The Importance of Rectifying the Hearts – Imaam Sa’dee

[Shehzad Sattar]

The Importance of Rectifying the Hearts – Imaam Sa’dee

Khutbah 32 – The Importance of Rectifying the Heart[1]

Imaam Abdur Rahmaan bin Naasir as-Sa’dee (may Allaah have mercy upon him): All praise is due to Allaah, who rectified by His kindness the righteous and dressed them with the clothes of Imaan and Yaqeen and protected them with His care from that which marred and ruins. And I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship in truth except Allaah alone, having no partners, the Lord of the Day of Recompense. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and messenger, the trustworthy prophet. O Allaah, send prayers and peace upon Muhammad, upon his family; companions and those who follow them until the Day of Recompense.

To Proceeed: O people, fear Allaah the High and know that taqwa revolves around rectification of the hearts, for he said sall Allaahu ‘alahi wa sallam, ‘Indeed, in the body, there is a piece of flesh that, when it is good, the entire body is good and when it is ruined, the entire body is ruined. Verily, it is the heart.’[2]

So, the heart is rectified with imaan in Allaah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day and divine decree, the good and bad of it. This belief is corrected with knowledge and sound belief and then by turning the heart towards Allaah with repentance, intent and good obedience – for all the limbs get established upon the path of guidance. Rectification of the limbs is a condition of rectification of the heart.

So seek, may Allaah have mercy upon you, its rectification by having a good intention in every matter – for indeed Allaah does not look to your physical forms or actions[3] but to what is contained within your hearts. So make all your actions sincere for Allaah in all that you do. And repent to your Lord and taste His mercy so that you may have mercy granted upon you.

And small action with sincerity is better than big action that is done with riyaa and good fruits only come into fruition for those who have pure intentions and are fearful – for whosoever rectifies their inner, Allaah rectifies them in all conditions and helps them in their sayings and actions, {O you who believe! Keep your duty to Allah and fear Him, and speak (always) the truth. He will direct you to do righteous good deeds and will forgive you your sins. And whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger he has indeed achieved a great achievement} [al-Ahzab: 70-71].

And ask your Supporter to cleanse your hearts from jealousy and malice, from pride and acting arrogant over the slaves of Allaah, for the prophet sall Allaahu ‘alahi wa sallam said, ‘None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother that which he loves for himself.’[4]; ‘There are 3 [things] that the heart of the Muslim should be mindful of betraying him – making actions sincere for Allaah; to give advice to those to whom Allaah has given leadership over them and adhering to the Jama’ah of the Muslims, for their prayer encompasses those behind them.’[5]; ‘Do not have jealousy between you; do not compete in prices with one another[6]; do not have enmity towards one another; do not turn your backs on one another and be slaves of Allaah and brothers. The Muslim is the brother of the Muslim. He does not oppress him or betray him; he does not belie him or hold him in contempt. It is enough evil for a person to hold their brother Muslim in contempt. Every Muslim is haram upon every Muslim – their blood, wealth and honour.’[7]

Toobah is for those who are sincere to Allaah in their sayings and actions and hope for His virtue in their living – those who cleanse their hearts from hatred and enmity towards the Muslims and work together with them in affairs relating to the worldly life and in the religion. And woe unto those whose hearts are attached to anyone from the creation, or are filled with jealousy for the believers. As for the first [group of people], they will hasten to lofty stations. And as for the second, they will deteriorate to ruin.

O Allaah, rectifier of the righteous, mend the ruin in our hearts. O [You] in Whose Hand lie all the treasures that exist, grant us relief in that which we desire. O [You] Who forgives all sins, forgive us our sins and cover our shames and shortcomings, indeed You are The Generous and Kind.

{Your Lord knows best what is in your inner-selves. If you are righteous, then, verily, He is Ever Most Forgiving to those who turn unto Him again and again in obedience, and in repentance} [al-Isra: 25].

May Allaah bless you and I with the Great Qur’aan.

[1] Taken from Al-Fawaakih ash-Shahiyyah fil Khutab al-Minbariyyah, pp 66-67.

[2] Al-Bukhaari in al-Imaan (52); Muslim in al-Musaaqaat (1599); at-Tirmithi in al Buyoo (1205); an-Nasaa’ee (4453); Abu Dawood in al-Buyoo (3329); Ibn Maajah in al-fittan (3984); Ahmad (4/270); ad-Daarimee in al-Buyoo (2531).

[3] Rather, the hadeeth on the authority of Abu Huraira, reported by Imaam Muslim and others, is that the prophet said, ‘Indeed Allaah does not look towards your bodies and physical features, but looks towards your hearts and actions.’ Its sources are fully explored by Imaam al-Albaani in Ghiyat ul Maraam 410 and his footnote to Riyadh us-Saliheen (p. 43 al Maktab al-Islaami) under this hadeeth contains valuable points of benefit and a possible reason why Imaam Sa’dee misworded this sentence, may Allaah have mercy upon them both. [Translator’s Note]

[4] Al-Bukhaari in al-Imaan (13); Muslim in al-Imaan (45); at-Tirmithi in Sifat al-Qiyaamah (2515); an-Nasaa’ee in al-Imaan (5016); Ibn Maajah in al-Muqadimah (66); Ahmad (3/262); ad-Daarimee in ar-Raqa’iq (2658).

[5] At-Tirmithi in al-Ilm (2658) [Declared as having an authentic chain of narration by Imaam al-Albaani, may Allaah have mercy upon him, in as-Saheeha – hadeeth no. 404 – Translator’s Note]

[6] Lit.ولا تناجشوا – ‘And what is correct [with regards to its meaning] is that it is the tanaajush mentioned in buying – that someone increases the price of a commodity, not because they want to buy it but to make others jealous to buy it.’ An-Nawawi – Explanation of Saheeh Muslim (16/112) [Translator’s Note]

[7] Al-Bukhaari in [the book of] al-adab (5719); Muslim in Birr was silah (2563); An-Nasaaee in an-Nikaah (3239); Ahmad (2/394) and Maalik in al-Jaami (1684).

Source: http://daarulhadeeth.org/2014/10/26/the ... aam-sadee/