Dear brother, we are discussing the book of Ibn Al-Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah, may Allah have mercy upon him. He mentioned in his book Points of Benefit some words of wisdom which were reported from Ibn Mas'ood. The following is one of it: "Look for your heart in three places." This means that you should examine your heart in three places. As a believer you should take care of your heart, because the most precious thing that you own is the clean heart, and this is mentioned in the following Noble Ayah:

(The Day whereon neither wealth nor sons will avail* Except him who brings to Allah a clean heart [clean from Shirk (polytheism) and Nifâq (hypocrisy)].)

(Ash-Shu'ara': 88-89)

Heart diseases start after death:

  No matter how serious the physical diseases are, they end when the affected person dies, whereas the diseases of the heart (the spiritual ones) start after death, and so they are the cause of the destruction of man forever and ever. Ibn Mas'ood said, "Look for your heart in three places: when listening to the Qur'an, when seeking knowledge (of Allah) and when in privacy. If you cannot find it in these places, then ask Allah the Almighty to bless you with a heart, for indeed you have no heart."

The symptoms of the heart diseases:

 This means that if you remembered Allah, pray and reauthor the Quran, but you are not touched, look for a heart, because you have none. The most significant thing you have when you meet with Allah is the clean heart; it is the one that is purified from whatever lust that displeases Allah, from believing whatever information that contradicts the Revelation of Allah, from applying the rulings other than Allah's Shari'ah and from worshipping other than Allah.

The treatment of the heart:

 Dear brother, the treatment of the dead heart is referred to in Allah's Saying:

(So whoever hopes for the Meeting with his Lord,)

(Al-Kahf: 110)

 It is treated by being connected with Allah, by being clean and by being full of love for Allah

(So whoever hopes for the Meeting with his Lord, let him work righteousness and associate none as a partner in the worship of his Lord)

(Al-Kahf: 110)

Righteous deed is the means of getting closer to Allah:

 This means that doing good deeds should be for the Sake of Allah Alone since getting closer to Allah can be achieved through the good deed, provided that sincerity goes hand-in-hand with that deed.

The righteous deed is accepted only with sincerity:

  Dear brother, there are rules to have your righteous deeds accepted: Sincerity while performing them is one of these rules. What marks your sincerity while performing the righteous deeds is that their number does not increase before people nor does it decrease in privacy because Allah is always with you; whenever and wherever. Also, sincerity is manifested when your good deeds do not increase whenever you are praised nor do they decrease whenever you are dispraised. For instance, a people may test a righteous man who is used to do good deeds, and dispraise him for his good deeds, so if he quits performing them as a result of that dispraise, his shaky sincerity will be disclosed.

The risks of the grave sins of hearts:

 Dear brother, people don't repent from the grave sins of hearts, because they are deeply rooted inside, and they look like the serious disease, so beware of the secret grave sins. Unlike this kind of sins the grave sins which are committed openly are easy to repent from. For example, if someone is used to commit a sin which he and people around him know that it is a sin, he feels guilty for committing it, and bit by bit this feeling will make him repent, whereas whoever commits a grave sin secretly rarely repents, because he believes that he is right.

Some kinds of grave sins committed secretly:

Innovation:

 It was said, "The innovator never repents." It does not mean that the gate of repentance is closed in his face, absolutely not, but rather it means he doesn't repent. Thus, we should beware of the grave sin which is committed openly one time and from the grave sins which are committed secretly 1000 times.

Pride:

  Pride is another grave sin that is committed secretly.

Thinking that Allah will not call you to account:

  Believing that you are the only one who is right, and that all people are astray and deviated, is a grave sin, and believing that Allah will not call you to account for your sins because you are close to Allah is a grave sin as well. Pay attention to the following Noble Ayah:

(Verily, they were about to tempt you away from that which We have revealed (the Qur'an) unto you (O Muhammad, peace be upon him), to fabricate something other than it against Us, and then they would certainly have taken you a friend!* And had We not made you stand firm, you would nearly have inclined to them a little* In that case, We would have made you taste a double portion (of punishment) in this life and a double portion (of punishment) after death. And then you would have found none to help you against Us.)

(Al-Isra': 73-75)

 Dear brother:

(And if he (Muhammad, peace be upon him) had forged a false saying concerning Us (Allah)* We surely should have seized him by his right hand (or with power and might)* And then certainly should have cut off his life artery (Aorta)* And none of you could withhold Us from (punishing) him.)

(Al-Haqqah: 44-47)

 It is narrated in the relic that some Companions said to the Prophet, peace be upon him, "Disfigure the infidels' bodies as they did to your uncle (Hamzah)", but he said:

((I will not disfigure them so that Allah will not disfigure me out of justice even though I am a Prophet.))

[At-Tabarani from Ya'qob bin Ishaq Al-Hadrami]

 If the Master of creation and the most beloved person to Allah fears Allah to such an extent, who are you to feel secured from Allah's Punishment?

Saying, "I am well-known for my good deeds":

 Also if you say, "I am well-known from my righteous deeds", is a grave sin that is committed secretly, and it does not exclude you from calling you to account. You will be called to account for everything you do. Hence, dear brother, the grave sins which are committed secretly are dangerous, and you should review your actions, straighten the path you are following, watch your heart and examine everything that might cause you destruction.

Satisfying lusts freely:

 Dear brother,

(If adultery and usury spread in a village, Allah will destroy it.)

[At-Tabarani and Al-Hakim from Ibn Abbas]

 What is corruption? If you want to describe a town, people or a place as corrupted, examine the main causes of corruption, and you will find that it is satisfying lusts freely, whether legally or illegally., In fact, satisfying one's sexual desire and gaining ill-gotten money are the main causes of corruption on the earth. Thus, whoever controls his sexual desire and refuses illegal money and income, protects himself from nine in tenth of the corruption prevailed on earth, because it is all related to the lust of money and sex. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said:

(May the worshipper of the dinar and dirham be miserable.)

[Al-Bukhari and Ibn Majah from Abi Hurairah]

Heroism lies in making money at your service:

 Dear brother, heroism lies in making money at your service, not in becoming a worshipper of money. Almighty Allah says:

(But the Mercy (Paradise) of your Lord (O Muhammad, peace be upon him) is better than the (wealth of this world) which they amass.)

(Az-Zkhruf: 32)

 Man moves from making a living to becoming controlled by the lust of collecting money, so his main concern becomes having the biggest balance although he makes benefit from the amount that suffices him. Whoever owns 90 billion dollars, what does he eat? Where does he sleep? What does he wear?

The ability of enjoying life is limited:

 Dear brother, there is a precise fact: The ability of enjoy life is limited. For instance, you eat limited amount of food even if you own billion or 1000 billion lira. Having money will not increase the number of the meals you eat, and this is the meaning of getting benefit from what suffices you. Hence, the ability to enjoy things which have material nature is limited; no matter how wealthy you are, you sleep on one bed, you drive one car, and you eat limited number of meals. On the other hand, the ability to enjoy being close to Allah is limitless.

Why we become miserable?

 Dear brother, you are created to know Allah, to draw closer to Him and to be happy in His Proximity, but when you specify the goal you seek to achieve, your misery starts. You are designed and programmed to achieve limitless goal, so when you choose a limited one, what happens? When you choose a limited goal to achieve, and you achieve it, misery and boredom start. Consider the example of someone how is brilliant and has great capacities, and he is asked to copy a paper, How will he react? He will be outrageous, because he can be an inventor. Likewise, you were created to be the utmost creature, so if you choose to achieve a worldly limited goal, your misery starts, but if you choose great goal, such as to know Allah, by Allah dear brother, you will be forever young in this life.

The believer never ages:

 The believer never ages, because his goal is greater than his abilities, while the ordinary man might age at forty. His main concern is to have a house, and so he buys one, to marry, and so he gets married or to have a car, and so he buys one. As he achieves these goals, life becomes meaningless.

What causes moral deviation?

 Let us explain why rich people gamble? What makes a wealthy man gamble with his money?! He may lose millions of dollars in an hour. Boredom is what makes wealthy people gamble. It is the cause of sexual deviation as well. Someone gets fed up with having illicit affairs with women, so he becomes homosexual and sexually deviated. Boredom results from choosing to achieve a specific goal. The ordinary man seeks this specific goal, and then he achieves it, but after that he gets bored. You will not be happy unless you choose a great goal to achieve, and the only greatest goal one can achieve is getting loser to Allah the Exalted. That is why you can notice that the believer is always young, and he never ages. A man who used to give religious lessons for 80 years, says to people who he meets in the street, "Your father, your grandfather and you were my students." He is at his nineties, but if you look at him you will notice that his back is straight, his sight is strong, his hearing is sharp and his teeth are in a good condition. Once he was asked, "Teacher, how could you stay healthy at this age?" He answered, "I controlled my extremities and protected my senses from all forbidden lusts when I was young, so that Allah protects health when I got old."

How can we be happy?

 By Allah dear brother, everyone of us can be the happiest person ever. A deceased brother of mine, may Allah have mercy upon him, performed Hajj, and I visited him after he came back. While I was sitting with him, he said few words which I will never forget. He said, "There is no one on earth who is happier than me except he who is more pious than me."

When we fear Allah we taste the sweetness of faith

 If you do not deeply understand these words, "There is no one on earth who is happier than me except he who is more pious than me", you haven't tasted the sweetness of faith.

The believer never fears or despairs:

 It is impossible to be a believer and fear something, be desperate or be humble before a rich man. The companions of Musa, peace be upon him, said:

("We are sure to be overtaken)

(Ash-Shu'ara': 61)

 Notice how Fir'aun (Pharaoh) with all his power, mighty, tyranny and the weapons he had, followed a small band:

(The companions of Mûsa (Moses) said: "We are sure to be overtaken)

(Ash-Shu'ara': 61)

 The possibility of their survival was zero as the sea was before them, Fir'aun (Pharaoh) was chasing them, they were small in number and Fir'aun was a merciless tyrant:

(Mûsa (Moses) said: "Nay, verily! With me is my Lord, He will guide me.")

(Ash-Shu'ara': 62)

 He, peace be upon him said, "Kalla (Nay), not La (No)" which indicates the impossibility of something to happen, while La indicates negation:

(Mûsa (Moses) said: "Nay, verily! With me is my Lord, He will guide me.")

(Ash-Shu'ara': 62)

 Is there any more serious disaster than being in the belly of the whale, and in the darkness of the belly of whale, the darkness of the sea and the darkness of night?

(But he cried through the darkness (saying): Lâ ilâha illa Anta [none has the right to be worshipped but You (O Allah)], Glorified (and Exalted) are You [above all that (evil) they associate with You]. Truly, I have been of the wrong-doers."* So We answered his call, and delivered him from the distress. And thus We do deliver the believers (who believe in the Oneness of Allah, abstain from evil and work righteousness).)

(Al-Anbiya': 87)

The psychological health is the effect of having faith:

 Usually whenever I meet someone sick, I advise him to see one of the excellent doctors I know. This is what I do with the people who I think are believer, but if someone has a psychological problem, I advise him to reconsider his connection with Allah. Keep in mind that everything is in His hand, and that He has control over the powerful enemies, the tyrants, your wife, your children, your health, your arteries, your nerves and your brain:

(Say (O Muhammad, peace be upon him): "O Allah! Possessor of the kingdom)

(Aal-'Imran: 26)

 Whatever you own is in the Hand of Allah the Exalted, so if you believe in this fact, you should have good psychological health. Actually the psychological health is the effect of having faith. One of the professors who taught me when I was a university student was one of the famous psychologists in the Middle East. Once he told us that he attended a conference about the psychological health in Britain, and he delivered a speech there saying, "The countries of the Middle East have the least number of people who suffer from psychological disorders, and the reason is very simple: We believe in Allah." When the believer is afflicted with a calamity, he says, "Praise be to Allah," or "Praise be to Allah for whatever calamity I am afflicted with." The non-believer, on the other hand, finds the calamity which befalls him unbearable, and so he may get unbalanced or suffers from schizophrenia.

The solution to our problems lies in having faith:

 Dear brother, the only solution to our problems lies in having faith, and due to profound Divine Wisdom, Almighty Allah has made this time full of uncountable dangers. For example, the bird flu (H5N1 Virus), as you can see and hear in the news can claim 150 million people and the hurricane and the earthquakes, such as the earthquake which caused the death of 50 people and the homelessness of 4 million people. This is the nature of the worldly life: Allah has made it the abode of trials:

(O people, this worldly life is a place of crookedness and is not a place of straightforwardness. It is a place of grief and is not a place of joy. Whoever recognizes this will not feel joy at [the achievement of] some hope or feel grief at wretchedness. Allah has meant for the worldly life to be a place for trial, and has meant for the Hereafter to be a place for ramification. Hence, He has made the adversity of the worldly life a reason for the reward in the Hereafter, and He has made the reward of the Hereafter a compensation for the adversity of the worldly life. He takes to give and afflicts to reward.)

[Ad-Delami, from Ibn Umar]

Tawheed is the essence of faith:

 By Allah dear brother, it would be enough for Muslims if Islam were only about Tawheed (monotheism). Do you know what Tawheed is? It is to believe that all your affairs are in the Hand of the Most Merciful, the Rich (Free of all wants and needs), the Omnipotent and the Most Just. It is to believe that Allah will never make your destiny in the hand of anyone. Since He created you, He is your Lord and in His Hand is your life, your death, your happiness, your misery and your affairs:

( And to Him return all affairs (for decision). So worship Him (O Muhammad SAW) and put your trust in Him. And your Lord is not unaware of what you (people) do.")

(Hud: 123)

 Thus:

(So invoke not with Allâh another ilâh (god) lest you be among those who receive punishment.)

(Ash-Shu'ara': -213)

 Dear brother, when man falls into Shirk (polytheism), his heart will be filled with terror:

(We shall cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve, because they joined sh3er in worship with Allâh,)

( Aal-'Imran: 151)

 When man worships Allah Alone, Allah fills his heart with safety, tranquility satisfaction and happiness.

The framework and content of Islam:

 Islam has a framework (form) and content, but its content is 100 times more important than its form. As for its framework, it is about praying, going to the Masjid (for praying or for listening to religious eesons), paying Zakat (giving alms), fasting in Ramadan and so on, whereas its content has to do with being the happiest person ever whether you are a low-income or a high-income employee, a powerful rich man or a weak one, male or female. This happiness can be gained by believing in Allah and reaping the fruits of this belief that is manifested in the tranquility, peace and satisfaction you have.

 I would like to tell you something, and I hope it can express what I really have in mind: you should deeply believe that there is no other Deity to be worshiped but Allah Alone, and that all the affairs of the powerful, the tyrants and the oppressors are in Allah's Hand no matter how strong they are:

(And to Him return all affairs (for decision))

(Hud: 123)

(It is He (Allâh) Who is the only Ilâh (God to be worshipped) in the heaven and the only Ilâh (God to be worshipped) on the earth.)

(Az-Zukhruf: 84)

(Whatever of mercy (i.e.of good), Allâh may grant to mankind, none can withhold it, and whatever He may withhold, none can grant it thereafter. And He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.)

(Fatir: 2)

Consider the following Qudsi Hadith:

(I am Allah besides whom there is no Diety, the Master of Kings, King of Kings. Verily the hearts of kings are under the control of My Hands. When My servants obey me, I turn the hearts of kings and rulers towards them so that they rule over them with mercy and kindness and when My servants disobey Me, I turn the hearts of kings and rulers to treat them harshly, with anger and vengeance. Thereby they mete out torture and oppression. Hence do not occupy yourselves with praying for curses upon kings and instead pray to Allah for them to become good, because you will never be good people unless they are good kings.)

 That is the truth: faith is all about Tawheed.

The faith that never saves you:

 Satan himself knows that Almighty Allah created the universe:

(Iblîs (Satan) said: "By Your Might,)

(Saad: 83)

 Satan believes in Allah, but such a belief never saves him from the Hellfire, because the faith that saves you in the Hereafter is to believe that Allah is the Only Deity to be worshipped, that everthing is in His Hand, that He is the Most High (nothing is above Him) and the Most Near (nothing is nearer than Him), He is the First (nothing is before Him) and the Last (nothing is after Him), and He is Able to do all things, so your relation should be only with Him.

Worship Allah Alone:

 In brief, if you are confronted with 100 monsters which can eat you in tow bites, but all of them are bounded by the Hand of a Mighty, Merciful and Just Party, your relation is not with the monsters but with their owner. If He loosens the rope, they can catch you, but if He tightens it, they can't. Similarly, your relation is with the Creator:

(So plot against me, all of you, and give me no respite* "I put my trust in Allâh, my Lord and your Lord! There is not a moving (living) creature but He has grasp of its forelock. Verily, my Lord is on the Straight Path (the truth))

(Hud: 55-56)

 Due to great Divine wisdom, Almighty Allah could make His Religion victorious through the spider. Had Kuffar who were chasing the Prophet, peace be upon him, seen him, they would have killed him at once, because the reward for whoever would bring him dead or alive was 100 she-camels. However, Allah makes His Religion victorious through the weakest creature, and He can destroy someone through a trivial thing. Therefore, worship Allah Alone, and never believe that there is a hand which controls all affairs other than Allah's. Well, you may not understand the Wisdom of Allah, but this doesn't prevent you from keeping submitted to Allah. The events of September 11th, was taken place due to great Divine Wisdom. If Almighty Allah prolongs our life, we will notice the good that is resulted from them. Apparently, the consequences of these events are harmful to us (as Muslims) since a world war has been launched against Islam. Yet, they have taken place due to Allah's Great Wisdom whether this Wisdom is revealed to people or not.  The following Ayah sums it up all:

(It may be that you dislike a thing which is good for you and that you like a thing which is bad for you. Allâh knows but you do not know.)

(Al-Baqarah: 216)