Islam emphasizes on intention. Intentions are from the heart. Whether your intentions are good or bad, sincere or ostentious, all depends on the condition of the heart.It is mentioned:
On the Day of Judgment no one is safe save the one who returns to God with a pure heart.
'Surely in the breasts of humanity is a lump of flesh, if sound then the whole body is sound, and if corrupt then the whole body is corrupt. Is it not the heart?(Prophet Muhammad saw)'
'Blessed are the pure at heart, for they shall see God. (Jesus a.s)'
(Excerpts from'Purification of the heart' by Hamza Yusuf)
Almost universally, religious traditions have stressed the importance of the condition of the heart. In the Muslim scripture, the Day of Judgment is described as a day in which neither wealth nor children shall be of any benefit(to anyone), except one who comes to God with a sound heart (Quran, 26:88-89). The sound heart is understood to be free of character defects and spiritual blemishes. This 'heart' is actually the spiritual heart and not the physical organ per se, although in Islamic tradition the spiritual heart is centered in the physical. One of the extraordinary aspects of themodern era is that we are discovering aspects about the heart unknown in previous times, although there were remarkable insights in ancient traditions. For instance, according to traditional Chinese medicine, the heart houses what is known as shen, which is spirit. The Chinese characters for thinking , thought, love, the intention to listen, and virtue all contain the ideogram for the heart.
This book which I'm currently reading exposes all kinds of diseases that the heart will develop and what kind of treatment which the scholar recommends in the form of poetic composition. It is a very good book and I'm definitely recommending to all. Well, we might all think that we have a good and sound and sincere heart, but when you read it, you will know what I meant. For Muslims who does really have a sound and sincere heart, alhamdulillah, take the information in the book as reminders.
As for me, tremendous training is undergoing right now, so I'm not fit to give any good advice to anyone. Insya allah, i'll share with you what i've read from there.
Alhamdulillah. Allahu akbar!
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