Every day thousands of people across the world board an aircraft. Thereafter, the aircraft takes off, and after flying in the air for some time, it lands at the intended destination.
While the plane is in the air, even though there may be several hundred people on board, they all nevertheless move according to the direction of just one person – the pilot. If the pilot directs the plane west, all the passengers will accordingly be flying to the west, and if he directs it to the east, then all will change direction and move towards the east.
In the very same way, the limbs and organs of a person’s body are like passengers, and they are all directed by the pilot, which is the heart. If the heart is pure, chaste and pious, then the thoughts entertained by the mind, the words uttered by the tongue, the actions carried out by the hands, the words and sounds listened to by the ears, and the steps taken by the feet will all be in the direction of piety, chastity and righteousness. Conversely, if the heart becomes corrupted, polluted and soiled, then the various limbs and organs of the body will accordingly be inclined towards evil and will become involved in sin and haraam.
In the blessed hadeeth Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) said, “Indeed, in the body there is a piece of flesh. When it is in order, then the entire body will be in order, and when it is corrupt, then the entire body will be corrupt. Behold! That piece of flesh is the heart!” (Saheeh Bukhaari #52)
In this hadeeth, the heart that is being referred to is not the physical heart, but rather the spiritual heart. Nevertheless, from this hadeeth we can understand the grave importance of protecting the heart, and safeguarding it from all evil influence and effects, by means of refraining from all sins. In another hadeeth (see here) it is mentioned that whenever a person commits a sin, a black spot appears on his heart. If he makes sincere taubah, then the spot is removed, but if he continues to sin without repenting, then the black spots accumulate, until his entire heart in engulfed by the black spots. (Sunan Tirmizi #3334)
Imaam Raazi (rahimahullah) has mentioned in his tafseer that once a person’s heart is engulfed by the black spots, then sinning becomes like a second nature for him. (At-Tafseerul Kabeer vol. 31, pg. 86)
The holidays are generally the period in which the most sins are committed. At this time, since most people have free time and extra money, and the disbelievers are out in numbers, the influence of evil, temptation to sin and opportunity to fall into haraam is far greater. Hence, with the holidays coming to an end, each one of us should turn our gaze inwards and examine our hearts with the x-ray of introspection to see what effect this period has had on our hearts.
Shaikh Ibnu Ataa-illah Iskandari (rahimahullah) has mentioned that among the signs of a person’s heart becoming dead (due to excessive sinning) is that one feels no sadness over the good deeds that one misses out on and fails to carry out, and one feels no remorse over the wrongs that one has committed. (Al-Hikam pg. 69)
In reality, this is understood from the hadeeth in which Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) said, “When your good deeds please you, and your evil deeds cause you sadness, then (it is a sign that) you are a (true) believer.” (Musnad Ahmad #22166)
If we find ourselves in this most-unfortunate and lamentable condition, where we have committed sins in the holidays yet feel no remorse, and we missed our fardh salaah or even our daily nafl ‘ibaadaat, such as reciting the Quraan Majeed, yet feel no sadness, and furthermore, we now have no motivation to make taubah and no enthusiasm to engage in ‘ibaadah once more, then undoubtedly, our hearts have been negatively affected.
Before this ailment becomes more severe, and the condition of our heart deteriorates from bad to worse, we must turn to Allah Ta‘ala, shed tears of sincere repentance and resolve to reform our condition. If we do not hasten to do so now, then as time passes and we continue to sin, the cancer in our hearts will progress from stage one to stage two, until it reaches stage four, at which point we will find our relationship with Allah Ta‘ala damaged to such an extent that to repair the damage and restore the relationship will be extremely difficult.
The month of Ramadhaan is around the corner, and if we do not make taubah before Ramadhaan, then it is likely that even when Ramadhaan commences, we will still continue to sin. Thus, instead of acquiring the special mercy of Allah Ta‘ala in this blessed month, we will draw Allah Ta‘ala’s wrath upon ourselves through disrespecting the sanctity of this auspicious occasion.
Most frightening of all – what if we pass away in this condition, having estranged ourselves from Allah Ta‘ala through persisting in leading lives of sin? Time is of the essence, so let us not leave today’s taubah for tomorrow, as tomorrow has no guarantee.