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The heart (qalb) occupies a central role in Islamic
spirituality and moral psychology. In the Qur’an, the heart is frequently
portrayed as the seat of comprehension, moral discernment (the word fuad is the
seat of perception and discernment), and spiritual receptivity: “Indeed, in
their hearts is a disease, and Allah has increased their disease; and for them
is a painful punishment because they habitually lie” (2:10). The heart is not
merely a metaphorical organ but the locus of ethical and spiritual formation,
influencing both cognition and behaviour.
Classical scholars such as al-Ghazzali
and Ibn al-Qayyim emphasise that the heart is the sovereign of the self, with
the limbs acting as its ministers and agents. Just as a king’s decisions
determine the welfare of a state, the heart’s condition directs the moral and
spiritual orientation of the individual (Al-Ghazzali, 1996; Ibn al-Qayyim,
1999).
Some modern psychological perspectives resonate with this
framework. Cognitive neuroscience and affective science indicate that
attention, perception, and emotion are deeply interrelated processes. The
heart, as understood metaphorically in Islamic thought, parallels the concept
of the integrative center of cognition and affect, where moral intuitions,
emotional responses, and deliberate reasoning converge (Damasio, 1994;
Shafranske, 2013). Thus, the safeguarding of the heart, through regulation of
its sensory gateways, aligns both with classical Islamic guidance and
contemporary psychological understanding of self-regulation.
The Gateways of the Heart: Eye, Ear, and Tongue
Classical Islamic scholarship consistently identifies three
primary conduits through which influences reach the heart: the eye, the ear,
and the tongue. Ibn al-Qayyim (1999) states, “The heart is the king, and the
limbs are the soldiers; the condition of the soldiers reflects their proximity
and loyalty to the king. The eye, ear, and tongue are the principal instruments
by which the king is served or endangered.”
The Eye
The eye is considered the most influential gateway because
it both conveys and reflects the heart’s inclinations. Al-Ghazzali (1996)
describes the eye as the mirror of the heart, capable of revealing internal
states through subtle behaviours and gazes. Ibn al-Qayyim (1999) emphasises that
when the heart is corrupt, the eye misperceives beauty and ugliness, seeing the
morally corrupt as appealing and the virtuous as flawed.
From a psychological perspective, the eye is the primary
sensory channel through which environmental stimuli shape cognition and
emotion. Research in affective neuroscience indicates that visual input can
trigger immediate emotional responses and influence moral judgments,
particularly in contexts involving empathy, aesthetic evaluation, or social
perception (LeDoux, 2012). Islamic guidance on lowering the gaze (ghadd
al-basar) aligns with these insights: regulating what the eyes perceive
protects the heart from undue moral and emotional influence, facilitating focus
on virtuous thoughts and actions (4:30–31).
Night prayer (ṣalat al-layl) exemplifies this principle in
practice. The darkness limits visual stimuli, allowing the heart to concentrate
and reflect without distraction. This spiritual discipline parallels
psychological strategies such as controlled exposure and attentional focusing,
which are used to minimize maladaptive cognitive or emotional activation
(Shapiro et al., 2006).
The Ear
The ear functions as both sentinel and gatekeeper of the
heart. What is heard reaches the heart and is evaluated, assimilated, or
rejected according to internal moral and cognitive schemas. Classical scholars
note that the ear’s effect on the heart is more enduring than that of the eye,
though its impact may manifest more gradually (Ibn al-Qayyim, 1999).
Psychologically, auditory stimuli are deeply implicated in
memory formation and emotional processing. Sounds, words, and narratives can
prime moral reasoning, evoke affective responses, and shape behavioural
inclinations (Koelsch, 2010). This highlights the Islamic emphasis on selective
listening, avoiding vain speech, slander, and immoral narratives, and engaging
with that which elevates understanding and virtue (17:36).
The Tongue
The tongue serves as the ladle (mighrafah) of the heart,
pouring forth that which resides within. The Qur’an emphasises its role
alongside the eyes: “Have We not made for him two eyes and a tongue and two
lips?” (90:8–9). Ibn al-Qayyim (1999) explains that the tongue communicates the
heart’s contents, revealing either its purity or corruption, while the lips
serve as regulators, restraining or permitting speech. Silence in the face of
evil is a virtue, just as speech in goodness is commendable.
Modern psychology echoes this principle through studies on
verbal behaviour and self-expression. Words are not only reflections of thought
but also shape cognitive and emotional processes. Rumination, negative
self-talk, and gossip reinforce maladaptive schemas, whereas affirming,
reflective, and compassionate speech promotes emotional regulation and moral
clarity (Pennebaker, 1997; Gross, 2015).
In Islamic practice, mindful speech
(adab al-lisan) safeguards the heart, reflecting a conscious interface between
inner moral cognition and outward behaviour.
The Psychology of Perception and Influence
The human heart-or the integrative cognitive-emotional
center-is profoundly affected by the quality of sensory input. Visual and
auditory stimuli, alongside verbal expression, interact with cognitive schemas
and affective networks to reinforce or destabilize moral and spiritual
orientation.
For instance, repeated exposure to morally neutral or
virtuous images and sounds strengthens associated neural pathways, facilitating
ethical perception and emotional regulation. Conversely, repeated exposure to
corrupting stimuli can normalize unethical behaviour and distort affective
judgment (Damasio, 1994; LeDoux, 2012).
In Islamic spirituality, this aligns with the principle that
what enters the heart is mirrored in the limbs: “And [Allah] taught Adam the
names-all of them…” (2:31). The cultivation of selective attention,
mindfulness, and moral discernment in both seeing and hearing forms the
foundation of tazkiyah, the purification of the heart (Al-Ghazzali, 1996).
Contemporary psychological frameworks, such as attentional control, cognitive
restructuring, and emotional regulation, parallel these practices, highlighting
the enduring relevance of these teachings.
Guarding the Heart: Applied Principles
Guarding the gateways of the heart involves intentional
regulation of the eye, ear, and tongue. Classical guidance identifies several
practical measures:
Lowering the gaze (ghadd al-basar): Avoiding sights that provoke moral corruption or spiritual distraction.
Selective listening: Choosing beneficial knowledge,
spiritual recitation, and morally uplifting speech while avoiding harmful
conversations and gossip.
Mindful speech (adab al-lisan): Speaking only that which
brings benefit, refraining from falsehood, backbiting, and harmful expressions.
Self-reflection and accountability (muhasabah): Daily
contemplation of moral and spiritual conduct, identifying weaknesses in the
heart and sensory regulation (Ibn Rajab, 1994).
Spiritual exercises (dhikr, ṣalat, recitation, good deeds):
Practices that heighten awareness of God and increase the heart’s resilience
against corrupting influences (Al-Ghazzali, 1996).
These measures echo modern psychological principles:
self-monitoring, cognitive restructuring, and attentional control. By
regulating sensory input, individuals strengthen their cognitive and emotional
capacity to respond rather than react to stimuli, enhancing moral and
psychological resilience (Shafranske, 2013).
Basic Integrative Counselling Dialogue Example
Counsellor: “You mentioned feeling distracted by social
media images. What small change could help your heart feel more centered this
week?”
Client: “I could limit my browsing to educational or
spiritual content for 30 minutes a day.”
Counsellor: “How would you know your heart feels more
protected after doing this?”
Client: “I would notice less agitation and more clarity in
prayer and reflection.”
The Ills of the Heart and Their Safeguards
Islamic moral psychology holds that the heart may suffer
from spiritual and psychological “diseases” (amraḍ al-qulub) that distort
perception and intention. The Qur’an declares, “In their hearts is a disease,
and Allah has increased their disease” (2:10). Classical scholars interpret
these diseases as affective-cognitive distortions that obscure the heart’s
ability to perceive truth and act virtuously (Al-Ghazzali, 1996; Ibn al-Qayyim,
1999). Modern psychology parallels this view in its descriptions of maladaptive
schemas, emotional dysregulation, and cognitive bias (Beck, 1976; Gross, 2015).
Understanding these illnesses enables both prevention and treatment through
spiritual practice and therapeutic intervention.
The Disease of Pride (Kibr)
Nature: Pride is the inflation of the ego and the refusal of
truth. The Prophet ﷺ said, “No one who has an atom’s weight of pride in his
heart will enter Paradise” (Muslim). Pride blocks empathy, distorts moral
reasoning, and prevents self-reflection.
Safeguard: Cultivating humility (tawaḍuʿ) through
remembering human contingency, engaging in acts of service, and acknowledging
dependence on God. In therapy, pride may manifest as defensiveness; authentic
Islamic counselling can redirect attention toward exceptions when the person
acted with openness or gratitude, reinforcing humility as a strength rather
than a loss.
The Disease of Envy (Ḥasad)
Nature: Envy is sorrow at another’s blessing and the desire
for its removal. It corrodes inner peace and social trust (Ibn Rajab, 1994).
Psychologically, envy links to social comparison and low self-esteem (Smith
& Kim, 2007).
Safeguard: Practicing contentment (qanaʿah) and gratitude
(shukr). Qur’an 20:131 warns, “Do not extend your eyes toward what We have
given to some of them.” Therapeutically, magnifying and amplifying gratitude
and scaling questions (“On a scale from 0–10, how content did you feel this
week?”) can operationalise this virtue.
The Disease of Ostentation (Riyaʾ)
Nature: Performing deeds for human approval rather than
divine acceptance. It is a distortion of intention that produces chronic
anxiety and external validation seeking (Al-Ghazzali, 1996).
Safeguard: Renewing intention (niyyah) through daily muhasabah
and private worship. From a psychological lens, this mirrors intrinsic
motivation training-focusing on values rather than social reward. In authentic
Islamic counselling approach, the counsellor may ask, “What will be different
in your heart when your actions are guided mainly by sincerity?”
The Disease of Anger and Resentment (Ghaḍab)
Nature: Excessive or misdirected anger blinds judgment and
hardens the heart. The Prophet ﷺ advised, “Do not become angry” (Bukhari).
Neuroscience shows that chronic anger activates stress circuits that impair
empathy and executive control (Davidson & Begley, 2012).
Safeguard: Practicing patience (ṣabr) and emotional
regulation. Islamic techniques such as performing ablution, changing posture,
and seeking refuge in God are analogues to evidence-based grounding and
mindfulness strategies (Shapiro et al., 2006). Scaling and exception questions
can help clients recognise moments when they responded calmly, building
self-efficacy.
The Disease of Lust and Desire (Shahwah)
Nature: Unchecked desire enslaves the heart to transient
pleasure, undermining self-control. Qur’an 79:40–41 praises “the one who feared
standing before his Lord and restrained his soul from (base) desire.”
Safeguard: Fasting, modesty, and lowering the gaze. Behavioural
self-control methods-stimulus regulation, delaying gratification-parallel these
practices. In therapy, clients can articulate specific coping plans (“What will
help you notice the moment before temptation and choose differently?”).
The Disease of Heedlessness (Ghaflah)
Nature: Forgetfulness of God and moral purpose. It manifests
as distraction, apathy, and loss of meaning. Qur’an 59:19 warns, “And do not be
like those who forgot Allah, so He made them forget themselves.”
Safeguard: Regular remembrance (dhikr) and reflection. Muraqaba
interventions that cultivate moment-to-moment awareness mirror dhikr’s
attentional training, restoring coherence between thought and intention
(Shapiro et al., 2006). Islamic Counselling can operationalise this by
identifying times of heightened awareness and exploring how to expand them.
The Disease of Doubt and Despair (Shakk and Yaʾs)
Nature: Persistent suspicion or hopelessness regarding
divine mercy erodes faith and resilience. The Qur’an counters: “Indeed, none
despairs of the mercy of Allah except the disbelieving people” (12:87).
Safeguard: Nurturing trust (tawakkul) and hope (raja’)
through cognitive reframing and spiritual contemplation. Therapists can employ
the Miracle Question to help clients envision a future self grounded in hope:
“Suppose a miracle occurred and you felt certain of divine mercy-what would
change in your thinking and behaviour tomorrow?”
Behavioural Manifestations of Inner Disease
Islamic ethics views outward wrongdoing as the natural
consequence of inner corruption. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Verily, in the body there
is a morsel of flesh; if it is sound, the whole body is sound, and if it is
corrupt, the whole body is corrupt. Truly, it is the heart” (-Bukhari, Muslim).
When pride, envy, or heedlessness infect the heart, they express themselves
through speech and action.
Backbiting (Ghibah)
Nature: Speaking about others in their absence with words
they would dislike ( 49:12). Al-Ghazzali (1996) links backbiting to envy and
arrogance-a wish to elevate oneself by lowering another.
Safeguard: Practicing self-restraint and empathy.
Remembering one’s own faults and maintaining silence unless speech brings
benefit aligns with both Islamic virtue ethics and modern mindfulness-based
self-regulation (Shapiro et al., 2006). In therapy, clients may explore
“exception moments” when they chose silence or compassion and how those moments
affected their peace of heart.
Lying (Kadhib)
Nature: False speech distorts reality and erodes trust. The
Qur’an condemns lying repeatedly (16:105). Ibn al-Qayyim (1999) regards
habitual lying as a sign of hypocrisy (nifaq), a moral dissonance between inner
belief and outer word.
Safeguard: Truthfulness (ṣidq), developed through
awareness
of God’s presence (muraqabah). Psychologically, this parallels (in one sense) congruence
and authenticity-core predictors of well-being (Rogers, 1961). Islami
practitioners can ask, “What would change in your relationships if your words
and intentions were fully aligned?”
Cheating and Betrayal (Khiyanah)
Nature: Violating trust in commerce or relationship springs
from greed and moral heedlessness. The Prophet ﷺ said, “He who deceives us is
not one of us” (Muslim).
Safeguard: Integrity (amanah) and accountability. Regular
muhasabah-personal auditing-helps prevent small breaches from becoming
habitual. Therapists can invite clients to scale their current sense of
integrity and imagine one concrete act that would move the score one point
higher.
Disobedience and Moral Neglect (Ma‘ṣiyah and Fisq)
Nature: Persistent neglect of divine commands results from
heedlessness (ghaflah) and weak faith (iman). Qur’an 45:23 warns against
following desires as a god besides God.
Safeguard: Spiritual routines that strengthen awareness-prayer,
fasting, charity, remembrance-and environmental design that minimises triggers
for sin. Behaviourally, these correspond to relapse-prevention and
stimulus-control strategies (Marlatt & Donovan, 2005). In Islamic
Counselling, clients may be asked, “When have you recently acted in line with
your values despite temptation? What made that possible?”
Composite Illness: Hypocrisy (Nifaq)
Nature: The culmination of unaddressed diseases, hypocrisy
manifests as internal disbelief with external conformity. Qur’an 4:145
describes it as a state “in the lowest depths of the Fire.” Ibn al-Qayyim
(1999) differentiates between major hypocrisy (belief) and minor hypocrisy (behavioural
inconsistency).
Safeguard: Continuous renewal of faith through repentance
(tawbah), self-examination, and sincere intention (ikhlaṣ). Cognitive-behavioural
analogues include values clarification and commitment to congruent action.
The heart, as both a spiritual and psychological center, is
profoundly shaped by sensory input and expression.
Classical Islamic
scholarship identifies the eye, ear, and tongue as primary gateways, while
modern psychology confirms the influence of perception, attention, and verbal behaviour
on cognition and emotion. By combining spiritual disciplines(lowering the gaze,
selective listening, mindful speech, dhikr, muraqabah) with Islamic therapeutic
strategies, individuals can cultivate a protected, resilient, and morally
attuned heart.
References
Al-Ghazzali, A. H. (1996). Iḥya’ ʿulum al-din [Rev. ed.].
Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah.
Beck, A. T. (1976). Cognitive therapy and the emotional
disorders. New York, NY: International Universities Press.
Davidson, R. J., & Begley, S. (2012). The emotional life
of your brain: How its unique patterns affect the way you think, feel, and live-and
how you can change them. New York, NY: Penguin.
Damasio, A. R. (1994). Descartes’ error: Emotion, reason,
and the human brain. New York, NY: Putnam.
Gross, J. J. (2015). Emotion regulation: Current status and
future prospects. Psychological Inquiry, 26(1), 1–26.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1047840X.2014.940781
Ibn al-Qayyim, M. I. (1999). Ighathat al-lahfan ʿan masaʾil
al-jinn wa al-shayaṭin. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Dar al-Salam.
Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbali. (1994). Jamiʿ al-ʿulum wa al-ḥikam.
Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah.
Koelsch, S. (2010). Towards a neural basis of music-evoked
emotions. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 14(3), 131–137.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2010.01.002
LeDoux, J. (2012). Rethinking the emotional brain. New York,
NY: Viking.
Marlatt, G. A., & Donovan, D. M. (Eds.). (2005). Relapse
prevention: Maintenance strategies in the treatment of addictive behaviors (2nd
ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Pennebaker, J. W. (1997). Opening up: The healing power of
expressing emotions. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Rogers, C. R. (1961). On becoming a person: A therapist’s view of psychotherapy. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
Shafranske, E. P. (2013). Religion and spirituality in
clinical practice. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Shapiro, S. L., Carlson, L. E., Astin, J. A., &
Freedman, B. (2006). Mechanisms of mindfulness. Journal of Clinical Psychology,
62(3), 373–386. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.20237
Smith, R. H., & Kim, S. H. (2007). Comprehending envy.
Psychological Bulletin, 133(1), 46–64.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.133.1.46
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