Purification of the Heart
Signs, Symptoms and Cures of
the Spiritual Diseases of the Heart
Translation and Commentary of
Imam Mawlud's Maášharat al-Qulub
by Hamza Yusuf
Heedlessness
POEM VERSES 138-40
Heedlessness is being careless concerning what God has
commanded one to do and has prohibited.
Scholars of this science consider [heedlessness] to be the
source of all wrongdoing. Its cure is to be found in four deeds,
all of which possess rectifying qualities:
seek forgiveness from God; visit the righteous; invoke
benedictions upon the Prophet and recite [God's] Book.
Definition
Heedlessness (ghafl) is a terrible lack of attention to what is infinitely more important in one's life than material goods. Heedlessness is a key concept often discussed in Islamic spiritual treatises and is referred to in many passages of the Quran. Imam al-Junayd (a 9th-century scholar) said that heedlessness is the one pathogen that breeds all the diseases of the heart. His argument is compelling. The Arabic word for a simpleton is mughaffal, a person who is easily fooled. In our context, it is a person who is diverted away from what is essential and consequential toward what is ephemeral and ultimately pointless.
According to some linguists, the Arabic word for human being, insan, comes from the worduns, which refers to intimacy, for the human being needs close companionship. Other linguists, however, believe it comes from the Arabic word nasya, which means to forget, implying that one of the characteristics of human beings is forgetfulness, which further implies that we need to be reminded often, hence the centrality of repetition in spiritual practices.
The heedlessness that Imam Mawlud speaks of here is its most menacing form: being heedless of divine purpose, accountability, and the resurrection, ultimate standing, and judgment in the Hereafter. The full manifestation of these events are veiled to us now by the thin wall of death, the timing of which is the secret that hovers above the heads of all men and women. Even though the reality of these things is hidden in the realm of the unseen, what is expected of us is to receive and accept what the Prophet pbuh came with.
This was the duty of all the prophets—to call people to believe in the unseen, to trust what they say, commit to their teachings. There is a well-known allegory of people in a cave, at the entrance of which was a lamp that cast shadows the people in the cave believed to be realities. When one person left the cave and saw the real world—the sun, the stars, and the trees—he raced back in the cave to tell the others that there was much more to their world than what they saw in their cave. But the people feared what he said, causing them to deny, ridicule, and then physically attack him. The prophets came to rouse people from their stupor, to take them from delusional lives and heedlessness to awareness. Many of the prophets were slain; all faced harsh opposition.
In the Quran, you will find ghafla mentioned several times in different forms, but almost invariably referring to unawareness. The Quran uses other words to refer to unawareness. Those who laugh at the Quran are samidun (QURAN, 53:61); they are so immersed in amusement they are oblivious of reality. On the Day of Reckoning, the heedless will be driven to their chastisement and be told along the way, "You were once heedless of this. Now We have removed your veil [ghita'] from you, so your sight this day is sharp!" (QURAN, 50:22), God speaks of the disbelievers impervious to the message of the prophets as having a cover (ghishawa) over their eyes (QURAN, 2:7).
The ultimate trauma of heedlessness, then, is not seeing things the way they truly are. It is choosing a way of living that allows divine signs to pass one up without notice. The Prophet pbuh supplicated that God the Exalted show him things in their reality, distinguished and clear: "Show me the truth as truth and give me the ability to follow it; and show me falsehood as falsehood and give me the ability to avoid it." Imam Mawlud says ghafla is also heedlessness of what God has commanded and what He has prohibited, or seeing the difference between the two as irrelevant.
One of the cures for heedlessness is keeping good and sincere company. It is recognized in virtually all traditions and cultures that the company one keeps has inroads to one's heart and morality. When someone is surrounded by people who are sincere and trustworthy, he only stands to benefit from them. Even when a person errs, good companions remind the person and set him right.
Treatment
The cure is in four things that possess authentic rectifying qualities. The first is repentance and seeking forgiveness. As a matter of regular worship, one should ask for forgiveness (istighfar) at least 70 or 100 times a day, according to the Prophet's teachings, which were closely followed by our righteous forebears (salaf). The practice is connected to accounting for one's deeds. At the end of the day, the merchant looks at his ledger to calculate his earnings, to see what "the scales say," so to speak. The moral scales are no less important, and each of us is a merchant with regard to what we lost or gained with respect to God's pleasure. When there is loss, which is a frequent occurrence, seeking God's forgiveness balances things out.
Second is visiting (ziyara) righteous people, who enjoy rank with God the Exalted, Classically, the ranking of humanity proceeds as follows, as evinced in the verse of the Quran (4:69): prophets (al-nabiyyin); truthful ones (alsiddiqin); martyrs (al-shuhada'); and the righteous (al-salihin). The word salih conveys the notion of soundness of heart and excellent character. More specifically, it refers to one who gives God His due right, who fulfills His commandments and avoids what is prohibited. This is haqq al-ibada, God's right to be worshipped, which includes rites of worship as well as excellent behavior towards other people. So a righteous person does not cheat or lie. He or she is the kind of person whom one should seek out as company. Scholars have always encouraged visiting righteous people as part of the protocol of the spiritual ascendancy. These people include the living as well as the dead. If one goes to Madinah, it is recommended to visit the graves of the great Muslims and convey salutations of peace to them. The Prophet pbuh visited the grave sites of his fallen Companions. (Early on, the Prophet pbuh forbade the visiting of graves but later encouraged it. In pre-Islamic times the visiting of graves was a kind of idolatry. When the young community was purged of that, the Prophet pbuh was permitted by God to abrogate the previous command.)
Visiting graves is a poignant reminder of death and the Hereafter. It is an armament against heedlessness. There is a hadith in which the Prophet pbuh passed by a grave and saw a woman there weeping. He said to her, "It is better to be patient." She replied, not recognizing the Prophet pbuh "You haven't been afflicted as I have." The Prophet pbuh then left her. When someone had told her that she had spoken to the Prophet pbuh, she went to the Prophet pbuh and explained that she did not realize who she had spoken to. The Prophet pbuh said that true patience (sabr) is the patience shown when a trial first afflicts one. If one shows patience a year after losing someone dear, that is not the patience the Quran praises. So visiting graves of righteous loved ones requires control over emotions.
It is excellent to visit the righteous among us who are alive— those who are truly righteous and knowledgeable. One cannot judge another person by title. In modern times in many Muslim countries, men are presented with the title of "shaykh" as inherited from the father. As a result, there are people with that title who are ignorant. There are charlatans in this world, and none is more dangerous than a religious charlatan.
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A learned man in Fez, Morocco, said, "God has made the ways of gaining lawful provision innumerable. Someone who uses religious pretension in order to profit is especially wicked." This is not to say that earning a living by teaching religion is wrong. This is entirely permissible, according to the scholars (although the very early forebears of Islam objected to this, a position that was changed later by scholars who saw that earning a living through teaching the Quran, for example, was honorable, especially as the demand for religious instruction grew exponentially and teachers, like anyone else, were in need of a livelihood). We know that Imam Malik was given a good sum of wealth, but he was also known to spend freely for the benefit of the needy. He was knowledgeable as well as judicious and generous with his wealth.
One must combine knowledge of the outward Islamic sciences with inward spiritual experience to be truly considered a teacher. Unfortunately in our age, we often impose a chasm between inward and outward aspects of Islam—two camps postured against one another. There is, though, the middle path of the Prophet pbuh—the best one to take.
When visiting a righteous person, the discourse should be substantive and not one of idle talk. The benefits one should seek are gaining knowledge and the supplication of the righteous person. In fact, ask that they remember you in their prayers, for their prayers might be more acceptable to God than your own.
Just as one is recommended to visit the righteous, one should strive to be the righteous person that others seek out to visit. Imam Ibn Ata 'illah said, "If you do not believe that God can take you at this moment and make you one of His saintly believers (awliya), then you are ignorant of His power."
The third cure is to invoke benedictions on the Prophet pbuh. This is, in fact, a command from God the Exalted Himself: 0 you who believe, invoke benedictions upon [the Prophet] and salutations of peace (QURAN, 33:56). The Companion Ubay ibn Ka'b once asked the Prophet pbuh how much of his litany of remembering God (dhikr) should be benedictions on the Prophet pbuh. He said that a fourth would be good, and "If you add more, it is better." Ubay than asked, "And if I were to make it half?" The Prophet pbuh said it was good, and "If you add more, it is better." Ubay than asked, "And if I were to make it three-quarters?" The Prophet pbuh said it was good, and "If you add more, it is better." Ubay then declared that he would make all of his dhikr this way; the Prophet pbuh said, "That is good." There is great light associated with invoking prayers of benediction upon the Prophet pbuh. Sidi Ahmad al-Zarruq once said, "If you do not have a murabbi [a spiritual mentor], then say prayers of blessings upon the Prophet pbuh, which acts as a murabbi." Many scholars have attested to the fact that prayers of blessings upon the Prophet pbuh purify the soul. (Some recommend that one repeat it at least 500 times a day. Others themselves would repeat it 5,000 times a day.) Imam Malik was always making prayers of blessings for the Prophet pbuh. The muhaddithin (scholars of prophetic traditions) are well known for this practice.
The fourth cure for heedlessness is the recitation of the Quran. Reciting it with tadabbur (reflection) awakens the heart. But plain recitation is beneficial as well. Learned Muslims have recommended that a person recite one thirtieth of the Quran (juz') every day. If this is difficult, then reciting Surat Ya Sin (36) after Dawn Prayer, Surat alWaqi'a (56) after Sunset Prayer, and Surat al-Mulk (68) after Evening Prayer would greatly benefit the soul. (New Muslims should strive with their utmost to learn how to read the text of the Quran. Meanwhile, one is advised to listen to the well-known Quran reciters on tape or read a good English translation until one is able to read the Arabic. It is important for one to be regularly engaged with the Book of God.) The actual sounds of the language of the Quran—the breathtaking rhythms and words—are like medicine. From the perspective of energy dynamics, every substance has a resonance at a specific wavelength. A medicine resonates in order to cure the disease. So too the sounds of the Quran: O humankind, there has come to you from your Lord counsel and healing for what is in the breasts, and a guidance and a mercy to the believers (QURAN, 10:57). When one recites the Quran, one moves his or her tongue pronouncing revealed words of the Lord of the heavens and the earth. And these words have a sound. People are often amazed when they hear the Quran for the first time—amazed at the sound. So it is important to know that the beauty of the Quran comprises the meanings as well as the sound.
These are the four cures that Imam Mawlud offers for heedlessness. God warns the Prophet pbuh himself from conforming to those whose hearts are in the state of heedlessness (QURAN, 18:28). People who turn away from the truth, God increases their heedlessness.
What is interesting about heedlessness is that everyone will eventually be cured of it, no matter the extent of this disease. The challenge is to be cured in this life, when it counts—when our obedience in the arena of tests and trials holds out meaning. The moment a person dies, veils are let down. Even the denizens of Hellfire will no longer live in the Hell of heedlessness. We were created to remember God, and if it takes the heat of Hell to remind some, then so be it. We ask God to make us among those who remember Him in this life and among those who are saved in the Hereafter.
Source: Purification of Heart
to be continued ....
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