By Dr. Ali Al-Halawani

A wise man is the man who avoids committing such sins and sinful deeds in anticipation of what has been prepared by Allah the Almighty for the obedient

The heart is one of the most amazing organs in the human body as well as bodies of all living creatures, be it an animal or a bird alike. Scientifically speaking, the heart is the organ that pumps blood throughout the body via the circulatory system. It supplies oxygen and nutrients to the tissues and remove carbon dioxide and other wastes. No one can stay alive without this vital and indispensable organ unless one is connected for some time to a life support system which is neither affordable nor available to everyone at large.

To describe the heart of man in a very brief way, one can say:

– It is a pear-shaped organ in the size of man’s fist. It weighs between 225 – 340 grams.

– The normal heart rate for adults is around 70 beats a minute. This means 4200 beats per hour, 100800 per day, and 36792000 per year.

– This means that if man lives for 60 years, this amazing heart will beat around 20207000000 unceasingly.

– The human heart has two sides. The right side of the heart pumps blood to the lungs to pick up oxygen. The left side of the heart receives the oxygen-rich blood from the lungs and pumps it to the body. It pumps around 22000 gallons of blood per day; this is 803000 gallons per year; this 481800000 gallons if the life average is 60 years; and this weighs around 345000 tons!

Now the question that begs answering is: can any other pump perform as such tedious and laborious work for such a long period without stopping or any need for amendment and repair?!

This is really amazing indeed. Allah the Almighty is the One Who created this heart and put into it all the necessary tools and internal organs that may help it do its job in a most perfect manner without any external support.

In addition, the heart is not only responsible for pumping the blood inside the human body; it has another function which is as important as this one. It is where faith in God lies. If the heart is sound and obedient to the Lord of all, its owner will be among those who prosper in this present life and the hereafter. Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) highlighted this in one of his hadiths that reads what may mean:

On the authority of an-Nu’man ibn Basheer (May Allah be pleased with him), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (Peace and blessings be upon him) say, “That which is lawful is clear and that which is unlawful is clear, and between the two of them are doubtful matters about which many people do not know. Thus he who avoids doubtful matters clears himself in regard to his religion and his honor, but he who falls into doubtful matters [eventually] falls into that which is unlawful, like the shepherd who pastures around a sanctuary, all but grazing therein. Truly every king has a sanctuary, and truly Allah’s sanctuary is His prohibitions. Truly in the body there is a morsel of flesh, which, if it be whole, all the body is whole, and which, if it is diseased, all of [the body] is diseased. Truly, it is the heart.” (Bukhari & Muslim)

In a similar vein, Allah the Almighty says in His Ever-Glorious Qur’an what may mean,

“The Day when there will not benefit [anyone] wealth or children. But only one who comes to Allah with a sound heart.” (Al-Shu’ara’ 26: 88-89)

So, one should try his best to come to Allah with a sound and whole unblemished heart. As nothing can be more harmful to the heart than committing sins and sinful deeds, a wise man is the man who avoids committing such sins and sinful deeds in anticipation of what has been prepared by Allah the Almighty for the obedient.

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Dr. Ali Al-Halawani is Assistant Professor of Linguistics and Translation, Kulliyyah of Languages and Management (KLM), International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He was Assistant Professor and worked for a number of international universities in Malaysia and Egypt such as Al-Madinah International University, Shah Alam, Malaysia (Mediu) and Misr University for Science & Technology (MUST), Egypt; Former Editor-in-Chief of the Electronic Da`wah Committee (EDC), Kuwait; Former Deputy Chief Editor and Managing Editor of the Living Shari`ah Department, www.islamOnline.net; Member of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS); and member of the World Association of Arab Translators & Linguists (Wata). He is a published writer, translator and researcher. You can reach him at [email protected].