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Dr Haifaa Younis
My
Heart
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Design: Afreen Fazil (Jaryah Studio)
Contents
1. Who are You?
2. Are you still There?
3. Are you Sound?
4. Are you Unwell?
5. Are you Dead?
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6. Are you attached to this Life?
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7. Can you let go of this World?
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8. Does your Tongue affect You?
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9. Why isn't your Tongue Straight?
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10. Why do we Lie?
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11. Do you Backbite?
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12. Why do you Backbite?
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13. Can you Control your Tongue?
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14. Do you get Angry?
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15. Do you Control your Anger?
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MY DEAR HEAD
sary because I'm thinking of hiring this person. Yet if
don't need this plumber, why do I ask these
question
It's because this is a disease of the tongue. We need t remember when the tongue is not straight, the heart is straight. What is it we want and need? We want to g
Allah with a straight, sound heart.
go t
Sayyidina Luqman, the wise man, was asked, "Wha made you so wise?' His answer is profound, as everybod wants to be wise and say the right thing. He didn't study, he didn't gain a doctorate in how to say the right things. He replied,
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لَا أَسْأَلُ عَمَّا كُفِيتُ، وَلَا أَسْأَلُ عَمَّا لَا يَعْنِيني 60
"I do not ask about things I don't need and have enough of, and I don't say or speak about things that are not of my concern."
2. Speaking about sin
A second disease of the tongue we need to stay away from is speaking about sins and things that are displeasing to Allah. Did you watch that movie? Did you watch that series? Di you see this, you should go and see it, and then describe things that are clearly not pleasing to Allah and are haram.
DOES YOUR TONGUE AFFECT YOU?
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It is enough of a problem that we all get weak sometimes and watch this or listen to that. At those times we need to ask Allah for forgiveness, move on, and not talk about it.
3. Speaking to impress people
The third one, is called al-taqa'uru fi al-kalām, when you speak in a way to impress people by being preten- tious. This is using very sophisticated words that people don't understand, purely to show off. The Prophet said: "Indeed, the most beloved of you to me, and the closest of you to me on the Day of Resurrection, are those of you who have the best character. And the most detested of you to me, and the furthest of you from me on the Day of Resurrection, are the boastful, the pompous, and the arro- gant in speech."
This clarifies that the beloved are those with the best manners and conduct, while the disliked are described as al-thartharun- those who are excessively talkative, al-muta- shaddikün- those who use affected, pretentious language, and al-mutafayhiqun - those who speak arrogantly to impress others.
The tongue therefore affects our heart and if there was a filter to remove what displeases Allah and replace it with what is pleasing to Allah, it would help us.
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Ibn Abi Asim, Kitab az-Zuhd, Hadith 107, page 56.
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The Prophet supplicate: "O Allah, grant our souls taqwa (piety), and purify them, for You are the best to purify them. You are their Guardian and Master." (Muslim)
My Dear Heart Are you Dead?
As we explored in the last chapter, our hearts can move from pure and healthy to getting sick or turning completely dead. My dear heart, how do you die? If you testify,
La ilaha illallah - There is no god but Allah, your heart is not dead. If you know Allah, your heart is not dead.
However, is it possible to go through the day for a short time, maybe ten minutes or longer, an hour or two, where the heart becomes completely dead, and then goes back? The answer is yes, as the following incident will show. Recently I visited a physically sick person in the hospital who had been very sick for two or three days before I visited.
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How is your heart? This organ is a subtle creation of our Rabb, it is the seat of our faith and the only thing of true worth we will take with us to Allah. Yet how much time do we take to understand, nourish and protect it? Do we know what hinders and helps it?
In My Dear Heart, Dr. Haifaa draws on timeless wisdom from the Qur'an and sunnah and her own experiences to help you care for your heart. The thirty chapters accompany you on a journey of discovering what dwells in your heart and what affects its different states. My Dear Heart is an invitation to pause and reflect on the sicknesses that harm/tarnish it and the cures to restore its health on the path to achieving a sound heart, a qalbun saleem. In a world full of distractions and noise, this book brings our focus back to what matters; a heart that is close to Allah, at peace and pleasing to Him.
an
Dr. Sh. Haifaa Younis is the Founder and Chairman of Jannah Institute, educational platform dedicated to nurturing Islamic knowledge, spirituality, and personal development for women. She currently teaches Year of Knowledge, a full-time foundational Islamic Studies program, and also conducts courses, retreats, and workshops in Irvine, CA. Dr. Haifaa's passion lies in helping Muslim women take Islamic teachings off the page and into their daily lives.
Dr. Sh. Haifaa is also an American Board-Certified Obstetrician and Gynaecologist with roots from Iraq. She graduated from the Mecca Institute of Islamic Studies and Al-Huda Qur'an Memorization School Jeddah) and holds an ijaza in Hafs through Asim from Madinah Al-Munawarah.
