The 4 Types of Hearts – Which One Is Yours?
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Abu Sa’id reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “There are four kinds of hearts:
- a polished heart as shiny as a radiant lamp,
- a sealed heart with a knot tied around it,
- a heart that is turned upside down,
- and a heart that is wrapped.
As for the polished heart, it is the heart of the believer and its lamp is the light of faith. The sealed heart is the heart of the unbeliever. The heart that is turned upside down is the heart of a pure hypocrite, for he had knowledge but he denied it. As for the heart that is wrapped, it is the heart that contains both faith and hypocrisy. The parable of faith in this heart is the parable of the herb that is sustained by pure water, and the parable of the hypocrisy in it is the parable of an ulcer that thrives upon puss and blood; whichever of the two is greater will dominate.”
Source: Musnad Aḥmad 10745
The human heart is the container that receives and is nourished by forces that are external. These forces acting on the heart could be worldly and or Divine.
Though the heart is not a passive container, however in many ways it is a non-objecting recipient of wanted and unwanted contents. some of which nourish it and some that infect it, some that bring in the Light of the Divine and some that plunge it into the darkness of ignorance and resulting uncouthness.
It is the human being who has to watch out for optimal nourishment of the heart and the health of the heart. in the final analysis it is the condition in which our heart will be presented to Allah Subhanawataala on Judgement Day that will determine our outcome for “abada” or for all times to come.
Description of the Four Types:
- Qalb un ijrad:
- Qalb e Aghlaf
- Qalb e Mankoos
- Qalb e Musfah
- QALB AJRAD: Qalb un ajrat: liberated, emptied free of all other than what is for Allah and by Allah, cleansed. and it is ready to receive the love and Light of Allah bringing His mercy and filling it with joy.
Qalb sirajin: There is Noor inside, which allows the heart to see, though it is not a physical light but a spiritual light. It helps the heart understand realities as they are, notions, and the subtle meanings for the heart to understand.
Such is the heart of the Mu’min
- QALB E AGHLAF: It is a heart that does not allow anything to enter it other than what is inside it already. (Kaffara is to cover< Kaafir is one who covers the truth)
Goal: to keep away from developing qualities that will keep me away from the Noor of Allah i.e. close heartedness.
- QALB E MANFOOS: IT IS THE Qalb of the Munafiq, It is worse than the heart of the disbeliever, as the Munafiq will be in the seventh depth of fire. A Munafiq is someone who says he believes with his tongue but in their heart he does not. It is a Qalb but it is upside down. Such a person whose heart is upside down he knew and had knowledge (arafah) and yet he denies and rejects it. He is worse than the Kaafir. The Kaafir does not have the knowledge but the Munafiq has knowledge and rejects it and does that inside his heart and externally shows compliance.
He witnessed the truth and turned a blind eye and preferred blindness. E.g. he sees the ayat of Allah from Prophet Muhammad Sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam but turns a blind eye but keeps the rejection hidden within him and externally behaves as if he is compliant to Allah.
- Qalb e musfah: A heart that is fed by two sources: Imaan, the truth, moral beauty, and also Nifaq, (hypocrisy). On one hand the actions of a Mu’min feed the heart, and actions affect the internal reality. Another source feeding the heart is that of Nifaq, ie lying, being rude and transgressive in disagreements and one who breaks promises and does not fulfill them. The nature of this heart becomes that of the influence that is predominant.
This heart is always at a cusp and vacillates between the heart of a Mu’min and a hypocrite.
Sayyiduna Anas ibn Malik (radiyallahu’anhu) reports that Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam) used to recite the following supplication in abundance:
يَا مُقَلِّبَ الْقُلُوبِ ثَبِّتْ قَلْبِي عَلَى دِينِكَ
‘Ya Muqallibal qulub, thabbit qalbi ‘ala dinik.’
(Sunan Tirmidhi, Hadith: 2140)
Translation: O Turner of hearts, keep my heart steadfast on your Din.
Imam Tirmidhi (rahimahullah) has classified this Hadith as hasan (sound).
Thus, the protection and nourishment of the heart such that it becomes a “sound” heart as is mentioned in the Quran becomes an imperative priority and individual responsibility and no blame for error can be placed on another.
If the ultimate goal is to have a sound heart at the end of time, one has to prepare for it to be so. Just as one prepares for a marathon one has to first learn about one’s own heart and the forces that act upon it with the potential of transforming it into something desirable or undesirable in our book of deeds.
