Heart is King

Our hearts rule.

Although we are given many faculties, none of them rules; they are only servants of the heart. Therefore, goodness of the heart is what really matters since it dictates what is to be done.

Let's take a look at some of our loyal servants.

Take the mind, for example. Although it understands good and bad, it can't dictate to you what to do. Our minds' role is to make sense of reality and find ways for us to use it. It finds ways to attain what our heart considers pleasure or avoid what our heart deems painful. Indeed, it sometimes blocks certain memories, rationalizes certain decisions, and avoids certain topics just because our heart finds them too painful.

Another example of a servant is our traits and qualities. They, too, are a double edged sword at the hand of the heart. Good hearts can use their courage, for example, to deter evil people. Bad hearts use it to steal and kill.

Yet another example is our possessions such as money, beauty, and strength. All of which are, like the examples above, neither good nor bad. Money can be used to help the needy, or finance drug trafficking.

A person who seeks to purify himself and focuses on strengthening these tools without realizing the importance of the heart is like one how works to sharpen the sword, but neglects to strengthen the arm that strikes with it.

Someone might ask, "If what you say is true, then why do I know so many people that have good hearts but haven't had much impact on life or have been successful?"

Our actions are dictated by how good our hearts are. The effectiveness of these actions is affected by how intensive (deep) and extensive (broad) the goodness of our hearts is on the one hand, and how much faculties (ability/ strength) we are endowed with to carry out our missions.

One of the important traits of the heart is love, and I'll use it to illustrate.

True love means sacrifice. Many people love, but few love so intensely (deeply) as to sacrifice their time, effort, and their welfare for the sake of a loved one.

Extensive (broad) love is caring not just for wife, children, and the people in your immediate circle. It's transcending your immediate circle to care about the welfare of all humanity, even all living creatures. Allah says about the prophet Mohammed, "We have sent you but as a mercy to the worlds." The prophet was compassionate towards all humans, regardless of creed, and he was compassionate even to animals. Not every one has extensive (broad) love.

And finally, no matter how good your heart is, if you don't have the faculties necessary to carry out your vision, it will be very difficult to have a far reaching and strong impact. Note that none of the prophets was mentally ill, or crippled, for example. A person can have a strong impact, but it is very difficult to imagine success that affects nations and history without having strong mental and physical capacities. Incapacitated people can have a great rank with Allah, but may not be able to have far-reaching physical impact.

Sacrifice, limitless care, and strength are the make-up of great people with great hearts.

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