For a moment, magpie was silent. Then he said, "O my brothers and sisters! A servant is not afflicted with any chastisement greater than a hard heart and of being remote from Allah. Hardness of the heart comes about by four things, when the level of need is exceeded: eating, sleeping, speaking and socialising. Hearts that are attached to carnal passions are veiled from Allah to the extent of these attachments.
So, open your heart! The greatest way to open your heart is tawheed. This is based on its completeness. Its strength and increase expand its owner’s heart. Guidance and tawheed are the greatest ways of opening the heart, while shirk and misguidance are the greatest ways of constricting the heart. Allah said,فَمَنۡ یُّرِدِ اللّٰہُ اَنۡ یَّہۡدِیَہٗ یَشۡرَحۡ صَدۡرَہٗ لِلۡاِسۡلَامِ ۚ وَ مَنۡ یُّرِدۡ اَنۡ یُّضِلَّہٗ یَجۡعَلۡ صَدۡرَہٗ ضَیِّقًا حَرَجًا کَاَنَّمَا یَصَّعَّدُ فِی السَّمَآءِ ؕ کَذٰلِکَ یَجۡعَلُ اللّٰہُ الرِّجۡسَ عَلَی الَّذِیۡنَ لَا یُؤۡمِنُوۡنَFrom the ways of opening the heart, is the light Allah places in the hearts of His slaves; surely, it expands and brings joy to the hearts. If the heart is void of this light, it will be constricted such that it becomes tighter than a prison cell.
"So whoever Allah wants to guide - He expands his breast to [contain] Islām; and whoever He wants to send astray - He makes his breast tight and constricted as though he were climbing into the sky. Thus does Allah place defilement upon those who do not believe." (QS. Al-An'aam [6]:125)The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “When the light (of truth) enters the heart, it expands and opens up.” The Companions asked, “Is there any evidence of this (in the life of a Muslim)?” He replied, “Being ever mindful of the eternal life of the Hereafter, and remaining at guard in this life of delusion, and preparing oneself for death before it comes.” [reported by al-Hakim]The slave’s heart will expand in proportion to his portion of light.
Knowledge opens the heart and expands it until it becomes wider than the world, while ignorance constricts the heart and restrains it. Each time the person’s knowledge widens, his heart expands. This does not occur with all knowledge; rather, this occurs with the knowledge that is the inheritance of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). This is beneficial knowledge. The people of knowledge have the widest chests, the broadest hearts, and the best manners.The heart is opened by devotion to Allah, loving Him with all your heart, turning towards Him, and enjoying worshiping Him. There is nothing that expands the hearts more than that, such that it is sometimes said, “If I am in Paradise in this condition, then it will be a good life.”
Love has an amazing effect on expanding the heart and curing the soul; no one knows this except one who has experienced it. The more the love increases and the stronger it becomes, the more the heart expands. In contrast, the greatest thing that restricts the heart is turning away from Allah and attaching the heart to other than Him, being heedless of remembering Him, and loving other than Him. Whoever loves other than Allah will be punished by that thing, and it
will imprison his heart.
Constantly remembering Allah in every situation, opens the heart. And just as remembering Allah has an amazing effect on expanding the heart, being heedless of Allah has an amazing effect on constraining and punishing the heart.
The heart is opened by showing kindness to the creation and benefiting them with various acts of kindness, such as wealth and physical efforts. Generosity expands the heart and cures the soul, while stinginess constricts the heart. The Prophet (ﷺ) gave an example of the miser. He (ﷺ) said,مَثَلُ الْبَخِيلِ وَالْمُتَصَدِّقِ مَثَلُ رَجُلَيْنِ عَلَيْهِمَا جُبَّتَانِ مِنْ حَدِيدٍ، قَدِ اضْطَرَّتْ أَيْدِيَهُمَا إِلَى تَرَاقِيهِمَا، فَكُلَّمَا هَمَّ الْمُتَصَدِّقُ بِصَدَقَتِهِ اتَّسَعَتْ عَلَيْهِ حَتَّى تُعَفِّيَ أَثَرَهُ، وَكُلَّمَا هَمَّ الْبَخِيلُ بِالصَّدَقَةِ انْقَبَضَتْ كُلُّ حَلْقَةٍ إِلَى صَاحِبَتِهَا وَتَقَلَّصَتْ عَلَيْهِ وَانْضَمَّتْ يَدَاهُ إِلَى تَرَاقِيهِ ". فَسَمِعَ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ " فَيَجْتَهِدُ أَنْ يُوَسِّعَهَا فَلاَ تَتَّسِعُCourage opens the heart; thus, the courageous have the widest hearts while the cowards have the most constricted hearts. They have no joy, no happiness, and no pleasure except like that of animals. As for the delight of the soul, then the cowards are devoid of this. The condition in which the person will be in his grave will reflect the condition of his heart. It w ill either be bliss or punishment.
"The example of a miser and the one who gives in charity, is like the example of two men wearing iron cloaks so tightly that their arms are raised forcibly towards their collar-bones. So, whenever a charitable person wants to give in charity, his cloak spreads over his body so much so that it wipes out his traces, but whenever the miser wants to give in charity, the rings (of the iron cloak) come closer to each other and press over his body, and his hands gets connected to his collarbones."
Abu Huraira (رضى الله عنه) heard the Prophet (ﷺ) saying. "The miser then tries to widen it but in vain." [Sahih Al-Bukhari]
The heart is opened by removing the lowly attributes from the heart. If a person implements the means to expand his heart while not removing the means that constrict the heart, then he will not obtain the result of expanding his heart.
The heart is opened by avoiding excessive looking, talking, listening, mixing with the people, eating, and sleeping. These excesses cloud and restrict the heart; rather, most of the punishments in this life and the next come from them. How constricted are the hearts of the people who indulge in all of them!?
O my brothers and sisters! Seek your heart in three places: where the Qur’an is recited; in the gathering of dhikr; and in times of seclusion. If you don’t find it in these places, then ask Allah to bless you with a heart. For you have no heart! Allāh is the only one whose help can be sought. And Allah knows best.
Reference :
- Rasheed Barbee, One Hundred Pieces of Advice by Ibn Al-Qayyim, Authentic Statements Publishing
