The
Soul Between the Enchantment of the Dunyâ and that of the Hereafter
By Imâm
Ibn al-Jawzee
Taken
from his book ‘Saydul Khâtir’ (‘Captured
Thoughts’)
When listening to a
sermon or preaching, one’s heart may become vigilant but once one has left the
gathering where Allâh is being mentioned, hardness and inattentiveness returns!
Reflecting upon the reason for this sudden change, I realised what it was. I
noticed that people vary when it comes to this (i.e. the effect of preaching on
them). Generally speaking the heart does not assume the same level of alertness
during the preaching and after for two reasons:
Firstly:
Preaching is like whipping which leaves no pain, but it hurts only while being
whipped.
Secondly:
During the sermon, the listener normally has nothing to distract his attention.
Mentally and physically setting aside worldly matters and listening
whole-heartedly. Then once back to the worldly life, he will be attracted by its
allurements. How then could one remain in the same state as prior to the sermon?
This state of affairs happens to all humanity. However, this affect does vary
with those who listen with their hearts. Some of them are unhesitatingly callous
to what goes on around them. If they are visited by life’s hustle and bustle,
they become self-conscious, as Handhalah (the companion, radiya Allâhu
‘anhu) said about himself: “Handhalah is a hypocrite...” [in a hadeeth
related by Muslim] Some others tend to be of a more forgetful character.
Sometimes though they excel (in good deeds) after listening to a sermon. In
fact, such people are like stalks that sway with the wind! Others are but little
affected; the effect on their hearts lasts only for the period of the sermon. It
soon disappears, just like water when poured on a smooth rock!
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