BISMILA-HIR RAHMA-NIR RAHIM
Assalamu’alaikum
What has happened with the human heart? Why is there so much deceit, corruption, and lawlessness in society today? Is it not because of the disease in the human heart? Even seemingly good religious people are not exempt from having these problems. Where did this disease come from? Did Allah make the human heart corrupt? Or did men choose it that way? These are only some of the questions we seek to find answers to. Allah will give us answers as we turn to the Holy Books which sent down. Before opening the sacred pages of the Holy Books, it is extremely wise to ask for counsel from One (Allah), who withheld one thing alone give us the correct understanding.
Our first ayat from the Honored Qur’an is:
‘It is He Who sent down to thee (step by step), in truth, the Book, confirming what went before it; and He sent down the Law (of Moses) [Taurat] and the Gospel (of Jesus) [Injeel] before this, as a guide to mankind, and He sent down the criterion (of judgment between right and wrong).’ Sura 3:3 Aal-E-Imran
The Honored Qur’an tells us that the Law (Taurat) and the Gospel (Injeel) are a guide to humankind. Allah has given light and guidance in what is called in the honored Qur’an “Allah’s Book” [The Taurat of the Bible Scriptures] Sura 5:44, Al-Maeda these were given to Moses. However, Allah did not stop there; he also gave us the Injeel, [Gospel], guidance, light, admonition, and confirming what was sent previously in the Law or Allah’s Book. Allah’s Book has the answers we need to these difficult questions.
We find that the Honored Qur’an, again and again, is pointing us to the Holy Books of the Bible Scriptures. [Sura. 3:3, Sura 5:44-48, Sura 21:48-49]
How the Human Heart became diseased.
Many of you know of the story of Adam, the first human created by Allah. The entire account is recorded in the Taurat (Genesis 1:26-31). Allah had created Adam and his wife perfect and holy. He placed them in a beautiful garden, a garden such as we have never seen. The holy pair were to enjoy the bliss and tranquility of this blessed and tranquil garden. Nothing disturbed their peace. Their natures were pure, and their thoughts were holy. Allah gave them all needful things in this beautiful garden to keep them happy. They had access to all the trees which were for food…except one. Withheld one thing alone from them…that is, they were forbidden to eat from ‘the tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ in the midst of the garden. Taurat (Genesis 2:15-17) ‘But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.’ This was simply a test to see if the man could be trusted.
All went well for that holy pair in the garden of bliss until the day when they disobeyed. Allah’s command not to eat from the forbidden tree was violated, as they gave in to the temptations of the serpent. Thus the holy pair fell when they disobeyed. Now Adam’s thoughts were no longer naturally pure, as they once were, but evil. From that day to ours, sin has cursed the human race. Since we all are the children of Adam, we too have inherited his fallen nature. In the Taurat, it tells us our true condition. Jeremiah 17:9 ‘The [human] heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?’
How healing comes.
Our hearts (minds) cannot be trusted, and we cannot look within ourselves, thinking we can solve our own problems. No human cure is found to remedy the sin condition in the heart of man. But is man left without hope? Allah, in His mercy and compassion, did not leave man in a hopeless condition. Allah has promised help. Are the following not comforting words, …“that Allah might test what is in your breasts and purge what is in your hearts. For Allah knoweth well the secrets of your hearts.’
Sura 3:154 Aal-E-Imran.
It is Allah who takes the initiative to help man. He is continually pressing upon the human heart the need for cleansing from the defilement of sin. However, man must want this purging, this cleansing from Allah. Man must ask for it and seek for it with all his ability. But how is this cleansing of the human heart to be accomplished, and through whom? The Honored Qur’an talks about One who was sent down from Allah. One special person who was nearest to Allah, His name was Isa al-Masih. “Behold! the angels said: “O Mary! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him: his name will be Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, held in honor in this world and the Hereafter and of (the company of) those nearest to Allah.”
Sura 3:45 Aal-E-Imran
When He was sent to this earth, we read that Isa al-Masih went about having compassion upon the people, healing their physical diseases. Could it be that this One sent down from Allah could also heal the disease of the heart? Could Allah also have a solution to this problem of evil and sin in the human heart? We read in the Injeel that all who came to Isa al-Masih for healing of physical and mental problems received help. Not one was turned away. We read in the Holy Books, (Injeel) Mark 1:41, “And Jesus (Isa al-Masih), moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him,[one with leprosy] and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.” Could Allah also make available to us the cure for the disease in the human heart through the same person of Isa al-Masih? It again tells us in the Injeel, 1John 1:7 ‘But if we walk in the light, as he (Isa al-Masih) is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ (Is al-Masih) his Son cleanseth us from all sin.’
Can we have the cleansing now?
This is something which we can experience here and now. We are cleansing from evil habits and practices, even our corrupt thoughts, which hold us in the grips of evil. This is what Allah is seeking to do. Our evil habits, whether they are wicked thoughts or actions, lying, dishonesty, adultery, all of these, and many more, Allah knows what is in our hearts. Allah has the solution and has promised to release us from this malady of sin. That is why Isa al-Masih is called the “Messiah,” the “Saviour” from sin. Isa pays the ransom for sin, but this Person sent from Allah has promised to give us a new heart to cure the disease in our fallen hearts. We receive help only by going to Allah and to Him whom Allah sent down. Again from the Injeel…1Ti 2:5-6 “For there is one God, and one mediator (Shafi) between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;(Isa al-Masih) Who gave himself a ransom for all”…
How thorough is this heart purging?
To the point of affecting even our very thoughts!
2 Corinthians10:5 [Injeel]‘Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, (Allah) and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ [Isa al-Masih].’
Imagine even our very thoughts purged! What joy, what a blessing!
Again in the Injeel, is recorded in Acts 3:26 “unto you first [Israelites] God having raised his Son Jesus [Isa al-Masih] sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities [sin].”
Back in those far-off days, people didn’t want such a Saviour, and they chose to remain in sin and retain the disease of the fallen heart. In fact, those who proclaimed this message of freedom were hated by the Jews, so much so that many were put in prison and even put to death. Such was the hatred against those who accepted Him whom Allah had sent to this earth. In fact, so bold did the followers of Isa al-Masih speak that they declared that… “neither is their salvation in any other: for there is none another name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 Injeel. With all respect then, is it any wonder that the Honored Qur’an speaks of the Injeel…that this was the ‘gospel’ or good news which was sent down from Allah through Isa al-Masih? Why would the Honored Qur’an mention Isa al Masih’s in fifteen Suras as well as refer to Isa over 90 times? Surely the news in the Injeel is “Glad Tidings from Allah” Sura 3:45 Aal-E-Imran
How your heart can receive the blessing.
The old heart of sin finds no human cure. Try as we might with good deeds, giving to the poor, and praying often and long…yet these cannot purge our lives.
We cannot change the human heart by our good deeds and long prayers. Even washing our bodies will only clean the outside, and even that will be defiled again through sweat. Allah’s cleansing is far deeper. He goes for the heart, the seat of the human mind. Allah alone has promised to cure the diseased heart by granting us a new heart.
(Taurat) Ezekiel 36:26 ‘A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I [Allah] will take away the stony [hard and corrupted] heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.’
How can we experience this ‘new heart’? Simply by asking Allah! Go to Him in private prayer (du’a) or when you are in the Mosque. Allah is gracious, kind, and compassionate to all the children of men. Yet He does not force Himself upon us. He has said in the Honored Qur’an…
‘Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. And Allah heareth and knoweth all things.’ Sura 2.256 Al-Baqara
In the same manner, Allah will not coerce Himself upon us. He must be asked. The human agent alone must make that decision to ask. Man must choose who will be his Master. Either Allah through Isa al-Masih or Satan [Iblis], the fallen one, a great deceiver. All the powers of Heaven are involved in helping you make that decision. Ask today! Take hold of that ‘most trustworthy hand-hold.’
Text Copied from DivineIslam’s Qur’an Viewer software v2.913
Bible texts are taken from the King James Version
Sura 3:154
Aal-E-Imran
End of Series no. 05