While many of us remember to supplicate to Allah (azza wa jal) for guidance, knowledge, and Paradise, there is one important thing that we forget to include in our prayers. In a narration that many of us are familiar with, the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said: ” Unquestionably, in the body there is a lump of flesh; if it is sound, the whole body is sound, and if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt, and behold, it is the heart.” [Bukhari and Muslim]
Countless scholars of Islam have dedicated books upon books to reformation and purification of the heart because it is the key to success or destruction. Just as doctors today tell us that having a healthy heart is the key to having a healthy body, the Prophet (alayhi salaatu wa salaam) conveys to us that having a good heart is the key to righteousness. Anas (radi Allahu anhu) narrated that asking for a firm and obedient heart was one of the constant supplications of the Prophet (alayhi salaatu wa salaam); and one narration from Umm Salamah (radi Allahu anha) states that this was the duaa he made the most. This duaa is: “Allahumma ya Muqallib al Quloob thabbit qalbi ‘alaa Deenik,” “O Turner of the hearts, make my heart firm upon Your Religion.”
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However, there is another authentic duaa from the sunnah of the Messenger that is narrated in Saheeh Muslim that isn’t as well known. The Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said, “Verily, the hearts of all the sons of Adam are between the two fingers out of the fingers of the Compassionate Lord as one heart. He turns that to any (direction) He likes. Then Allah’s Messenger (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said:
Musarrif/Sarrif: Both of these words are from the same root which has many meanings. Of those meanings are, to turn, to divert, to turn from another direction, to avert, and to change. The meaning of this word in this duaa is to turn or direct. How is this word different from “Muqallib al-Qulūb?” There are a few differences linguistically, but the essence of both supplications is the same. Qallaba, just like Sarrafa, means to change and turn the direction of something. The linguistic difference is that qallaba points more to constant moving and turning about, while sarrafa points to changing of the direction. When we make this duaa, we are asking Allah (azza wa jal) to sarrif, turn and direct our hearts to His Obedience, while in the other duaa, we are asking Allah to thabbit, make our hearts firm on Islam, and not qallib because the heart is constantly changing about and turning directions.
Qulūb: Qulūb is plural of qalb which means the heart. Qalb is the general word for heart. It comes from the root which means something that turns around and about and upside down, as mentioned above. It is the nature of hearts that they are constantly changing.
Tā’atika: Tā’ah means to obey and to submit. The beauty of this word is that it not only means to submit one’s self, it specifically means to submit willingly, voluntarily and on one’s own free will. We are asking Allah ta’ala to direct our hearts to willingly submit and obey Him.
Points of Benefit
Supplications on the heart are found both in the Qur’an and Sunnah. In the Qur’an, the believers supplicate, “Our Lord, let not our hearts deviate after You have guided us.” (3:8) Also in Surah Hashr, “And [there is a share for] those who came after them, saying, “Our Lord, forgive us and our brothers who preceded us in faith and put not in our hearts [any] resentment toward those who have believed.” (59:10) Both of these duaas are seeking refuge from Allah in corrupted hearts – the first duaa seeks refuge from deviation after guidance, and the second duaa from evil and ill feelings towards fellow Muslims.
The Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) constantly made duaa for a righteous and good heart. From this we learn the status of the heart, and to also supplicate as much as we can for an obedient and firm heart upon Islam.
The nature of the heart is to constantly change, and by asking Allah ta’ala in this supplication to direct our hearts to His Obedience shows that we are constantly falling short in our obedience to Him. To make this duaa is to ask Allah to keep changing back our hearts to His Obedience as we are prone to falter.
Scholars like Imam ibn Qayyim (rahimahullah) and ibn Uthaymeen (rahimahullah) state that the intelligence and the understanding of a human lies in their heart, and not necessarily their brain. Their evidence for this statement is the ayah, “So have they not traveled through the earth and have hearts by which to reason and ears by which to hear? For indeed, it is not eyes that are blinded, but blinded are the hearts which are within the chests.” (22:46) Shaykh ibn Uthaymeen (rahimahullah) says that the brain is like the secretary processing information, then it reaches the heart and the heart decides to do good or evil based on that information.
The heart is the foundation. We must purify our hearts from associating partners with Allah, from bid’ah, from ill feelings against our fellow Muslims and any other evil deeds in our character and our theology. The Muslim should focus on the reformation of their heart as well as accumulating good deeds. The heart is the source of good deeds, and the heart is where we will be tested on the Day of Judgment. Allah (azza wa jal) says, “But does he not know that when the contents of the graves are scattered, and that within the chests is brought out, indeed, their Lord with them, that Day, is [fully] Acquainted.” (100:9-11)
In another hadeeth of the Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam), he pointed to his heart and said three times, “Taqwa (consciousness and fear of Allah) is here.” [Musnad Ahmad] This hadeeth shows us that when the heart fears Allah, then the limbs will follow, just as the first hadeeth narrated that, “if it is sound [the heart], the whole body is sound.”
This duaa is a constant reminder for us that we are not in control of our guidance. It is crucial for us to make duaa for our hearts on a regular basis because we do not know where our hearts will stand tomorrow. The hearts of the children of Adam are between the two fingers of Allah, so who else can we turn to than Musarrif al-Qulūb to keep our hearts towards the direction of His obedience?
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Amatullah is a student of the Qur'an and its language. She completed the 2007 Ta'leem program at Al-Huda Institute in Canada and studied Qur'an, Tajwid (science of recitation) and Arabic in Cairo. Through her writings, she hopes to share the practical guidance taught to us by Allah and His Messenger and how to make spirituality an active part of our lives. She has a Bachelors in Social Work and will be completing the Masters program in 2014 inshaAllah. Her experience includes working with immigrant seniors, refugee settlement and accessibility for people with disabilities.
Alhamdulillah, the duaa series has been going on for almost a whole [hijri] year! may Allah accept our duaas and deeds. InshaAllah one more duaa will be posted for July, and then a new one for each week of Ramadan. Please share any feedback or suggestions if you have any.
The idea behind this was to share duaas that are authentic but not well-known in an understandable and easy to memorize manner. I’d like to know if the readers are ready to move on to longer supplications now inshaAllah…What do you think? Jazaakum Allahu khayran.
Assalam O alikum,
JazakAllah khair brother, truly a benefiting.
The thing that is most interesting is how the study of Psychology (Nafsiyat) has changed after the fall of the Muslims Empire. Muslims began the study of Psychology in relation to the Nafs of the man, the heart and the soul as the center of the interest. But ever since the Muslims influence is ward off this Study, the brain has become the center of the Study. As the brain is the part that is related to the materialistic gains either through perceiving or through acquiring knowledge and everything related to it. Thus the materialistic side of man has been ever increasing. It is wonderful how Islam provides the tazkiyyah of the heart and restores to man the intelligence and consciousness of the heart (Taqwa) , thus keeps a balance between the two spiritual life and the worldly life and their perceptions.
Jazaakillah… that was a riveting read! I really had been forgetting those two dua’s and, reading your commentary and references, their importance is renewed for me. Jazaakillahu khayran katheera and may Allah accept our dua’s! Ameen. :)
I think there may be many smaller ones still uncovered. Lets search for those and then can move onto longer ones.
btw, i was searching for the one on MM a couple of months back. If anyone find it please let me know. The dua is ‘Allahumma inni as’alukal huda wat’tuqa wal afafa wal ghina..
Amatullah
July 8, 2010 at 2:43 AM
Alhamdulillah, the duaa series has been going on for almost a whole [hijri] year! may Allah accept our duaas and deeds. InshaAllah one more duaa will be posted for July, and then a new one for each week of Ramadan. Please share any feedback or suggestions if you have any.
The idea behind this was to share duaas that are authentic but not well-known in an understandable and easy to memorize manner. I’d like to know if the readers are ready to move on to longer supplications now inshaAllah…What do you think? Jazaakum Allahu khayran.
Hassan Adnan
July 8, 2010 at 2:45 AM
Assalam O alikum,
JazakAllah khair brother, truly a benefiting.
The thing that is most interesting is how the study of Psychology (Nafsiyat) has changed after the fall of the Muslims Empire. Muslims began the study of Psychology in relation to the Nafs of the man, the heart and the soul as the center of the interest. But ever since the Muslims influence is ward off this Study, the brain has become the center of the Study. As the brain is the part that is related to the materialistic gains either through perceiving or through acquiring knowledge and everything related to it. Thus the materialistic side of man has been ever increasing. It is wonderful how Islam provides the tazkiyyah of the heart and restores to man the intelligence and consciousness of the heart (Taqwa) , thus keeps a balance between the two spiritual life and the worldly life and their perceptions.
Ameera
July 8, 2010 at 3:04 AM
Jazaakillah… that was a riveting read! I really had been forgetting those two dua’s and, reading your commentary and references, their importance is renewed for me. Jazaakillahu khayran katheera and may Allah accept our dua’s! Ameen. :)
abez
July 8, 2010 at 8:41 AM
JazakAllahuKheiran, this is a dua I definitely need!
Syed J.
July 8, 2010 at 10:09 AM
I think there may be many smaller ones still uncovered. Lets search for those and then can move onto longer ones.
btw, i was searching for the one on MM a couple of months back. If anyone find it please let me know. The dua is ‘Allahumma inni as’alukal huda wat’tuqa wal afafa wal ghina..
Jazak Allah Khair
N.an
July 12, 2010 at 4:23 PM
http://muslimmatters.org/2009/09/09/ramadan-duaa-series-best-of-both-worlds/
Zayna
July 8, 2010 at 10:57 AM
JazakAllah khair, truly needed for all us.
Mariam E.
July 8, 2010 at 1:49 PM
Asalamu Alikum
Great reminder, Jazaki Allah khayr.
Sadaf Farooqi
July 9, 2010 at 1:17 AM
Great word analysis and reminder!
Love these dua’s. Jazakillahu khair Amatullah. Looking forward to the Supplication Series in Ramadan.
muslimah
July 9, 2010 at 11:09 AM
jazak Allah alf khayr :) for some reason i thought you stopped the series. im gonna go back and have a look.
Sarah
July 9, 2010 at 12:59 PM
JazakiAllahu khayrn! Love this mashaAllah – just went back and read a few. Looking forward to the Ramdan series as well inshaAllah :)
Faraz Omar
July 11, 2010 at 2:59 AM
As always…. alhamdulillah.
รยงรโรโรโก รล รยญรยรยธรฦ
Amatullah
July 13, 2010 at 12:54 AM
jazaakum Allahu khayran everyone. May Allah accept our supplications and deeds.
Imtiyaz Pasha
January 4, 2011 at 4:52 AM
Dear Amatullah,
jazak Allah alf khayr !!
Thank you for this dua’s …..
REgards
Imtiyaz
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mariam
November 9, 2016 at 8:02 PM
very helpful. i am using the info here to teach teens about the duas. BarakAllah Feeki!