There will come a day when we will be held accountable for our deeds, and on that day there will be very few things that will benefit us. Excluded from this are our closest loved ones, whom we deem so important, and our wealth, which we spend so much time and energy pursuing. Rather, as mentioned in the Qur’an, the only source of benefit will be a pure heart. A pure heart is the key to rectifying our deeds. Often we get caught up in attempting to address symptoms of a sick heart rather than the underlying disease. For example, an individual who struggles to wake up for Fajr may attempt to set multiple alarms, or a person who is inconsistent in the recitation of Qur’an may place a mushaf in multiple locations for easy access, yet these attempted solutions often fail. The reason is because the underlying cause of these problems is an impure heart. We have the opportunity to purify our hearts now, or have it be purified in the Hellfire, as an impure heart cannot enter Paradise. There are two main mechanisms to purify the heart: (1) Istighfar – consistent daily repentance, which is like detergent for the heart, wiping away filth and removing the effects of sin. (2) Dhikr – abundance remembrance of Allah ﷻ, which is a polishing for the heart so that it is beautified and worthy of presentation on the Day of Judgement.
