In the hadith there occurs, "Indeed Allah shelters His believing servant from the world just as one of you shelter your sick ones from food and drink (that would harm them)." 1
In the hadith concerning the saving of Musa reported by Wahb2, which is recorded by Imam Ahmad in az-Zuhd, "Allah says: 'Indeed I drive away My friends from the delights of this world and its opulence and comfort just as the compassionate shepherd drives away his camel from the dangerous grazing lands. And indeed I make them avoid its tranquility and livelihood, just as the compassionate shepherd makes his camel to avoid the resting-places wherein it would be easy prey. This is not because I consider them to be insignificant, but so that they may complete their portion of My Kindness in safety and abundance, the delights of the world will not attract him and neither would desires overcome him.' "
Therefore the only cure for the sick lies in his removing the sickness by removing this blameworthy love from his heart.
People are divided into two opinions concerning passionate love: One group says that if falls into the category of intentions and wishes, this being the famous opinion. Another group says that it falls into the category of imagination and fantasies and that it is a corruption of the imagination since it causes one to depict the one who is loved in other than his true reality. This group went on to say: "And this is why Allah has not been described with passionate love (ishk) and neither that He passionately loves (ya'shik) because He is far removed from this, and one cannot be praised who has these corrupt thoughts."
As for the first group, then from them are those who said: "He is described with passionate love (ishk) because it is a complete and perfect love and Allah loves (yuhib)." And it is reported in the narration of 'Abdul-Wahid bin Zayd that He said, "The servant will always continue to draw closer to me, loving Me and I loving him (a'shiquhu)." This is the saying of some of the Sufis but the majority does not apply this word to Allah, because passionate love is a love exceeding the proper bounds, as for the Love of Allah then it has no end and cannot exceed the proper bounds. Passionate love is to be considered blameworthy without any exceptions, it is not to be praised when it is directed towards the Creator or created because it is a love that exceeds the proper bounds.
This is also true because the word 'passionate love' is only employed with regards to a man loving a woman or child (or vice versa), it is not employed in things such as the love of one's family, property or status, just as it is not employed with regards to the love of the Prophets and the righteous. Commonly, you will find this word being mentioned alongside a forbidden action, such as loving the woman who is not lawful for him, or loving a child joined with the unlawful glance and touch and other such unlawful actions.
As for the love of a man for his wife or slave-girl which leads him out of the folds of justice such that he does unlawful things for her and leaves what is obligatory – as commonly happens – even to the extent that he may oppress his son born of his old wife due to this love of his new wife, or to the extent that he will do things to keep her happy that would harm his religion and worldly life. For example his singling her out for inheritance that she does not deserve, or that he gives her family authority and property that exceeds the limits set by Allah, or he goes to excesses in spending on her, or he makes unlawful things possible for her which harms his religion and worldly life. This passionate love is forbidden with regards to one who is permissible for him, so how would it be with regards for one who has passionate love for someone who is unlawful or with regards to two men? For this contains a corruption the extent of which none can assess except the Lord of the servants; it is a sickness that corrupts the religion and objectives of the one who possesses it, then it corrupts his intelligence and then his body. Allah, the Most High, says:
"Then do not be soft in speech, lest in whose heart is a disease should be moved with desire, but speak in an honorable manner." [Al-Qur'an 33:32]
There are some whose hearts contain the disease of desire and whose perceptions are only skin deep. When the object of the desire submits, the sickness is satiated, and this satiation strengthens the desire and pursuit of the object and hence strengthens the sickness. This is in contrast to the one whose objective is not met, for this failure results in removing the satiation that would strengthen the sickness and thereby the desire is weakened as is the love. This is because the person definitely intends that there be action accompanying his desire, for otherwise all his desire would be is just whisperings of the soul, unless there is some speech or looking accompanying this.
As for the one who is afflicted with this passionate love but holds back and is patient, then indeed Allah will reward him for his taqwa as occurs in the hadith: "That the one who passionately loves someone yet holds back, conceals this and is patient, then dies you this, will be a martyr." 3 This hadith is known to be the report of Yahya al-Qatat from Mujahid from Ibn 'Abbas from the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam but it is problematic and such a hadith is not to be depended upon.
But it is known from the evidences of the Shari'ah that if one were to hold back from performing that which is unlawful, be it looking, speaking or acting, and he conceals this and does not articulate it so as not to fall into that which is prohibited and he is patient in his obedience to Allah and keeping away from disobedience to Allah, despite the pain that his heart feels due to passionate love, (similar to the case of the one who is patient through a calamity), then indeed this person would gain the same reward as those who have feared Allah and been patient.
"Verily, he who fears Allah and is patient, then surely Allah makes not the reward of the doers of good to be lost." [Al-Qur'an 12:90]
This holds true for the disease of envy and all other sicknesses that afflict the heart. So when the soul pursues that which would anger Allah, and the person prevents himself from this, fearing Allah, then he is included in His saying:
"But as for him who feared the standing before His Lord, and restrained himself from impure evil desires, and lusts. Verily, Paradise will be his abode." [Al-Qur'an 79:40-41]
When the soul loves something, it will do all that it can to attain it, so the one who does this out of having a blameworthy love or hatred then this action of his would be sinful. For example his hating a person due to envying him and thereby harming whosoever is linked to that person – either by preventing his rights or by showing them enmity, or his doing something that is commanded by Allah but he does it due to his desires and not for the sake of Allah.
These types of sicknesses are commonly found in the heart. The person can hate something and due to this hate, love a great many things due to mere whims and fancies. As one poet affected by this said:
"For the sake of a Sudanese girl he loved Sudan to the point that he loved the black dogs due to his love of her."
So he loved a black girl, and therefore loved all types of black even the blackness of dogs! All of this is a sickness in the heart with regards to its imagination, fantasies and desires. We ask Allah that He eliminate all of the illnesses from our hearts, and we seek refuge with Allah from evil manners, desires and sicknesses.
The heart has only been created for the worship of Allah, and this is the natural disposition (fitrah) upon which Allah created His servants as the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said, "Every new-born child is born upon the natural disposition and it is his parents that make him a Jew, Christian or a Magian, as an animal produces a perfect young animal, do you see any part of its body amputated?" Then Abu Hurayrah, radiallahu 'anhu, said, recite if you wish the saying of Allah:
"The fitrah of Allah with which He has created mankind. No change is there in the creation of Allah." [Reported by al-Bukhari and Muslim. The ayat is Al-Qur'an 30:30].
So Allah has made the natural disposition of His servants to love Him and worship Him Alone, so if the natural disposition was to be left as it is without corrupting it, then it would be cognizant of Allah, loving Him Alone; but the natural disposition does become corrupted due to the sickness of the heart – such as the parents making it a Jew or a Christian – even though this be by the Will and Pr-decree of Allah, just like the body is altered by amputation. But even after this it is possible for the heart to return to the natural disposition if Allah makes this easy for the one who does his utmost to return it to the natural disposition.
The Messengers were sent to affirm and re-establish the natural disposition and to perfect it, not to alter it. So when the heart loves Allah Alone, making the religion sincerely for Him, it will not be tried with this passionate love (directed to him) his love of Allah Alone, making the religion sincerely for him, did not allow him to be overcome by this, rather Allah said:
"Thus it was, that We might turn away from him evil and illegal sexual intercourse. Surely he was one of Our chosen, guided slaves." [Al-Qur'an 12:24]
As for the wife of al-'Aziz, it was because she was and her nation were polytheists that she was afflicted with passionate love. No one and no one are afflicted with passionate love except that this diminishes his singling out Allah Alone for worship and his faith. The heart that repents to Allah, fearing Him, has two routes by which it can remove this passionate love:
- Repenting to Allah and loving Him, for indeed this is more satisfying and purer than anything else, and nothing will be left to love along side Allah; and
- Fearing Allah, for indeed fear is the opposite of passionate love and removes it.
So everyone who loves something, with passion or otherwise, then this love can be removed by loving that which is more beloved to compete with it.4 This love can also be removed by fearing the occurrence of a harm that is more hateful to one than leaving this love. So when Allah is more beloved to the servant than anything else, and more feared by him than anything else, then he will not fall into passionate love or find any love that would compete with his love of Allah, except in the case of negligence or at a time when this love and fear has become weak by his leaving some of the obligatory duties and by performing some of the prohibited actions. For indeed faith increases with obedience and decreases with disobedience, so each time a servant obeys Allah out of love and fear, and leaves a prohibited action out of love and fear, his love and fear becomes stronger, and any love or fear of anything else besides Allah will disappear from his heart.
The same is true for the sickness of the body; for the health of the body is preserved by the same, and the sickness is repressed by the opposite. The correctness of the faith in the heart is preserved by its like, meaning that which would breed faith in the heart from the beneficial knowledge and righteous action for these are its nourishment as occurs in the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud, reported as his saying and as a hadith of the Messenger sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, "Indeed every host loves that people come to his table spread, and indeed the table spread of Allah is the Qur'an."
So the Qur'an is the table spread of Allah.
From those things that nourish the heart are supplication at the end of the night, the times of adhan and iqamah, in his prostration, at the ends of the prayers5 – add to this repentance. For indeed the one who repents to Allah and then in turn Allah forgives him, He will then give him enjoyment for an appointed time. That he takes to reciting the reported adhkar for the day and at the time he sleeps. That he bears with patience what he is enticed with that would divert him from all of this, than Allah will immediately aid him with a spirit from Him and write faith in his heart. That he be eager to complete the obligatory duties such as the five prayers inwardly and outwardly for they are the pillars of the religion. That his words of recourse be 'la hawla wa la quwwata illa billahi' 6 for by them the heavy burdens can be born, horrors can be overcome, and the servant be gifted up the supplication and seeking help from Allah, for the servant will be answered as long as he is not hasty, saying: "I have supplicated and supplicated but I have not been answered." 7 That he should know that help comes with patience, that relief comes after anxiety and distress, that after every period of difficulty there follows a period a period of ease.8 That he knows that no prophet or one less than him was rewarded with a good end except as a result of his being patient.
And all praise and thanks are due to Allah, the Lord of Creation. To Him belongs praise and grace for guiding us to Islam and the Sunnah, a praise that would suffice His favours to us outwardly and inwardly, as in required for the nobility of His Face and might of His Magnificence. Abundant peace and blessings be upon our master, Muhammad sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, and upon his family, Companions, his wives – the mothers of the believers, and all those that follow them in good until the Day of Judgement.
(s) Diseases of the Hearts & their Cures, compiled by Ibrahim bin 'Abdullah al-Hazim
1. A similar hadith to this reported by al-Bayhaqi and it is a da'if hadith. Refer to Fayd al-Qadir. [back]
2. Wahb ibn Munabbih is a noble tabi'i, but this hadith is reported from him directly to the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam and is not authentic. [back]
3. A da'if hadith. Refer to the discussion concerning its inauthenticity in al-Jawab al-Kafi and Rawdah al-Muhibbin of Ibn al-Qayyim and Silsilah ad-Da'ifah of al-Albani. [back]
4. Refer to Rawdah al-Muhibbin of Ibn al-Qayyim for he has a beautiful discussion concerning this. [back]
5. These are the times in which Allah answers the supplications, there are authentic ahadith concerning these. [back]
6. The Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said, "Indeed it is a treasure from the treasures of Paradise." Reported by al-Bukhari and Muslim from the hadith of Abu Musa al-Ash'ari. [back]
7. Reported by Muslim [back]
8. A hasan hadith reported by Ahmad and at-Tirmidhi from the hadith of Ibn 'Abbas. [back]
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