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Thursday, February 25, 2010
Cleansing The Heart
All aspects in life starts with what we have in our heart or in simpler word; our intention. Our heart has voices: the good and the bad ones. As a human being, it is part of our temptations and tribulations that we sometimes have so many dirty things brought up by the heart to the mind and finally controlling our actions.
The bad disease for the heart is when we have so much of anger controlling our lives, so much jealousy, bad perceptions, hatred and judgements of the people around us, and the inability to offer forgiveness to the fellow mankind for the mistakes done. Today, let’s indulge in a little pondering about our heart.
The bad disease for the heart is when we have so much of anger controlling our lives, so much jealousy, bad perceptions, hatred and judgements of the people around us, and the inability to offer forgiveness to the fellow mankind for the mistakes done. Today, let’s indulge in a little pondering about our heart.
1. Perform the prayers and do not forget to submit a supplication after each prayer. Take a moment to always supplicate as Allah considers those who perform the solats without offering supplication to Him as the ungrateful servants and arrogant. So don’t forget to ask from Him and to cleanse your heart, include this simple prayers as your supplication: “O Allah, please clean my heart and guard myself from anything that may blacken my heart”.
2. Forward a ‘Selawat’ to the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) at least 100 times before we sleep. Apart from it’s a good soul cleansing mechanism, it is also an easy investment for us as every ‘selawat’ we forward to the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), we will get the chances for his syafaat in the Hereafter. Besides our sins will be forgiven, we will have a clear mind and a peaceful heart, a tendency for people to love us and it ignites a lot of good things in our lives.
3. Perform a special prayer – Solat Taubat (To Repent) and/or Tahajjud (Midnight prayer)– Besides asking for forgiveness, this prayer cleanses the heart and offers us a peaceful mind. It is still not easy for me to get up especially when both my mind and body are tired.
4. Reading Al-Qur’an- the more we read the Qur’an, the more we will feel the benefits of it. Reading Al-Qur’an can cleanse our heart & soul; give remedy, offer serenity and acts as a form of therapy. At least read/recite "Qulhu-Allah" 3 times. Make sure the mahraj (pronunciation and enunciation) and the tajwid are correct. If you can read it with tarannum, you have added gift there, but if you don’t as long as the mahraj of the words and the tajwid are correctly uttered we are safe. Try to comprehend the meaning of the verses as we get more solace if we understand what we are reading. I found reading the Holy Qur’an helps to tone my stone-like heart. I learn to bend my ego when I began understanding the meaning of one surah to another. I relate each meaning with the tribulations and tests of my life and I submit myself with conviction that helps from Allah are abundant when I am in difficulties as long as I continue asking him via solats and extracting the supplications from the verses in the al-Qur’an. I find reading the Qur'an to be the strengthening and calming factors for my mind and heart. When the soul is fed, the mind is at peace.
5. Learn to seek forgiveness and always forgive someone everyday. This is the most difficult thing to do and I am still learning to tell my heart to ‘mengalah’ (let go) and thus forgive someone. The consoling of my own self is more difficlut to do and normally after tears are shed in my solats, and thinking that my life is really short and I need not carry the grudge like anger and frustration, as they are forms of taxic in the body and food for the cancer, I must learn to let go peacefully. This is really difficult, really, really hard. I learn burying the hatchet when I was 37 (that’s pretty late, ain’t it? But I take it as it is never too late to change a bad habit). Alhamdulillah, it helps soothing my mind as the heart becomes calmer than before. Now, at times I still have that difficulty doing but I keep on telling myself, my clock is ticking louder and my days are boldly numbered so I better learn to forgive and not bring the heart that is blackened by all symptoms of "Penyakit Hati" (Diseased/Illed Heart) when I leave the earth. Enough that I have Liver that is sick, I must not make my heart to be sick too.
6. Always say to yourself something positive. Always have a positive talk to yourself as it is very good. What we say and wish is a du’a/ supplication for us. Thus always say good things to ourselves. Do not criticize yourself even if a mistake is done as the mistake is to be learnt. Do not downgrade yourself or ridicule your talents. I learn to accept the adversity of my test by talking positively to myself everyday. By talking positively, comes the redha (full acceptance of the test)is seeping into the heart and it strengthens my heart to brace the valley moments of my life with solid patience.
7. Mind Cleansing Program: The best to be done is at night right before one goes to sleep. How do we do it? It is simple, start with: smile, close your eyes and say in your heart “ O Allah, please cleanse my way of thinking/mind and my heart. Tomorrow I want to be a better person, istiqomah in good deeds, successful, happy, full of enthusiasm, active and have a positive mindset.”
There are other aspects like fasting, remembering death, stay in your ablution, do charity and treat someone some lunch or dinner, guard and protect your food intake – making sure no subhah /was-was food are consumed, befriending those knowledgeable in religion and those who are poor, and always offer advice to others to do good things and right things and lastly to guard our 5 senses not to dwell into some wrong things especially the mouth and the ears – telling and listening to gossips may blacken the heart.
I am only writing to remind myself to continue correcting my life and re-align it. So many dreams, wishes and hopes are still far-fetched and so many things still face up and down patterns especially my Imaan. The inner grip still requires telling and shouting.
May God continue to guide me and show me a ray of light to the right path. Ameen.
Astaghfirullaahal 'azeeem. Forgive me Dear Lord!
