EFFECT OF SINS ON THE PURITY OF THE HEART-BEING
“Adl (Fairness and justice) is I’tidal (balance) and in balance lies the correction of the heart, just as in zulm (Opression) lies it’s corruption.” (Source – the diseases of the heart and their cures by ibn taymiyyah). This is why when one sins, it’s referred to as oppression of the self (zalimun li nafsih), hence the ayah “Q17:7 …….اِنۡ اَحۡسَنۡتُمۡ اَحۡسَنۡتُمۡ لِاَنۡفُسِكُمۡ وَاِنۡ اَسَاۡتُمۡ فَلَهَا” .
So when we commit sins we receive the fruit of our deeds or misdeeds and when we do good likewise. “Q2:286…..لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتۡ وَعَلَيۡهَا مَا اكۡتَسَبَتۡ”
In reference to zulm or adl on the nafs/anfus, some ayahs of the Holy Quran highlight them.
Allah SWT says in the Quran,
Q7:23 “They said, “Our Lord, we have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers.”
Q2:286 “…It will have [the consequence of] what [good] it has gained, and it will bear [the consequence of] what [evil] it has earned.”
Q17:7 “If you do good, you do good for yourselves; and if you do evil, [you do it] to yourselves.”
As human beings, the heart is the most important organ in our body followed by other organs. The heart is what pumps blood to and from the other parts of our body. When the heart is healthy, the whole body is healthy and when it is sick our bodies will still bear the brunt of it — this is as much a spritual fact a it is a medical fact. So also, in Islam (The Holy Quran, The Ahadith and the Fiqh) the heart is regarded as the base for all deeds, good or bad. A human is almost always controlled by its heart; this is not to be taken as a sign of weakness or a sign of inability to think with logic, it is simply how we humans were created. The heart is just as spiritually important as physically.
“If the son of Adam sins, a black spot appears on the heart. And if the person repents, it is erased. But if he does not, it continues to grow until the whole heart becomes pitch black.” – Purification of the Heart: Signs, Symptoms and Cures of the Spiritual Diseases of the Heart, Yusuf hamza.
Studies have shown that there are three types of hearts. The correct, the dead and the diseased hearts. Those are different topics on their own. Therefore, we’ll focus on the diseased heart because it is in direct relation with the effect of sins on the purity of the heart. I’ll begin by highlighting its’ meaning and important aspects.
The Diseased heart.
This is the type of heart that is sick but has some light in it. It contains the reliance, trust and belief in Allah, Allah’s messengers, angels and books. It has the rope of light, hope, beauty and sweetness of faith and every good thing that will lead us closer to Allah SWT. But it also contains some defects such as hawa (desires), doubts, lust amongst other negativities. The diseased heart constantly finds itself wavering between light and dark, and often finds itself unable to stay firm on the path that Allah SWT has told us to try as much as we can to stay on. Today, the heart decides to taste the sweetness of spirituality, tomorrow it decides to go back to its’ immoral ways and bad habits.
The love or constant interest in/of worldly affairs causes the heart to waver and that will make it sick, worldly affairs range from humans to fame to wealth and so much more. The worst of them being lust. Lust whether it’s being chased physically – As in committing zina or getting physical, or mentally (as in the case of pornography, looking at the nudity of a person or people), is damaging. Often times, most people think “it is just a little peek” or “just one look” or “let me try this just this time” and that Allahu Ghaffur Ar-Rahim, yes Allah is unequivocally forgiving and merciful but that should not be an excuse for us to sin as often as we want, as though we’re not on earth to undergo Allah’s tests, seek his pleasure and worship Him and only Him. We forget that the life of this world is nothing but a distraction, an illusion and the lowest of the two lives that Allah has mentioned time and time again in the Quran. It is so damaging, to the extent that most people don’t notice that as they consume such things, their minds and hearts become weaker. As time goes by and they continue, they’ll find themselves unable to completely stop or control themselves. Thereby making their affairs and tasks difficult for them. Therefore, the reason why istighfar is important is we sin and a black spot appears on our hearts, we say the istighfar and it gets cleaned. And when we don’t seek forgiveness, the spot continues to appear until the heart is blackened to a point of no return. Astaghfirullah.
This is why it’s Absolutely important to surround ourselves with things and people to remind us and take us back to the path of light; it’s as easy to slip up as it is to fix up – as long as you’re willing from the bottom of your heart to make that change, even if it’s small. Something is better than nothing.
We humans have normalised a lot of sins so much that we forget the fitrah upon which our souls were created on. Hence these days, we need to remind ourselves and be reminded often of why we are on the earth, what our main purpose is. Something we often forget is the fact that all of our actions have an effect on us whether beneficial or otherwise. For example, have you ever noticed how when we make dhikr, something so light on the tongue and yet heavy on the scales; how our hearts, minds and souls feel right after, even if not immediately? dhikr makes all the difference, whether it’s when we recite The Criterion, or when our tongues utter the name of The One who sent down The criterion to us — his servants. Or when we say “Astaghfirullah”. The light is mostly shed on the istighfar, it cleanses and purifies us. “When we sin it’s not recorded for 6 hours – so if we repent and make istigfar it’s not recorded at all. And if we don’t make istighfar then it’s just recorded as one sin. The Deen is so easy!” -Muhammad Abbagana
When we say the Istighfar even if we don’t sin, it makes a difference. we don’t just say it to seek Allah’s forgiveness after disobeying him but to also seek his pleasure, not for what he’ll bless us with in return but simply to spend time with our creator and contemplate his mercy, majesty, love and allowing us to taste the sweetness and specialty of his presence, and the journey to him. Subhan’Allah.
Q3:135 : And those who, when they commit an immorality or wrong themselves [by transgression], remember Allah and seek forgiveness for their sins – and who can forgive sins except Allah? – and [who] do not persist in what they have done while they know.
So how can we not love this beautiful gift Allah SWT has blessed us with? Amongst the other blessings.
May Allah forgive us all.
