Assalamu alaikum warahmatoAllahi wabaraktoho.
Welcome back to The Faith Revival.
So we’re talking about how to be able to receive that iman and how to be able to build
it.
There’s a very interesting concept that we find in the Quran and the sunnah of the
Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam.
Allah mentions, هو الذى أنزل السكينة في قلوب المؤْمني, that He is
the one who sent down tranquility to the hearts of the believers so that their faith can be
increased upon increase.
Meaning the existing faith can continue to increase.
Now, if you notice in this verse, the scholars point out that it’s iman that settles the
heart.
It’s faith that settles the heart.
So when the heart is going all over the place.
It’s inconsistent, it’s constantly moving in different places.
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala sends down that faith to settle it.
Nothing can settle it and bring it that tranquility except for faith.
And to really put it at ease.
So faith is not support to make you erratic.
Faith is not supposed to make you unstable.
Faith is supposed to settle you on the inside.
Now, there’s a hadith from the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam that connects that settling,
that foundation that’s required of the heart to be able to receive faith in a very interesting
way.
He says, salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, in a hadith that’s narrated in Muslim by Imam
Ahmed, لا يستقيم إيمان عبد حتى
يستقيم قلبه that a person’s faith will not settle until their heart settles.
So in order for faith to settle, the heart has to settle.
But then he says ولا يستقيم قلبه حتى يستقيم لسانه, and his heart
will not be able to settle unless his tongue settles.
So the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam is saying if you want your heart to settle
and to be able to receive faith, then you need to make sure your tongue will settle
as well.
It’s very interesting because typically we don’t connect the actions of the tongue
with faith in the heart.
Right?
But ibn al-Qayyim rahimahAllah, he said that the tongue to the heart is like a spoon and
food.
So if it tastes bad, then you know the entire plate is spoiled.
Your tongue is an entrance into your heart.
The way that your tongue speaks, shows the condition of your heart.
That’s why the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, when he was told about this woman
that was abusive to her neighbors, that used to be verbally abusive to them.
Despite the fact that she prayed and fasted extra, she used to do all of these extra ibaadat,
these extra acts of worship, he said:لا خير فيها she has no goodness inside
of her.
The fact that her tongue is abusive, is a sign that her heart is abused.
Her heart is void of faith, therefore her tongue does not speak in a faithful manner.
So the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam is saying, if you want to work, you’ve got
to work backwards.
So مَنْ كَانَ يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ whoever
believes in Allah and the last day.
Whoever has iman فَلْيَقُلْ خَيْرًا أَوْ لِيَصْمُتْ speak well or
be quiet.
Don’t say anything if you have nothing positive to say.
Imam Hasan al-Basri, he says because a person who sins frequently with the tongue is reckless
with the tongue.
They’re not conscious of Allah when they speak.
They’re not thinking when they speak.
So a person cannot have a heart that is pure if they’re constantly corrupting their heart
with the sins of the tongue.
The tongue is the medium by which most of us constantly commit sin.
So if you want to protect your heart, you need to protect your tongue.
You cannot have faith settle in your heart if you cannot have your tongue settle with
faith.
This is interesting because I remember when I was reading an article on dental hygiene,
and how sometimes if a person has bad dental hygiene, it can lead to some heart disease.
Or some of the build up in the mouth can actually lead to the corruption of the heart.
You think about that in the spiritual way, and what the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam
is saying to us.
That we could be building plaque around the heart and hurting our heart.
Allah will not put iman in a heart that’s like that.
So you want a very practical way to build your iman?
Start with your tongue.
When you speak, everything that you say, ask yourself - How is this going to affect my
iman?
How is this going to affect my faith?
How is this going to affect my heart?
And Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says ألا بذكرالله تطمءن القلوب,
Is it not with the remembrance of Allah, which is with the tongue, that the hearts find tranquility?
The heart becomes then, a worthy vessel to be able to receive that iman.
Watch your tongue.
Take account of it.
That’s where inshaAllah ta’ala that faith can settle.
May Allah purify our tongues and then purify our hearts and allow iman to settle in our
hearts.
Allahumma ameen.
See you all next time inshaAllah.
Asalamu alaikum warahmatoAllahi wabaraktoho