Author: Hamza Yusuf
Translator: Imam Al-Mawlids Matharat al-Qulub
Publisher: Sandala
Size/Vol.: A5 (14.8x21 cm - 5.83x8.27 in)
ISBN : 9780985565909
Language : English
-Binding: Paperback
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Pages: 206
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IF WE EXAMINE THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS all over earth, we'll find they are rooted in human hearts. Covetousness, the desire to aggress and exploit, the longing to pilfer natural resources, the inordinate love of wealth, and other maladies are manifestations of diseases found nowhere but in the heart. Every criminal, miser, abuser, scoffer, embezzler, and hateful person does what he or she does because of a diseased heart. So if you want to change our world, do not begin by rectifying the outward. Instead, change the condition of the inward. It is from the unseen world that the phenomenal world emerges, and it is from the unseen realm of our hearts that all actions spring.... We of the modern world are reluctant to ask ourselves-when we look at the terrible things happening-"Why do they occur?" And if we ask that with sincerity, the answer will come back in no uncertain terms: all of this is from our own selves. In so many ways, we have brought this upon ourselves. This is the only empowering position that we can take.
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- Excerpted from Hamza Yusuf's Introduction
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This book offers an insightful introduction to one of the most ancient of religious concerns: spiritual purification of the heart. It takes the reader through a well-known text from the Muslim tradition, and gives important commentary that is relevant to our day and to people of a variety of religious experiences.This exploration of Islamic spirituality delves into the psychological diseases and cures of the heart. Diseases examined include miserliness, envy, hatred, treachery, rancor, malice, ostentation, arrogance, covetousness, lust, and other afflictions that assail people and often control them. The causes and practical cures of these diseases are discussed, offering a penetrating glimpse into how Islam deals with spiritual and psychological problems and demonstrating how all people can benefit from these teachings.