Purification of the Heart

I would like to expound on a few principles I have gleamed from reading Hamz Yusef's book Purification of the Heart. Hamza Yusef is one of the top Islamic Scholars in the United States. He grew up and resides in the bay area east of San Francisco, California.

The book is based on a poem and treatise on how to transform the heart by Shaykh Muhammad Mawlud. He begins his introduction with a hadith ""Actions are based on intentions". All deeds are thus valued according to the intentions behind them, and intentions emanate from the heart.  Every action a person intends or performs is rooted in the heart. His poem is based on previous works especially Imam al-Ghazali's The Revivification of the  Sciences of the Religion, which is all about rectifying the human heart." 

Verse 2, ""Have courtesy with God, the High and the Majestic, by practicing modesty and humility--" 

...courtesy is the portal to the purification of the heart. One must have courtesy with regard to God - behave properly with respect to His presence - if he or she wishes to purify the heart.""  In hadith, the Prophet, peace and blessings upon him, states, "Every religion has a quality that is characteristic of that religion. And the characteristic of my religion is haya, an internal sense of shame, which includes bashfulness and modesty."...It is associated with the knowledge and active awareness that God is the all-seeing of what one does - a reality that is permanent. The nurturing of the realization deters one from engaging in acts that are displeasing and vulgar. This is the essence of the noble prophetic teachings.""

Verse 3 - "dejected of of shame and humility humbles in awe, imploring Him..

Iman Mawlud mentions that one should also have dhul which literally refers to being lowly, abject, or humble. The Quran mentions that people who incur the anger of God have this state of humiliation thrust upon them. But what is meant here is something different; it is humility or humbleness voluntarily assumed before God, which is required for courtesy."

Verse 4  "by giving up your designs for His, emptied of covetousness for what His servants have"

When one reflects on God's perfect watch over His creation feelings of shame and humility arise. One prays to have God change them to giving up their plans for God's plan. The Prophet (PBUH) said, "None of you fully believes until his desires are in accordance with what I have brought"

Verse 5: "by hastening to fulfill His commands, and by being wary of the subtle encroachment of bad manners."

A hadith states "One of you will say a word and give it no consideration, though it will drag the person [who uttered it] through Hellfire for 70 years."

Verses 6-8 "If you - the spiritual aspirant- realize your attributes of servitude, you will then be assisted with something of the attributes of the Eternally Besought. Realize your abject character and impoverishment, and you will gain dignity and wealth from the All-Powerful. There is no salvation like the heart's salvation, given that all the limbs respond to its desires.

Blameworthy Modesty:

Verse 67-68: "As for blameworthy modesty, it is that which prevents one from denouncing the condemnable or from asking a question concerning a matter relating to religion and the like. For this reason, it is consider a harmful quality.

Definition

In general, modesty is something praised in Islam and is considered virtuous. What is blameworthy is modesty that prevents one from denouncing what clearly should be denounced, such as tyranny or corruption. This form of modesty results in meekness at a time when one needs to be forthright and courageous. Something condemnable is condemnable regardless of the status of the person who is engaged in it --whether he or she is a close relative or a person of status, wealth, or authority. There must be agreement, however, among scholars on what is condemnable. One cannot, for example, declare decisively that something is considered condemnable if there is a difference of opinion about it among the scholars. Scholars knowledgeable of juristic difference rarely condemn others. They refrain from such condemnation not because of modesty, but because of the extensive knowledge and scholarship. Unfortunately, too many people today are swift to condemn, which creates another disease -- self-righteousness. At issue here is blameworthy modesty that results in timid failure to denounce what unequivocally deserves denouncement and to ask about important matters from those who know."

Fantasizing:

Verses 73-74: "The heart's engagement in matters that do not concern it is only forbidden when it pertains to the prohibited, such as fantasizing about the beautiful qualities of a woman or dwelling on the fault of Muslims, even in their absence."

The Prophet said, "There is a tree in Paradise reserved for one whose own faults preoccupied him from considering the faults of others."