Why Don't All Hearts Have Equal Capacity for Faith?

Hearts will be most susceptible and most open to the book of Allah and the son of the prophet this is called Shar Hasadar literally translates to opening the chest But we know that the chest and the heart, they are interchangeable in the Quran. We spoke about this before, correct? That when Allah mentions the chest, he's referring as well to the heart. And when he mentions the heart, he's referring as well to the chest. Correct? And that there are three terms that Allah uses in the Quran to refer to the heart. There is right? All of these refer to the heart. So, when we say we mean, we mean open heart. We mean having an open heart but if Allah mentions together in the same sentence, then they mean different things. And that's a different issue. It it is a verse in the.

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Islam. He says, hence, whomever Allah chooses to and decide and and desires to guide, he will open his heart to Islam. That is the proper translation. Sometimes, we will find translations that are too literal and what I mean by literal is they will literally translate every word and not and overlook thee intended meaning, intended meaning, right? So, the literal translation would be, whomever Allah desires to guide He will open his chest to Islam. Now, listen to the difference here. He will open his chest to Islam. Whomever Allah desires to guide, he will open his heart to Islam. Which one is more correct? A heart, correct? That's what's intended by chest here. If somebody who speaks English says, he will open his chest to Islam. They will say, what would, what does that mean? Open his chest. The literal translation of is to literally cut open the chest. Is that what is intended? Whomever Allah desires to guide, he will cut open his chest. Does that what that means? No. What's intended is, whomever Allah chooses to guide, he will open his hard to Islam, right? He will open his heart to Islam And it is referred to as opposed to because the heart is the most important aspect of what is in the chest. Right? So when Allah speaks about opening the chest, it means opening the heart. Because the heart is the most value thing that is in the chest and the only reason you would open the chest is to get to the heart. This is why he refers to it in this way. The point here is that Islam, whomever Allah chooses to guide and and desires, guidance for, will open his heart to Islam. Only Islam, Islam, Issan, Iman, a deen the religion, all of that is intended, right? So, we spoke about, he he list ten things that are causes for the heart to become open to, to Islam. Now, with the intensity of these causes, comes the intensity of the opening of the heart. Am I making sense with that statement? With the intensity of these causes, comes the intensity of the opening of the heart. and with thee weakness of these causes comes the weakness of the opening of the heart right? Which means very simply, the So the.

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The religion, Islam, the Iman, Iqsan, all of these things are what are what are intended. The light of Allah, all of this is synonymous. So, he may, he lists 10 things. We discussed six of those ten things We discussed at Tawheed. We discussed the light that Allah places in the person's heart. We discussed knowledge, beneficial knowledge of the which has been passed down from the Prophet Muhammad We discussed We discussed turning to Allah and loving him with the entirety of the heart. And facing and basically striving towards Allah and finding solace and peace and comfort in the and and finding pleasure for that matter in the worship of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We discuss this as well. He says continuously remembering Allah in any state and in any place and we also discussed this as well. Now we he also mentions whenever we discussed last week showing kindness, mercy, gentleness too, the creation of Allah, benefiting them with whatever a person is able to benefit the creatures of Allah whether that be with his wealth or his reputation or his body. Meaning, to physically help somebody. Any of these things and these are just examples. A person can help people with their with their speech, help people with their with his reputation. A person can help people with his wealth. A person can help people with his lineage. A person can help people. Many many things, correct? This is a cause for the heart to become opened to the light of Allah Now, before we continue, I want to mention something. And that is, that, Not all people are the same. Not all hearts are the same and not all people are able to reach. They are not oh wired to have the same abilities and same amount of a man as other people. There's a difference. Just there's a difference in our physical capabilities. Just there's difference in our mental capacities. There are some people who are more intelligent than others and there are some people who are more well memorized than others. There are people who have stronger memories. There are people that have stronger understanding, correct? All of this is correct. However, the same goes for the person's capacity with regards to the light of Allah So, for example, I have a question to ask Let's say the prophet Muhammad he was taken on he was taken to the heavens and spoken to by Allah and shown paradise and shown the hellfire etcetera. would a regular average individual have the capacity to see these things? Huh? No, the answer is no. The answer is no. Perhaps, if one of our, one of us were taken on, they may lose their mind. It may be too much for them. Their heart is not able to accept or able to comprehend all of these things. Is that, is that, is that notion clear? Where am I getting this from? Well, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives an example of the heart and the hearts of men. In So, he mentions that and methal, Lil Quran,.

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Equal in their body and their physical strength and not everyone is equal in their, in their mental and intellectual strength. And not everyone is equal in their, in their ability to accept and completely fulfill thee, thee, and accept all of the light of the Quran. Each, each heart will accept to its capacity. Each heart can accept to its capacity but the hearts of men are different. There are hearts which are larger. There are hearts which are, not as large. There are hearts which are more understanding and more compelled and there are hearts which are less compelled. And we see this difference, not all of the scholars, even if they all memorize the Quran are all the same. There are some who are more understanding, more ad herent, more more able to, fulfill its commandments, etcetera, and there are those are not so much, not less and likewise, there are those who have stronger memories of the Quran in the Sunnah and there are those who have lesser. And likewise, there are those who have more ad herence to the Quran in others. They're not all the same. And the companions were not all the same as well. Where the companions all exactly the same and amen? No. We're the prophets and messengers all exactly the same in Iman. No. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, these messengers, we have given them various levels and we have raised some above others. Raise some above others in what? And amen. their understanding in what they were given of revelation, etcetera. And this will also root to the reward a person will have. Correct? The reward a person will have. So, the prophet Muhammad said, the.

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Emphatically emphatically mentioned in their books of and that is that the that.

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Real and the same as the Iman of the rest of the angels. It are is the Iman of the Prophet Muhammad equal is are is the Iman of Abu Bakr Sadiq. The best of mankind after the prophets. Is his Iman equal to the Iman of the Prophet Muhammad huh? No. Not even in his belief in Allah and the last day and the angels and the books and the the day of resurrection and the the basic constructs of Iman, it is still varies. There are those who believe in them stronger and there are those who believe in them. Less, less, with, with less strength, So, what does this mean? This means that the hearts have different capacities They have different capacities and we see this with the prophets and messengers and we see this as well with whom Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala chose to be the companions of the prophet Muhammad he said, Allah looked into the hearts of all of mankind and chose Mohammed. And then he looked in the hearts of all of mankind and chose his companions to be, his companions. Due to the depth of their knowledge and the breath of their wisdom, and the strength of their faith. So Allah chose these men to be his companion. He didn't choose us. We'll never be the companions in faith but we mimic them. Correct? We we imitate them. We imitate the companions. Can we ever be like the prophets? Ever? No. But do we imitate them? Yes, we imitate them. Because imitating the best makes you, gives you a luster. and gives you an honor even if you cannot catch up to them, you will at least be considered of them. Is this a clear concept? I think this is pretty clear, right? And so, The same thing goes with the companions. Not all of them are the same. and the same thing goes with the the generation after the companions and the companions themselves. They're not the same. No tabity. Right? And there is a difference of opinion amongst the scholars as to who the most superior of the are is. There's a difference of opinion. Some say it's some say it is. but regardless of who it is, the point is, is that, will these men ever be to the level of a companion? What is the answer? Never. They could never be. No matter how much knowledge they have. Why is this Allah mentions this in his book.

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Rawi.

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Authentic is that the person who heard it from the prophet is actually a companion. If we know he is a companion, even if we have no information about him but we are positive, he is a companion. Then, that is enough. We don't need to know his history. We don't need to know his legacy. Contrary to the the generation that came after the companions, The generation came after the companions We have to research who they are and if we don't know who they are, we cannot we cannot conclude that this narration is authentic. Until we know who they are and we are sure that the conditions of accepting transmission of hadith are fulfilled in this individual. Until we have that, we cannot, we cannot judge the narration to be authentic but that is contrary to if a person is a companion. If it is a companion, we don't need to know anything about him. Even if we have one sentence about him, that's enough. As long as it is sure that he was a companion. Why? Why is it that the people that came after the companions are so stringently researched and looked after whilst the companions, they get a free pass, it seems. As long as they're a companion, we accept their narration. Why? At Imam he says, the reason for this is because merely seeing the prophet and having believed in him, ignites a flame and a light in the heart that is unmatched by anything that can be that can be had after him. because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in more than one verse in the Quran, he coupled the Quran and the prophet together as two independent miracles. Does this mean that the prophet is superior to the Quran? No, of course not. That's not what we're saying. The Quran is a is a is part of the attributes of Allah. Is uncreated. The prophet is a creation of Allah. There there there is no contest there. The point is is that Allah mentions the prophet along with the Quran as two independent. As two independent miracles which articulates that the Prophet Muhammad is a an extremely grand miracle. Of Allah And this is in more than one verse in the Quran. In the book of Allah where he will mention the Quran and mention the prophet In one verse he says and that which means and how can you disbelieve? And the verses of Allah are recited unto you and between you amongst you is his messenger. So Allah doesn't mention one miracle He mentions two. So Allah mentions the Prophet Muhammad and the Quran together as two independent miracles. Does this not raise the status of the prophet Muhammad Of course, abundantly. Therefore, therefore, when we speak about Iman, when we speak about the heart being open, when we speak about when we speak about opening the heart, accepting the light of Allah, accepting thee, guidance of Allah, levels of faith, people are not the same. They are not the same and they do not have the same capacities. The prophet said that there are many levels in paradise, correct? And Allah mentions this as well in the Quran. the so there are many levels of paradise and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and the and the prophet said, that whoever hears the repeats after the and then makes a salah upon me, and then asks Allah for me This individual will surely attain my intercession on the day of resurrection. What is he says? is a place in paradise that is not befitting except for one person. And I am hopeful that I will be that one person. Meaning the levels of paradise they The levels of paradise, they are kind of imagine a cone. okay? There is the lower levels of paradise and as it gets up, it becomes, it becomes, more and more strict with regards to the criteria of those who will enter paradise, will enter that level. I'm speaking about I'm not speaking about space. It's not smaller as you go up. It's it's broader as you go up, okay? I'm speaking about criteria. When a person wants to raise a level in paradise, they're the their criteria to enter that higher level becomes more and more and more burdensome and strict, correct? He says, and there is a place in the highest level of paradise, that is only befitting for one person Only one person is eligible for that place. And I hope I am hopeful that it will be me. right? So, this is this articulates to us that people are of different levels in faith. Just like people are of different levels in in disbelief. is Abu Talib and Abu Lahab the same? No. about who who was closer to Islam Abu Talib, correct? And who was further from Islam? Likewise, who was stronger in faith? Is is and and Hamza. faith? No. Who is stronger in faith? Hamza. Correct? and who comes after him? Al Abbas. Muslim and and he's from the and he was and he was martyred etcetera etcetera. Abaz became Muslim later, later, wave war later. So, the point here is that people are not the same in faith and they are not the same in evil and wickedness. There are levels and that's why there are levels in paradise and levels into hellfire. Correct? it's important for us to understand this issue as we continue with regards to the capacity of the human heart and the variations of the different hearts of men with regards to accepting, embraceing, and ad hering to the light of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. And the ability to do so. Just like some can lift heavier things than others. Likewise, some hearts are more capable of carrying more knowledge and amen than others That is the, it it boils down to being the, the bounty of Allah, whom he disperses to whomever he chooses. Subhanahu.

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