Will you explain the deeds of the heart?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Deeds of the Heart

وَلَمْ تُؤْمِنْ قُلُوبُهُمْ  “...(hypocrites) whose hearts have no faith...” (al-Maida, 5/41)

The hand holds; the foot walks; the eye sees; the ear hears… They are “deeds of organs”. There are also deeds of the heart, and they are the greatest deeds. For example, believing or denying, loving or hating are deeds of the heart. On the other hand, things such as intentions, sincerity and taqwa (piety, fear of Allah)) are also related to the deeds of the heart.

The Prophet (pbuh) states the following:

“Deeds depend upon intentions.” (Bukhari, Wahy, 1)

All the deeds we do are judged based on the intentions in our hearts. For example, if a person does something with good intentions but the result turns out to be bad, he will receive thawabs based on his intentions. On the other hand, if he does something with a bad intention but the result turns out to be good, he will be a sinner.

There are many verses in the Quran about the deeds of the heart. Some of them are as follows:  

وَلَا تَقْفُ مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِه۪ عِلْمٌۜ اِنَّ السَّمْعَ وَالْبَصَرَ وَالْفُؤٰادَ كُلُّ اُو۬لٰٓئِكَ كَانَ عَنْهُ مَسْؤُ۫لًا “And pursue not that of which thou hast no knowledge; for every act of hearing, or of seeing or of (feeling in) the heart will be enquired into (on the Day of Reckoning).” (al-Isra, 17/36)

وَلَيْسَ عَلَيْكُمْ جُنَاحٌ ف۪يمَٓااَخْطَاْتُمْ بِه۪ۙ وَلٰكِنْ مَا تَعَمَّدَتْ قُلُوبُكُمْۜ  “But there is no blame on you if ye make a mistake therein: (what counts is) the intention of your hearts.” (al-Ahzab, 33/5)

وَلاَ تَكْتُمُوا الشَّهَادَةَۜ وَمَنْ يَكْتُمْهَا فَاِنَّهُٓ اٰثِمٌ قَلْبُهُۜ  “Conceal not evidence; for whoever conceals it,- His heart is tainted with sin.” (al-Baqara, 2/283)

وَلاَ تَرْكَنُٓوا اِلَى الَّذ۪ينَ ظَلَمُوا فَتَمَسَّكُمُ النَّارُۙ  “And incline not to those who do wrong, or the Fire will seize you.” (Hud, 11/113)

Tasawwuf (Sufism) is the effort and activity of guiding the deeds of the heart to what is right, nice and good. The science of fiqh tries to arrange our deeds and the science of tasawwuf neatens the deeds of the heart.

Questions on Islam