Question
How do I deal with my diseased heart, and who can help me get rid of the increasing darkness I find?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful and Compassionate
Walaikum Assalam
I hope you’re doing well, insha’Allah. This feeling of “alienation” and this realization that you need to change your state can be blessed—if you take it as an opportunity and means to act, change, and bring consistency in turning to Allah Most High into your life.
As Ibn Ata’illah (Allah have mercy upon him) puts it, such alienation is a Divine call to open the door of intimately turning to Allah Most High.
Ask Your Specific Questions
We have several scholars here who can help you. Send the details of your issues.
Five Basic Spiritual Practices
In the meantime:
One. Focus on your five daily prayers, and strive to perform them with the presence of heart. Allah Most High tells us, “O believers, seek assistance in steadfastness and prayer.” [Quran, 2.153]
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Prayer is the best of matters.” [Ahmed; sound]
Two. Sincere repentance (tawba) with rejoicing. Look at what acts of disobedience you engage in, and strive to leave them for the sake of Allah.
Repentance entails (1) resolving to leave the sin, (2) with remorse, and (3) committing to strive never to return to it. [Nawawi, al-Adhkar] If you fall back to the sin, renew your commitment, and renew your repentance.
Allah Most High says: “Say: My servants who have wronged yourselves, never despair of God’s mercy. God forgives all sins: He is truly the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.” [Qur’an, 39.53]
We worship a Generous, Forgiving, and Merciful Lord. So keep returning.
Three. Seek out good religious company in your area—in the mosque, at a learning center, circles of remembrance, or community service projects.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “A person will be on the religious ways of their close friends, so look carefully as to whose close company you keep.” [Ahmad; sound]
Four. Consult reliable local scholars. Most cities have upright, learned, wise scholars. Often, we overlook our local scholars and look elsewhere.
The Beloved Messenger of Allah (peace & blessings be upon him & his folk) said, “Truly, the scholars are the inheritors of the Prophets.” [Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, and others; rigorously authentic]
Commit to Learning
Commit to a regular, weekly schedule of beneficial knowledge. Do take the Beginning of Guidance course here at SeekersGuidance:
And Allah is the giver of success and facilitation.
[Shaykh] Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Faraz Rabbani spent ten years studying with some of the leading scholars of recent times, first in Damascus and Amman, Jordan. His teachers include the foremost theologian of recent times in Damascus, the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas (may Allah have mercy on him), and his student Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, one of the leading Hanafi fuqaha of the present age. He returned to Canada in 2007, where he founded SeekersGuidance to meet the urgent need to spread Islamic knowledge–both online and on the ground–in a reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible manner. He is the author of Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School (White Thread Press, 2004.) Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center.