The Four Poisons Of The Heart - 1 of 4

Adapted from the works of Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali RA, Ibn Al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya RA, and Imam Ghazali RA

"And keep yourself (O Muhammad!) patiently with those who call on their Lord (your companions who remember their Lord with glorification, praising in prayers, etc., and other righteous deeds, etc.) morning and afternoon, seeking His Face, and let not your eyes overlook them, desiring the pomp and glitter the life of the world; and obey not him whose heart We have made heedless of Our Remembrance, one who follows his own lusts and whose affair (deeds) has been lost." (Surah 18: Verse 28)


You should know that all acts of disobedience are poison to the heart and cause its sickness and ruin. They result in its will running off course, against that of Allah, and so its sickness festers and increases.

The great scholar among the Tabi'in - Abdullah ibn Mubarak RA said:

"I have seen wrong actions killing hearts, And their degradation may lead to their becoming addicted to them. Turning away from wrong actions gives life to the hearts, And opposing yourself is best for it."

Whoever is concerned with the health and life of his heart, must rid it of the effects of such poisons, and then protect it by avoiding new ones. If he takes any by mistake, then he should hasten to wipe out their effect by turning in repentance and seeking forgiveness from Allah, as well as by doing good deeds that will wipe out his wrong actions.

By the four poisons we mean:

- unnecessary talking,
- unrestrained glances,
- consuming too much food; and
- keeping bad company.

Of all the poisons, these are the most widespread and have the greatest effect on a heart's well-being.


Unnecessary Talking

It is reported in al-Musnad, on the authority of Anas RA, that the Prophet SAW said:

"The faith of a servant is not put right until his heart is put right, and his heart is not put right until his tongue is put right."

This narration shows to us that the Prophet SAW has made the purification of faith conditional on the purification of the heart, and the purification of the heart conditional on the purification of the tongue.

Imam Tirmidhi relates in a hadith on the authority of Abdullah ibn Umar RA:

"Do not talk excessively without remembering Allah, because such excessive talk without the mention of Allah causes the heart to harden, and the person furthest from Allah is a person with a hard heart."

Umar Al-Khattab RA said:

"A person who talks too much is a person who often makes mistakes, and someone who often makes mistakes, often has wrong actions. The Fire has a priority over such a freqent sinner."

In a hadith related on the authority of Mu'adh RA, the Prophet SAW said:

"Shall I not tell you how to control all that?"

I said:

"Yes do, O Messenger of Allah (SAW)."

So he (SAW) held his tongue between his fingers, and then, he said:

"Restrain this."

I said:

"Oh Prophet of Allah, are we accountable for what we say?"

He (SAW) said:

"May your mother be bereft by your loss! Is there anything more than the harvest of the tongues that throws people on their faces (or he said 'on their noses') into the Fire?

What is meant here by 'the harvest of the tongues' is the punishment for saying forbidden things. A man, through his actions and words, sows the seeds of either good or evil. On the Day of Resurrection he harvests their fruits. Those who sow the seeds of good words and deeds harvest honour and blessings; those who sow the seeds of evil words and deeds reap only regret and remorse.

A hadith related by Abu Hurairah RA says:

"What mostly causes people to be sent to the Fire are the two openings: the mouth and the private parts."

Abu Hurairah RA also related that the Messenger of Allah SAW said:

"The servant speaks words, the consequences of which he does not realise, and for which he is sent down into the depths of the Fire further than the distance between the east and the west."

The same hadith was transmitted by Imam Tirmidhi with slight variations:

"The servant says something that he thinks is harmless, and for which he will be plunged into the depths of the Fire as far as seventy autumns."

Uqba ibn Amir RA said, that he asked the Prophet SAW:

"O Messenger of Allah, what is our best way of surviving?"

He (SAW) replied:

"Guard your tongue, make your house suffice for sheltering your privacy, and weep for your wrong actions."

It has been related on the authority of Sahl ibn Sa'd RA that the Prophet Muhammad SAW said:

"Whoever can guarantee what is between his jaws and what is between his legs - guarantee him the Garden (i.e. Paradise)."

It has also been related by Abu Hurairah RA that the Prophet SAW said:

"Let whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day either speak good or remain silent."

Thus talking can either be good, in which case it is commendable, or bad, in which case it is Haraam.

The Prophet SAW said:

"Everything the children of Adam say goes against them, except for their enjoining good and forbidding evil, and remembering Allah, Glorius and Might is He."

This was reported by Imam Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah on the authority of Umm Habibah RA.

Umar ibn al-Khattab RA visited Abu Bakr RA finding him pulling his tongue with his fingers. Umar RA said "Stop! may Allah forgive you!" Abu Bakr RA replied: "This tongue has brought me to dangerous places."

Abdullah ibn Mas'ud RA said:

"By Allah, besides Whom no god exists, nothing deserves a long prison sentence more than my tongue."

He also used to say:

"O tongue, say good and you will profit; desist from saying evil things and you will be safe; otherwise you will find only regret."

Abu Hurairah RA reported that Abdullah ibn Abbas RA said:

"A person will not feel greater fury or anger for any part of his body on the Day of Judgement more than what he will feel for his tongue, unless he only used it for saying or enjoining good."

Al-Hassan RA said:

"Whoever does not hold his tongue cannot understand his deen."

The least harmful of a tongue's faults is talking about whatever does not concern it. The following hadith of the Prophet Muhammad SAW is enough to indicate the harm of this fault:

"One of the merits of a person's Islam is his abandoning what does not concern him."

Abu Ubaidah RA related that al-Hassan RA said:

"One of the signs of Allah's abandoning a servant is His making him preoccupied with what does not concern him."

Sahl RA said:

"Whoever talks about what does not concern him is deprived of truthfulness."

As we have already mentioned above, this is the least harmful of the tongue's faults. There are far worse things, like backbiting, gossiping, obscene and misleading talk, two-faced and hypocritical talk, showing off, quarrelling, bickering, singing, lying, mockery, derision and falsehood; and there are many more faults which can affect a servant's tongue, ruining his heart and causing him to lose both his happiness and pleasure in this life, and his success and profit in the next life. Allah is the One to Whom we turn for assistance.