Purification

Lesson

3: Tazkīyyah An-Nafs (Purification of The Soul)

A Dead Heart

This is the heart that contains no life. It does not know its Lord and it does not worship Him by complying to His command and doing that which He Loves and is Pleased with. Instead it is a slave to its carnal desires, temptations and pleasures, even if these lead to the Displeasure of its Lord and His Anger. As long as it fulfils its cravings and attains its worldly desires, it does not care if its Lord is Pleased or Displeased.

The dead heart does not hear, see or understand.

Allāh, the Exalted said,

“And the example of those who disbelieve, is as that of him who shouts to the (flock of sheep) that hears nothing but calls and cries. (They are) deaf, dumb and blind. So they do not understand.” Sūrah Al-Baqarah (2): 171

"And among them are some who listen to you, but can you make the deaf to hear, even though they apprehend not? And among them are some who look at you, but can you guide the blind, even though they see not?." Sūrah Yūnus (10): 42-43

So He informed us that their hearts cannot understand, and their ears cannot hear, and they do not believe in what they have seen of the Fire as He informed us about them when He said,

"And they say: 'Our hearts are under coverings (screened) from that to which you invite us, and in our ears is deafness, and between us and you is a screen, so work you (on your way); verily, we are working (on our way).'" Sūrah Fuṣṣilat (41): 5

Therefore it worships other than Allāh. It directs its love, dread, reverential hope, pleasure, displeasure, glorification and submission to other than Him. If it loves, it loves for the sake of its base desires; if it hates, it hates for the sake of its base desires; if it gives, it gives for the sake of its base desires; if it withholds, it withholds for the sake of its base desires. It gives preference to its base desires and these are more beloved to it than the Pleasure of its Master.

Base desires are its leader, carnal desires are its commander, ignorance is its driving force, and negligence is the vessel [upon which it travels]. It is completely engrossed in contemplating how to attain its worldly desires. It is driven wild by the intoxication of its base desires and love of the temporal things. It hears the call to Allāh and the abode of the Hereafter from a distant place and does not respond to the sincere advisor. It follows every cunning devil and the world is the cause of its anger and the cause of its pleasure. Base desires make it deaf and blind to anything other than falsehood.

See Al-Muntaqā min Ighāthati-l-Lahfān fī Maṣāyid ash-Shayṭān [pp. 33-42] by Imām Ibn al-Qayyim & Diseases of the Heart & Their Cures by Shaykhul-Islām Ibn Taymīyyah (P. 70-77).Ok