Tawheed is the key

Assalaamu aleykum Warahmatullaahi Wabarakaatuhu

I was listening to a very beautiful lecture by Shaykh Abu Qatadah Al-Filasteeni Fakkalaahu asrahu..i love his lectures they are so beneficial..

it was about the controlling the hearts..and how to keep it clean..

ill write some of my notes inshaAllaah..

1-we gotta take as much care of our hearts as we take care of the rest of our body,appearance etc..

2-the heart is the center of all the actions, feelings like pride, arrogance, envy, love, goodness, etc..and when theres goodness in the heart the actions would come out good aswel. bcuz whats in the heart reflects on the actions n outer appearance.

how do we want to act upon the obligations of Allaah with a black heart filled with sins, envy and hatred?

3-the more a person account him/herself, he/she would realize the qadr of Allah for him in different matters and hes prepared for it. so how would a person be that, if everything hes occupied with is the faults and mistakes of others, and he is blinded about whats in his heart!

so if we want the knowledge of the shar3 of Allaah, we must be aware of our own mistakes and take care of our hearts. We need to check up on ourselves and what goes thru our hearts from sins, desires, feelings. and if you do that and you question your nafs and account it, thats what brings hikmah.

Secong thing is: what will give the heart its light and food? Its the thikr of Allaah and contemplation. And thats what the ulama did. He mentioned how imam ahmad would sit for hours and contemplate. And how Shaykhul Islam Ibnu Taymiyyah would sit after the fajr pray til duha remembering Allaah, and he said that was his meal. And if he didnt remember Allah in the morning it would destroy his body..SubhanAllaah!

Now what will strengthen the believer to do good and to be able to handle worship, difficulties and trials?

Its in praying qiyamul-Layl. Thats what helped the prophet saws to deliver his message, and its what helped the sahaba and their righteous followers. Qiyamul layl is the provision of the believer in our time, so no sane person would leave the qiyamul layl.

Next he goes to al istighfaar- seeking forgiveness from Allaah.

Its what saves the believer from the burden of sins. The sins weigh heavily on the human, and its a heavy burden on the hearts, its burdening your rizq, your relationship with your spouse, your children and everything. And some of the salaf said he could feel his sins on his camel.

The Scholars used to account themselves and purify their hearts with istighfaar. And its istighfaar that relieves you from the heavy weight of sins.

Istighfaar gives you humbleness because it makes you ask people for forgiveness, and ask Allah to forgive you. It makes you realize how much your in need of Allaah and you admit your sins.

Worshipping Allaah without making istighfaar is like building on a undermined sand-cliff ready to crumble to pieces, i.e unstable!

You build up with ibadah, thikr and sending salaam on the prophet saws. Sending salam on the prophet saws is how you get closer to the prophet saws and make you realize how much he did for Islaam.

No day should pass you, without you having your share of these righteous deed: al-Istighfaar, remembering Allaah and to end it with sending salaam on the prophet saws.

And then he goes to mention some great books on the subject of hearts and remembering Allaah. And that great Ulama wrote book on this issue bcuz of its importance.

He mentions al-athkaar and riyadus-Saliheen by Imaam An-Nawawi.
Al wabil as-sayib by ibnul Qayyim.
Al kalimut-tayyib by ibnu taymiyyah.

And he says that those who have families should read these ahadeeth with their families even if its for 10 mins. And how Ulamaa would gather their wives and kids and read ahadeeth for them.

I hope you have benefitted from these few notes.
And i recommend those who understand arabic to listen to the lecture:

Muraqabat al-quloob part 1
http://ia331337.us.archive.org/1/items/abu__Quatada3/Q1/Control_hearts1.rm

Muraqabat al-quloob part 2
http://ia331337.us.archive.org/1/items/abu__Quatada3/Q1/Control_hearts2.rm