Why: The Heart? - Part 1

Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.

“Its all in the mind” is a very famous saying and for those who understands the meaning of ‘mind’ should agree with the following, “Its all in the heart”.

Why the heart? Of course, since, ‘Hati adalah raja dalam kerajaan diri, akal adalah penasihat kepada hati’ (I heard this line during the Orientation in PERMATA) and the following ‘super-famous’ hadith emphasizes the role of the heart even further.

“Beware! There is a piece of flesh in the body if it becomes good (reformed) the whole body becomes good but if it gets spoilt the whole body gets spoilt and that is the heart.”

-Excerpt from the Hadith No 6 from the Forty-Hadith of Imam Nawawi-

Thus, its all in the heart. In the current time, everywhere we see, people are striving, struggling and competing to achieve something. This competition has only got worse with time. Students nowadays are taking tuition since Standard 1 (this is seriously something), teens are going to uni while having a part time job and adults are working overtime almost all the time. People are getting more and more engrossed in their struggle to achieve ‘something’.

An advice to myself, ‘Dude, slow down. What are you rushing for? What is the ‘something’ that you looking for?’. For I need to look beyond the illusions of this world and search within me for the answers to the questions.

To all that have watched the movie ‘Bruce Almighty’, try recalling this scene. After Bruce got the ‘powers’, he was supposed to do the job of answering everyone’s prayers. After answering the first few, he got tired, and just said yes to all the other prayers. Due to this, things got out of control and created havoc all around the city. So, at this point, Bruce went to meet Morgan Freeman to consult about the situation. Bruce said something like, “I only gave them what they wanted”. Morgan replied to following,

"Since when do people know what they want or need?"

Interesting eh? Personally, after doing lots of research, listening to so many talks, doing so many self-searching, talking with so many people, watching so many movies and such, I think we all are searching for peace in the heart. With it I am a king without a throne. Safely I can say that this is the cure to all the psychological disorders known to man. To name a few: anxiety disorder, depression, nervousness, acute stress disorder, panic disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive disorder, Post-Traumatic stress disorder, social phobia, sexual disorder, schizophrenia and millions more. Also, safely I can say the absence of it is the cause to almost all of problems known to mankind. From evil characteristics (Listing a few: arrogance, fear, anger, cruelty, cowardliness, miserliness, jealousy, hatred, hypocrisy, greed, lying, stubbornness, dissension, sloth, ignorance, selfishness, ill manners, despair) to world problems (Still, Listing a few: war, hunger, crime, pollution, injustice, global warming, extinction).

How do I get this peaceful heart? Let me refer to the manual of our life, The Quran.

Surah Ar-Ra’d, Verse 28.

The translation:

English: Those who believe, and whose hearts find satisfaction in the remembrance of Allah. for without doubt in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction.

Malay: (yaitu) orang-orang yang beriman dan hati mereka menjadi tenteram dengan mengingat Allah. Ingatlah, hanya dengan mengingat Allah-lah hati menjadi tenteram.

My dear readers, verily, due to some influences that I had during my stay in Melbourne, my heart currently is not at peace. It is wondering about what is the true course of life. While it is sure of going cool, doing things the right way as the prophet has said, there is still confusion left due to the aforementioned influences. The purpose of my research into this area is to settle my own heart; I shall take the above advice, put it into action and reap the benefits. InsyaAllah. Pray for me and I shall pray for you all.

Thank you.

-Wallahu a'lam-
Allah knows best