Is There Any Cure for a Diseased Heart?

One of our sisters wrote for us asking: “Assalamo Alaikom, I hope you are fine. I am failing in my life, in all of its aspect: family, love, friendship and career. Life has become very hard, and sometimes it feels like my heart has died. Is there any cure for a diseased heart? I pray, but I am still waiting for a surprise. Will it ever be fine?“

Answer:

Wa Alaikom Assalam,

It can, indeed, be massively distressing if you feel like you are failing in every aspect of your life and feel hopeless whether things will ever change. The good news is that, in sha’ Allah, it absolutely can change. There are many ways by which you can mend such a situation, if only you are firm in your faith and willing to try and do so with patience and perseverance.

Increase faith

In order to cure a diseased heart, you need to increase your state of faith. Everyone’s level of faith fluctuates, even in the best of people nowadays. This can sometimes be difficult to begin with and will require effort on your part to allow this to happen. But it will be worth once your faith is built to the point that you are content with all that Allah has blessed you with, and you will be more easily able to bear any trial that you may encounter.

Remember, for every failure you have, there is someone in a worse situation who would look to your situation and pray for it over what they have. So, whilst you might feel like things are not going so well in your own life, think of those who are facing worse, yet still coping and striving.

Abu Hurairah (May allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger of Allah (saw) said, ‘Look at those who are inferior to you and do not look at those who are superior to you’

Appreciate your blessings

Appreciate the good things you have in your life. The good things that happen to you on a daily basis. When experiencing distress, it’s all too easy to completely forget all the blessings in your life, especially the small things that we take for granted – such as our five senses.

If you don’t have all five, at least you have your sight as you have written this message to us. There are many people who are blind, crying out to be able to see. This is just a very simple thing to think about that we can all apply to our lives, but it is likely that you have plenty of other blessings in your life to be grateful for.

It may be that your career is not going well, but you still have a supportive family; or when you are having problems with your family, you are in a happy space in your relationship (friends or a spouse if you have one).

Either way, instead of focusing on those things that are currently not in a good space, remember that for those that are not going so well, there is always something else to be grateful for. There are numerous benefits of practicing gratitude that carry over into the Hereafter.

Positivity

A way you can encourage such positive thinking is to keep a gratitude journal, or very simply write 3 good things that happened in your day. Or if you’re not one to write, then simply recall 3 positive events from your day. A good time to do this is in bed, just before you sleep so you go to bed in a positive mindset.

So, if you keep all these things in mind, it will make it a lot easier to bear any difficulty you face in the knowledge that behind every test is a reward or a benefit for you; therefore, worth enduring with patience and seeking this reward  from Allah.

Conclusion

Increasing your acts of worship is an excellent way of curing a diseased heart as it will ensure that Allah is kept in mind as much as possible. Ensure that everything you do in your day is for the sake of Allah, even down to eating. The more often you remember Allah in your daily life, the closer you will become to Allah and the more comforted you will feel.

You can try to increase your acts of worship such as praying, making du’aa’, reading the Qur’an, fasting, giving in charity, down to simply remembering to say ’Bismillah’ before you do anything such as eating.

“Those who have believed and whose hearts are assured by the remembrance of Allah. Unquestionably, by the remembrance of Allah hearts are assured.” (Qur’an, 13:28)

One final way to soften a heart is to engage in istighfar. Ask Allah for forgiveness, even for small things and the things you might do unintentionally.

May Allah bring you ease in your affairs and soften your heart that you will be able to bear His tests with patience.