finance from the LSE in London, and an MA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University. He studied Arabic at Damascus University and holds a PhD... Answered 4 years ago

Bismillah

Evil thoughts especially when they are not within a person's control are not considered sins. The best way to rid yourself of these thoughts is to absolutely ignore them. They will become less and less until they fade away completely. They are not really what you think but something that just crosses your mind and they should be treated as such. If it has reached the stage when you cannot help making yourself think these things then again the best remedy is not to punish yourself at all, but to completely ignore them as if they did not even occur. Over time it will pass.

May you always be successful

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Heart . Mind . God (Allah)

If Allah seems to give you a hint in your heart that something is right for you, but your mind does not agree, then what should you do?

Maybe it is good to talk to someone wise and trustworthy since the believers are encouraged to take advice from each other, so that this can help you make the best decision and figure out why your heart and mind are having different opinions.

If it is possible to explore or further investigate the option you are thinking about, without committing anything haraam or causing any harm to yourself or others, perhaps that might also shed some light on it.

For some things in life of course we don't know about them until we do them.

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Heart . Qur'an . God (Allah)

If the Prophet (pbuh) had the Quran in his heart and knew all the verses before their revelation why did he feel sad when unbelievers mocked him and then felt at ease when Allah (swt) comforted him as in the case of Surah Kawthar or Surah Duha?

The Quraan had Inzaal

إنزال which is the whole revelation in one time as we read in Surah Al Qadr “Inna An Zalnaho Fi Lailatil Qadr” , and there is Tanzeel “Tanzeelul Kitaabe Minal Lahel Azeezil Hakeem”.Sura al-Zumar, verse 1.
Tanzeel is the gradual revelation of the Quranic verses according to the different situations.
Inzaal is revealing the whole Quraan in one time.
Inzaal on the heart of The Prophet happened on Laylatul Qadr.
Tanzeel on The Prophet took about 23 years gradually.
Tanzeel which is the gradual revelation of Quraan on the Prophet (SAWA) is the explanation of your question.
Every situation which required revelation the Tanzeel (the gradual revelation) was responding to it which comes accordingly. Prophet was sad because of the evil acts of the enemies of Allah and was a happy when seeing the victory of the religion of Allah and the followers of Islam . It is according to the Tanzeel (the gradual revelation).
Wassalam.

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Polytheism . Heart . God (Allah) . Tawhid

When I was 11 or so I heard a family member say something that was clearly Shirk but I repeated the exact same words. Does that mean I have committed polytheism although I believe with all my heart in Allah and Tawheed?

If you repeated the wrong words of others with out intention of its meanings of Shirk, you are not a Mushrik. Your faith is what is in your heart. Still you need to repeat Estighfaar for saying something wrong.

Wassalam.

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Heart . Mosque

There is a saying in my locality that breaking someone's heart is equivalent to breaking a mosque. Is this an authentic saying in Islam?

Yes, we have a Hadeeth from the Prophet (SAWA) narrated by Imam Jafar Al-Sadiq (AS): Hurting the heart of a believer is worse than breaking down the Ka'bah into rubbles.

Wassalam.

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Soul . Heart

What is the difference between Ruh (soul) and Qalb (heart)?

Syed Nabi Raza Abidi, Syed Nabi Raza Abidi is based in the US and has a PhD in Theology and Philosophy having attended Howzah in Iran for several years. His research was conducted under the guidance of Ayatollah Ja... Answered 5 years ago

Salamoanlaykum

May Allah bless you and your family.

Scholars of different disciplines use these terms in different ways. In a loose sense, they refer to the same reality – the source of life which is inanimate and eternal. The exact sense will depend on in which context it the term is used.

Muhaqqiq Narāqī in his famous book of ethics, Jamiʿ al-Saʿādāt states, “The soul (nafs) is that heavenly essence which employs the body and uses its various organs to attain its goals and purposes. The soul has also other names as spirit (ruh), intelligence (`aql), and heart (qalb) although these terms have other usages as well.”

Shahīd Muṭahharī indicates that these terms are used distinctly in ʿIrfān based on the qualities of the soul: “The 'urafa' have different words for the human soul; sometimes they call it nafs (self), sometimes qalb (heart), sometimes ruh (spirit) and sometimes sirr (mystery). When the human soul is dominated and ruled by desires and passions they call it nafs. When it reaches the stage of bearing Divine knowledge, it is called qalb. When the light of Divine love dawns within it, they call it ruh.”

In the Qurʾān the terms Qalb and Nafs are used much more often than the term Rūḥ; Rūḥ is also sometimes used to refer to the Holy Spirit or to ʿIsā (ʿa)

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Heart . Salah (Prayers)

What is the best way to concentrate and have complete presence of heart in our prayers? What should one think of while praying and what are the recommended acts in Salah to help perfect it?

Bismillah

Thank you for your question. Having complete concentration in every prayer is a station that takes time and much effort to arrive at. It is a journey that has many aspects to it, and it cannot be rushed. Here are a few basic aspects that can be started with:

1) know the meaning of what you are saying

2) create conditions which aid concentration such as praying in a quite place and without being in any kind of rush to do something else straight after

3) know the philosophy of why you are praying and pray out of understanding rather than routine

4) work on a natural type of concentration and do not rush to force a concentration that is solely a facet of the mind. There are other states in prayer that are the cause for absorption.

5) work on purifying the self and experiencing God's presence at all times.

6) try to not pray on a full stomach or when you need the bathroom

May you always be successful