What are the sins of the heart?

There are two kinds of action from which one should abstain, disbelief and disobedience. The major disobedience of the heart includes lack of sincerity, vanity, pride, boasting, haughtiness and despair of Allah's mercy.

What character does the path of Suluk produce in a person?

Thinking lowly of oneself, compassion to the creation of Allah, generosity, forgiveness, reliance on the Creator, fulfilling promises and service to other Muslims are among the morals of the Sufis, which are the same as the morals of the Prophet. All that is mentioned in the Hadith is also inclusive of the morals of the Sufis.

What is the difference between Fiqh and Tasawwuf?

Fiqh governs the outward form of a deed, its rules and its conditions. Tasawwuf is the discipline that gives that same deed its inner meaning, the pure intention and the cognizance of Allah.

Why does intention (niyyah) matter so much in Islam?

The first hadith of Sahih Bukhari says that the reward of the deeds depends upon the intention. Every action has an external aspect and an internal aspect: the intention with which the deed is performed, for whom it is performed and why, the motive behind that deed.

What are the conditions for a deed to be accepted by Allah?

A deed must be among the actions Allah declared as good deeds, must be performed according to the method outlined by the Shariah, and must be done purely for Allah, if it is to be accepted on the Day of Judgement. The third condition deals with the inner aspect of the deed, which has to be practised, and Tasawwuf is the practice of those disciplines.

Do good deeds still count if they were done to be seen by people?

In the hadith related in Muslim, the first person judged on Resurrection Day is a man martyred in battle; next come a man who learnt and taught Sacred Knowledge and recited the Qur'an, and a man given various kinds of wealth. Each is told that he did it to be called a hero, a scholar and a reciter, or generous, and each is flung into the fire. Without a pure and sincere intention the deed is not accepted by Allah, even when one willingly gives away his life or his wealth.

If the heart is what counts, do outward acts still matter?

The Qur'an commands prayer and alms, patience and thankfulness, and a Muslim is to follow every one of Allah's commandments without picking and choosing. The hadith of the true emigrant shows that the true object of a deed is its inner significance, yet Allah has created for every inner meaning a corresponding external form, and without that form the inner significance cannot be acquired. Humility in prayer depends on performing the prayer, and knowledge without action has no reward.

Where does taqwa (piety) actually reside?

In the heart. The Prophet pointed to his chest and said three times, “Piety is here.” It is not our bodies or our forms that concern Allah, but our hearts and our deeds.

What is the spiritual heart (Qalb), and how is it different from the physical heart?

Besides the biological heart in the chest, qalb names the spiritual heart, a subtle element which finds unison with Allah and connects the believer to Him; it is the heart of the hadith which says that if it becomes virtuous, the whole body becomes good. According to the Qur'an it represents the relationship between the human being and the Lord.

What is Qalb e Saleem, a sound heart?

A pure heart free from disbelief, hypocrisy, pride and jealousy, and filled with faith and sincerity. The Qur'an says that on the Day when neither wealth nor sons will benefit anyone, only the one who comes to Allah with such a heart will benefit.