What does Islam say about the heart?
The heart, the scholars said, is not an organ of blood. It is the seat of faith, the place where the servant meets his Lord, and the first thing to be healed or ruined.
10 passages from 7 books in the library
The scholars, above all al-Ghazali in his Ihya, taught that the heart is the true seat of faith and the place where a person is healed or ruined — not merely an organ of blood. He held that any attribute settling in the heart affects the limbs, so the inner and outer life are bound together. Hypocrisy, he wrote, appears as a black dot that spreads until the heart darkens, while sincerity whitens it; the disbeliever's heart is sealed. Knowledge deepening within it transforms its very state, and in prayer the heart should be present, not absent.
Drawn from the classical sources below — in the scholars' own words.
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 7 books by Ibn al-Qayyim and Imam al-Ghazali — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.
14th century · Damascus, Syria
Madārij al-Sālikīn — the classical map of the spiritual journey — and a vast body of work on the soul, love, the traps of the ego, and the nature of the heart.
More on Ibn al-Qayyim →
· Provenance →
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"If the soul is poor, its poverty will affect the heart, disturbing its wealth. Thus, the wealth of the soul completes and perfects the wealth of the heart. The heart's wealth originates from the wealth of the soul. From the heart, wealth reaches the soul, and from the soul, poverty, harm, and hardship reach the heart. Now, the شَيْخ defined the wealth of the soul with three things: First, its steadfastness on what is desired, which is the Truth, the Exalted."
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"It is the soul's steadfastness on what is desired, its freedom from personal interests, and its purity from hypocrisy. The شَيْخ placed the wealth of the soul above the wealth of the heart. Matters of the heart are known to be more complete and stronger than those of the soul. However, there's a subtle point in this arrangement: the soul is among the soldiers and subjects of the heart."
14th century · Damascus, Syria
Madārij al-Sālikīn — the classical map of the spiritual journey — and a vast body of work on the soul, love, the traps of the ego, and the nature of the heart.
More on Ibn al-Qayyim →
· Provenance →
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"frail with disease. When one's heart is needed to fight off an enemy, it proves worthless. A person wages battle and charges courageously with their heart. The limbs are merely followers of the heart. If the heart's ruler lacks the strength for defense, what hope remains for the rest? Likewise, the soul is enfeebled by cravings and sins. The composed soul weakens, while the commanding soul gains strength and dominance. As the latter becomes stronger, the former weakens, leaving the commanding soul in control. Sometimes, the composed soul may perish beyond hope of revival, rendering the individual spiritually dead both in this"
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"but awakens when prompted, some whose testimony is reclining, and others whose testimony is closer to being upright. Within the heart, it is like the soul's relation to the body, a dead soul, a sick soul closer to death, a soul closer to life, and a healthy soul caring for the body's welfare. In an authentic hadith from the Prophet, peace be upon him, he said, I know a word that no servant says at the time of death, but that his soul finds comfort in it."
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"Imam Ahmad related from Hudhaifa ibn al-Yaman, may Allah be pleased with him, who said, The hearts are of four types. A heart that is clear with a lamp glowing, which is the heart of the believer. A heart that is sealed, which is the heart of the disbeliever. An overturned heart, which is the heart of the hypocrite. And a heart that is supplied by two materials, material of faith and material of hypocrisy, determined by which of them prevails."
14th century · Damascus, Syria
Madārij al-Sālikīn — the classical map of the spiritual journey — and a vast body of work on the soul, love, the traps of the ego, and the nature of the heart.
More on Ibn al-Qayyim →
· Provenance →
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"to will. Among those who truly know, longing for treachery and occupying the thought and the heart with it is more harmful to the heart than the treachery itself — especially when the heart is emptied of it after it has been committed — for longing for it keeps the heart busy with it, fills the heart with it, and makes it the heart's whole concern and object. You see this plainly in the visible world: when a human king has among his retinue and servants one who longs to betray him, his heart and thought occupied with it and brimming with it, while for all that he is in the king's service attending to his affairs — then, when the king learns of his secret and intent,"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"Allah says I accept the testimony of my servants according to what they know and I forgive him for what I know. The soul's control over the body ceases when the body no longer obeys it. The limbs are tools employed by the soul enabling it to grasp, hear, see, and understand. The heart in this context refers to the soul which perceives things independently. It can experience sorrow, distress, joy, and delight all unrelated to the organs. Traits inherent to the soul remain with it after it departs the body. However, what the soul does through the organs becomes inoperative with the body's death until the soul is returned to the"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"The purity of heart differs from the purity of the soul. One might desire something with their heart, while their soul does not find ease in it. For instance, one might desire cupping with their heart, but their soul dislikes it. The purity of the soul means voluntarily giving up without necessity, unlike when forced to choose between two hardships, opting for the lesser one."
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"it never entirely escapes dullness. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, Hearts are four, a pure heart with a radiant lamp within it, and this is the heart of a believer, a black, overturned heart, which is the heart of a disbeliever, a sealed heart bound upon its seal, which is the heart of a hypocrite, and a heart layered with faith and hypocrisy."
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"is granted, then how about he who neglects? These are summaries of what should be preserved from your outward faculties. The actions of these limbs only spring from the heart's traits. If you wish to preserve the faculties, then purify the heart first, that is, the inner piety. The heart is the flesh that if sound, the body is sound by it, and if corrupted, the whole body is corrupted. So work on its correction for your faculties, preservation. It is corrected by constant vigilance. On the sins of the heart, know that the reprehensible traits of the heart are many, and the path to its purification from these vices is long. The means of treatment in this are"
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