The Four Poisons of the Heart - Part 2.

ISSUE NO. 002 of 2007
ISSUE DATE. Friday 12th January, 2007
Corresponding Islamic Date: 22nd Zul Hijjah, 1427

The Four Poisons of the Heart - Part 2.
Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah

Unrestrained Glances

The unrestrained glance results in the one who looks becoming
attracted to what he sees, and in the imprinting of an image of what he sees in his heart. This can result in several kinds of corruption in the heart of the servant. The following are a number of them:

It has been related that the Prophet (saw) once said words to the
effect:

“The glance is a poisoned arrow of shaytan. Whoever lowers his gaze for Allah, He will bestow upon him a refreshing sweetness which he will find in his heart on the day that he meets Him.”

Shaytan enters with the glance, for he travels with it, faster than the wind blowing through an empty place. He makes what is seen appear more beautiful than it really is, and transforms it into an idol for the heart to worship. Then he promises it false rewards, lights the fire of desires within it, and fuels it with the wood of forbidden actions, which the servant would not have comitted had it not been for this distorted image.

This distracts the heart and makes it forget its more important concerns. It stands between it and them; and so the heart loses its straight path and falls into the pit of desire and ignorance.

Allah, Mighty and Glorious is He, says in Ch. 18, Vs. 28. of the Holy Qur’an:

“And do not obey anyone whose heart We have made forgetful in remembering Us - who follows his own desires, and whose
affair has exceeded all bounds.”

The unrestrained gaze causes all three afflictions.

It has been said that between the eye and the heart is an immediate connection; if the eyes are corrupted, then the heart follows. It becomes like a rubbish heap where all the dirt and filth and rottenness collect, and so there is no room for love for Allah, relating all matters to Him, awareness of being in His presence, and feeling joy at His proximity - only the opposite of these things can inhabit such a heart. Staring and gazing without restraint is disobedience to Allah:

Allah (swt) says in Ch. 24, Vs. 30 of the Holy Qur’an:

“Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and guard their
modesty; that is more purifying for them. Surely Allah is aware of what they do.”

Only the one who obeys Allah’s commands is content in this world, and only the servant who obeys Allah will survive in the next world.

Furthermore, letting the gaze roam free cloaks the heart with darkness, just as lowering the gaze for Allah clothes it in light.

After the above ayah, Allah, the Glorious and Mighty, says in the same surah of the Qur’an:, Ch. 24, Vs. 35:

“Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth: the likeness of His light is as if there were a niche, and in the niche is a lamp, and in the lamp is a glass, and the glass as it were a brilliant star, lit from a blessed tree, an olive, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil is well nigh luminous, though fire scarce touched it. Light upon light. Allah guides whomever He wants to His Light. Allah strikes metaphors for man; and Allah knows all things.”

When the heart is a light, countless good comes to it from all
directions. If it is dark, then clouds of evil and afflictions come from all directions to cover it up.

Letting the gaze run loose also makes the heart blind to distinguishing between truth and falsehood, between the sunnah and innovation; while lowering it for Allah, the Might and Exalted, gives it a penetrating, true and distinguishing insight.

A righteous man once said: “Whoever enriches his outward behaviour by following the sunnah, and makes his inward soul wealthy through contemplation, and averts his gaze away from looking at what is forbidden, and avoids anything of a doubtful nature, and feeds solely on what is halal - his inner sight will never falter.”

Rewards for actions come in kind. Whoever lowers his gaze from what Allah has forbidden, Allah will give his inner sight abundant light.

Avoidance of Quarrel

Quarrel is very much disliked by Allah (swt) and a quarrelsome person has been decribed in the Quran; in contrast, forbearance, equanimity and avoidance of quarrel are attributes pleasing to
Allah (swt) and he who has them is rewarded for them.
Abdullah ibn Abbas (ra) has related that addressing a man of
Abd-al-Qais (ra) tribe, our blessed Holy Prophet (saw) said:

“You have two trails that Allah likes forbearance and dignity”
(Sahih Muslim).

So if someone be in the right and yet does he relinquish his right solely in order to avoid strife and quarrel or make peace, such a man has been given glad tidings by our Prophet (saw) may he be eternally blessed, who has been quoted as follows by Abu Umamah:-

“I guarantee a home on the verges of Paradise him who gives up quarrel even though he may be in the right”
(Sunan Abu Da’ud)

How fortunate a man who has been given glad tiding and even guaranteed a home in the Paradise! May Allah grant such an opportunity to all Muslims, amen!

Dedicated to the Cherished Memories of the late:
Imam Mahmood Ali, Hajjin Khatija Ali, Asgar Ali and Kurban Mohammed of Meccan Printers, Charlieville.