So, for 11 months, we did as we chose. We broke the promises we made last Ramadan. We corrupted our hearts and polluted our minds. We put the dunya in front of us and chucked the akhirah behind. We forgot the allegiance we pledged to Allah (SWT). We started slacking off in our prayers. We let our tongues run loose. We brought our guard down. In short, we harmed ourselves more than our enemies could ever harm us!
Yet come Ramadan again, and overnight we want to transform back into pious worshippers. We want to savour the sweetness of Salah; we want to ponder over the Quran deeply; to make zikr with the tongue and the heart. However, we find that our hearts have hardened, our eyes have become dry, and the level of our faith has nose-dived. Some people might give up on themselves, and stop doing righteous actions altogether, thinking things like:
I don’t ‘feel’ anything in dua’ , why make dua?
I have no khushoo’ in tahajjud, might as well just sleep.
To those people, think about this: Can you afford to give up on yourself?
NO! Then, get up and get your act straight. Allah did not wrong you. You, and only you, wronged yourself.
We need to worry, and we need to strive very hard to cure ourselves. Let us look at five practical tips which can help us soften our hearts, this Ramadan!
- Make dua to Allah (SWT), for your heart is in between His Fingers. He can turn it as He wills. He can soften your heart just as he softened the hearts of countless others. Keep making dua relentlessly. Have conviction that it will be answered. Never ever give up on yourself!
- Persistent sins harden our hearts. Make istighfar a major part of your daily routine. And, it should not just be lip-service. Mean it from your heart. Take in account all your shortcomings, small and big, hidden and open. Also, ask Allah (SWT) to erase the devastating effects your sins have on your spiritual life.
- Think about the blessings of Allah (SWT) in your life. You are being showered in His Mercy and enveloped in His Protection day in and day out. This will help to develop His Love in your heart and shall also remove the sense of alienation and despair that may accompany the hardening of hearts.
- Ponder over the Quran. Don’t just be concerned about rushing through a juz a day, counting the pages left and reaching the end. Read it as something which Allah (SWT) addresses to you as a guidebook for your life and as a cure for your heart. “O mankind! There has come to you a good advice from your Lord (i.e. the Qur’an), and a healing for that in your breasts, – a guidance and a mercy for the believers.” [Quran 10:57]
- Remember death. Not as an abstract concept, but as a reality that will hit you any moment. Be like someone who expects to die very soon. Make every prayer as if it was your last. Make every dua as if it was your last. Try to be a better Muslim each day and stand every night as if it was your last opportunity to salvage your eternal life.
And if you don’t change overnight, remember that the antidote will show its effect but you need to keep taking it regularly, slowly and steadily, just as you slowly poisoned your heart until it reached this stage.
