Fit Friday Part 2 Your Heart

I am reposting this post from Friday in hopes that it has some benefit today. As today is a day of reminders, for both myself and my muslim family. Alhumdulilah, my blog and my page have been of some benefit to some of the people and I pray that it is accepted of me and without any riya. Ameen. With that said I am taking a step back from posting on both my blog and the page, Insha Allah I will begin to post on next week Wednesday as I have seen so many things since joining Facebook and trying to have my Page. It really sadens me and I need a little time to step back and re-evaluate my intentions and goals.

As Salaamu Alikunna, today is "Fit Friday", and we are going to talking about the heart and ways to get it healthy and keep it that way. Many times when we think about heart health we think in terms of running, walking and other various forms of cardio exercises. While these are important in having a healthy heart, we are going to go a few steps deeper and explore the ways in which we can truly benefit our hearts.

According to a Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (Salla Allahu Alaihi wa Sallam),"There is an organ in the body, when it is healthy, the whole body is healthy, and when this is sick, the entire body becomes sick". It is the heart.

Insha Allah I wish for us as Muslimoon first and then as homemakers to look at the importance of this statement and how it relates to our lives. We as Muslim homemakers have a tremendous responsibility, it is weighty. We are responsible for raising our children and we will be asked about it on Yawmul Qiyaamah. What can we say, how can we avoid Allah's questioning or punishment? We have an Amanah, our children and this heart that Allah subhanAllahu wa ta'alla gave to us, it is a trust. So we need to know how to best take care of our trusts.




Step 1
Sisters I start with this one because, by Allah I see this being the biggest fitnah with the women.


                                                          Unnecessary Talking


In a hadith related on the authority of Mu'adh, the Prophet (Salla Allahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said, "Shall I not tell you how to control all that?" I said, "Yes do, O Messenger of Allah." So he held his tongue between his fingers, and then he said: "Restrain this." I said, "Oh Prophet of Allah, are we accountable for what we say?" He (Salla Allahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said, "May your mother be bereft by your loss! Is there anything more than the harvest of the tongues that throws people on their faces (or he said 'on their noses') into the Fire?"


It has also been related by Abu Huraira, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet,(Salla Allahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said, "Let whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day either speak good or remain silent."Abu Huraira reported that Ibn al-Abbas said: "A person will not feel greater fury or anger for any part of his body on the Day of Judgement more than what he will feel for his tongue, unless he only used it for saying or enjoining good."  
A hadith related by Abu Huraira says, "What mostly causes people to be sent to the Fire are the two openings: the mouth and the private parts."


These are just a few of the Hadith on this subject. Sisters I beg you to think about how much we speak unnecessarily. A lot of times a women who are home all day we feel tired and alone from having no adults to communicate with,so when we have an opportunity speak to our sisters we begin to talk too much and the talk is seldom beneficial. I want us all to think about what we are doing to ourselves and our trusts. Don't spend so much time complaining about the day you had or what your child did wrong. Take it as a time to remind each other of the blessing that Allah have given to us, give each other solutions for dealing with stress according to the Quran and Sunnah. The tongue can be used for good or evil, we have to consciously make the decision of how we will use our tongues.


Step 2
                                                   Unrestrained Glance


When we look at things without turning away from them we can become attracted to that thing and this attraction is imprinted on the heart.
Shaytan enters with the glance, for he travels with it, faster than the wind blowing through an empty place. He makes what is seen appear more beautiful than it really is, and transforms it into an idol for the heart to worship. Then he promises it false rewards, lights the fire of desires within it, and fuels it with the wood of forbidden actions, which the servant would not have committed had it not been for this distorted image. (The Purification of the Soul from the works of Ibn Rajab Al-Hanbabli, Ibn Al-Qayyim  al-Jawziyaa, and Abu Hamid al-Ghazali)


Staring and gazing without restraint is disobedience to Allah:
*< Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that is more purifying for them. Surely Allah is aware of what they do. (24:30)-<*


Someone may say how can I be guilty of this when I am home all day?  I say to this if you have a television in your home this is easily done. How many times on the TV do we see men and women who are clothed but naked, or acts of disobedience to Allah, or maybe even an attractive person? I don't think that everyone should follow me and throw out their television, because yes it can be used for good, but for me the evil that comes from it outweighs whatever benefit it brings to me.


Step 3
                                                      Too Much Food


The consumption of small amounts of food guarantees tenderness of the heart, strength of the intellect, humility of the self, weakness of desires, and gentleness of temperament. Immoderate eating brings about the opposite of these praiseworthy qualities. (The Purification of the Soul from the works of Ibn Rajab Al-Hanbabli, Ibn Al-Qayyim  al-Jawziyaa, and Abu Hamid al-Ghazali)


Al-Miqdam ibn Ma'd Yakrib said: "I heard the Messenger of Allah (Salla Allahu Alaihi wa Sallam) say: "The son of Adam fills no vessel more displeasing to Allah than his stomach. A few morsels should be enough for him to preserve his strength. If he must fill it, then he should allow a third for his food, a third for his drink and leave a third empty for easy breathing."

Over eating can cause us to become lazy and tired, so when it is time now to pray, but we have just eaten a huge meal, we don't want to move from our places. We are in our homes all day and it is easy to fall into over eating, but we must restrain from this. 

Step 4      

                                                          Keeping Bad Company    

Look around at who your companions are, who are they? Do they remind you of good, or call you to evil and never prevent you from evil? Are they someone that we choose just because they are stay at home moms like ourselves? As parents we want our children to take the best companions and we teach them this, we tell them "Well if so and so does such an such then they are not your friend." Or maybe we have heard this one, "If so and so jumps off the building will you?" What that means is you don't have to follow your friends in everything they do. The solution to that is choosing good companions to begin with, so this way you can and will want to follow them in all they do. We have to lead by example. 

In an authentic Hadith, the Prophet Muhammad (Salla Allahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said: “A person is likely to follow the faith of his friend, so look whom you befriend.”    

  

In another Hadith, Prophet Muhammad (saws) said: “The example of a good companion and a bad companion is like that of the seller of musk, and the one who blows the blacksmith’s bellows.. So as for the seller of musk then either he will grant you some, or you buy some from him, or at least you enjoy a pleasant smell from him. As for the one who blows the blacksmith’s bellows then either he will burn your clothes or you will get an offensive smell from him.”      

In his commentary of this Hadith, Imam an-Nawawy said that the Prophet (saws) compared a good companion to a seller of musk and spoke of the virtue of having companions who are good, who have noble manners, piety, knowledge and good culture. Such are those who grant us from their virtue. And he (saws) forbade us to sit with those who do evil, commit a lot of sins and other bad deeds, as well as with innovators, backbiters, and so forth. Another scholar said: “keeping good company with the pious results in attainment of beneficial knowledge, noble manners and righteous actions, whereas keeping company with the wicked prevents all of that.” Many times a Muslim is encouraged by his friends to do evil and to forget his duties. The result is that Muslims themselves are often ashamed to leave them to perform prayer, their friends thus causing them to clearly deviate from the Right Path.


Allah the Exalted says in the Qur’an: “And (remember) the Day when the wrong-doer will bite his hands and say: Woe to me! Would that I had taken a path with the Messenger. Woe to me! If only I had not taken so- and-so as a friend! He has led me astray from this Reminder (the Qur’an) after it had come to me. And Satan is ever a deserter to man in the hour of need.” Qur’an 25:27-29

Allah, the All-Wise also says: “Friends on that Day will be enemies one to another, except al-Muttaqoon (i.e. those who have Taqwah).” Qur’an 43:67

    

Sisters I wanted to bring this to us all today as a reminder, I pray it benefits us all. Ameen. I say this to myself first "Take care of your heart, keep it pure and stay away from the things that will cause it to become sick." Enjoy your Friday ladies.