In our world of knowledge and wisdom, the "heart" remains one of the most misunderstood organs in our body. There has been much research done on this subject and people have written various books about it from both physiological and spiritual points of view. Those holding fast to the physiological explanation see the heart as nothing more than a power plant for biological processing, while those that view the heart as a spiritual organ see it as an emotional place that can be opened to discover secrets from the spiritual world. However, our Creator, Who has created everything in pairs, has created our heart with a dual structure: one part material and the other part spiritual.

In this month's Soul Booster, Mawlana Faizani gives us one clear definition to the ultimate center of man's consciousness, intelligence, seat of intention, and to his inmost reality called the "heart" (dil, qalb), based on the sound integrity of the Holy Qur'an and the Hadith of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

About the House of the Soul, Ego, Angel and the Devil

The Heart: "The location of action for both powers of the Soul and the Ego, or the Angel and the Devil, respectively, is the Heart, the Steering Wheel or Computer of the body."

— by Mawlana Faizani
Knowing Oneself - Knowing God

An Interpretation:

In this definition Mawlana Faizani is informing us that our heart is the "location of action", or a region where battles are being fought by the powers of the Soul and the Ego; a great arena to the battles waged between Angel and Devil. The heart is the location of action where two separate missions of "good" and "evil" clash; each side (one "good" and the other "evil") are repetitively templating operational procedures to win over the capital city of the body - the heart.

If the Soul with the assistance from the Angel becomes victorious in this struggle, then the person comes to possess the "Qalb-e Saleem", described in the Holy Qur'an as the "sound heart." A sound heart is a pure heart, unaffected by diseases or weaknesses that afflict others. As Mawlana Sahib Faizani has said: "the evidence is such that nothing improper is ever seen from such a person's speech or deeds; instead only goodwill and benevolence to friends and strangers alike."

On the other hand, if the Ego with the assistance from the Devil out smart us, out power us, out maneuver us and conquer our heart - they will turn our heart into a nature that is "deaf, dumb and blind." As Mawlana Sahib Faizani has said: "the achieving of corrupt, egoistic and sensual demands becomes their (those people's) ultimate goal in life."

Furthermore, in many verses in the Quran, Almighty God has informed everyone that verily the triumphant people are those who bring back to Him a sound heart:

'The Day when neither wealth nor sons will be of any use - except to those who come to God with sound and flawless hearts.' (Quran, 26:88-89)

From this verse and others like it, we become aware of a reality which enlightens us to the fact that in our daily life, we simply shouldn't become satisfied with winning over small skirmishes in the struggle for the control of our heart; rather Almighty God wants us to keep focused on the goal with steadfastness, enthusiasm and resolve until we reach a complete and unconditional victory over our heart; that is to have a complete control over the steering wheel or the computer of our body.

May Almighty God give us success!

  Spiritual Heart Check-up:

Please find below a list defining the characteristics of a "sound heart" and a still "diseased/sick heart" based on the sound integrity of the Holy Quran.

Identify Positive and Negative States: While reading the points below, you should try to see how many of them are positive and how many are negative (in you). You should then try to fortify your good attributes, and according to your aspirations, advise others in having these good qualities. You should also try to practically stabilize those positives behaviours within yourself.

What you have found to be negative attributes, you should arrange them once again in order, and try persistently to eliminate them, so that you remove from yourself those negative states. While doing this, you will clearly find out that certain forces inwardly do not let you abandon the bad habits; rather, they try to encourage you to become more addicted to those habits. Such stagnation is due to the result of Satan, the outright enemy of mankind, who always exerts himself and puts forth an all out effort to weaken the believers' determination and shake their passion and enthusiasm in fulfilling this goal. We will, with God's assistance, talk more about this issue in future Soul Booster's discussions.

Some of the "sound heart" characteristics are:

• The heart that has passed the test of God
• The heart that has been healed by God
• The heart that has been blessed with God's guidance
• The heart that hates disbelief, deviance and disobedience
• The heart that is unyielding in the way of God
• The heart that receives tranquility from God
• The heart that is full of compassion and mercy
• The heart that has been filled with love and faith from God
• The heart that is tender and forbearing
• The heart that yields softly to the remembrance of God
• The heart that quakes when God is mentioned
• The heart that holds faith inscribed to it by God
• The heart that finds its faith strengthened upon hearing the revelations of God
• The heart that has absolute trust in God
• The heart that is reinforced with a Spirit from God
• The heart that has been purified from the love of all other than God
• The heart that is humble and steadfast in the face of all that happens
• The heart that is never unthankful to God
• The heart that is in Union with God

Here is a list defining the characteristics of a "diseased/sick heart" on the basis of repeated emphasis of the Holy Qur'an.

Some of the "diseased heart" characteristics are:

• The heart that has failed/failing the test of God
• The heart that is unthankful
• The heart that has lost its faith
• The heart that is sealed up
• The heart that has turned hard
• The heart that oversteps the limits set by God
• The heart that is filled with hypocrisy
• The heart that is in denial and puffed up with pride
• The heart that has deviated from the path of God
• The heart that follows its own desires
• The heart that has gone astray from the command of God
• The declaration by mouth that which is not in the heart
• The heart that renounces the signs of God
• The heart that shrinks back shaking at the mention of God
• The heart that is neglectful of remembrance of God
• The heart that is hardened against the remembrance of God
• The heart that thinks unworthy thoughts about God
• The heart that can't distinguish between right and wrong
• The heart that has been overwhelmed by ignorance
• The heart that is full of doubt and that weavers to and fro
• The heart with sickness whose sickness God increases
• The heart that is blind and whose ignorance worsens
• The heart that thinks what God and His Messenger promise is a mere delusion
• The heart that is distracted from finding the truth
• The heart whose hearing and sight has been sealed by God
• The heart that conceals testimony
• The heart that feels great emptiness and purposelessness
• The heart that is lost
• The heart that has lost its understanding
• The heart that mocks at the believers heart
• The heart that is in anguish
• The heart that is in constant turmoil
• The heart that in constant fear
• The heart that is filled with fanatical rage
• The heart which spreads rumors
• The heart that desires conflict
• The heart that is arrogant and oppressive
• The heart that is entrenched in hostility
• The heart that is disunited and scattered wide
• The heart whose momentum has disappeared
• The heart that is rusty
• The heart that is spiritually impure
• The heart which has earned the wrath of God
• The heart that has been cursed by God
• The heart that God does not want purified

Thus, in summary, from this Soul Booster we have understood the following points:

• The heart is the "location of action" for the powers of the Soul and the Ego or the Angel and the Devil
• The heart is the "location of action" or a region where battles are being waged between the Angel and the Devil
• The heart is the "location of action" where two separate missions of "good" and "evil" clash
• The heart is the "location of action" where operational procedures are templated by the powers of the Soul and the Ego or the Angel and Devil with the aim to win over the control of the heart (i.e. become permanent doers of good or evil)
• If the Soul with the assistance from the Angel becomes victorious in this struggle, than the person would be in possession of "Qalb-e Saleem".
• If the Ego with assistance from the Devil becomes victorious in this struggle, that we would be in possession of a "deaf, dumb and blind" heart or diseased heart.
• Almighty God has informed us the Holy Quran that we need to return to Him with a sound and flawless heart
• The characteristics belonging to a sound/diseased heart were defined; based on the sound integrity of the Holy Quran

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