From Dunya’s Pull to Allah’s Nearness

Introduction

Our imams named the mother-causes of the heart’s illness: love of dunya, self-satisfaction, covetous desire, and heedlessness. These are not four separate roads. They converge on one fault, preferring other-than-Allah. When anything is seated above our bond with Allah, dislocation begins. The heart hardens not in a moment but through a procession of small permissions: a glance, a phrase, a scroll, until the hand moves before conscience speaks. We were not created for despair. We were created to return.

The Roots Unmasked

One Disease, Four Faces

Our scholars described distinct “roots” to teach us distinct doors of entry. Ibn ʿAṭā’illāh warned that self-satisfaction breeds disobedience while self-reproach opens vigilance. Others emphasized covetous desire or ghaflah. These are not rival doctrines but branches of one trunk: desire taking precedence over what Allah and His Messenger ﷺ love. When that preference is installed, the lens of the heart clouds.

Why “Minor” Sins Are Not Minor

The heart hardens when wrongs are treated lightly, repeated until familiar, or enjoyed. Pleasure cements, repetition engrains, and habit circuits form in the brain, making the act easier next time. A small sin is “small” only until it is loved. The remedy begins with seriousness: name it as sin, cut it early, and replace the trigger with remembrance or a permissible act.

A simple frame

• Trigger: identify the moment the sin usually appears.

• Interrupt: break the chain immediately.

• Replace: switch to brief dhikr, a short walk, or useful speech.

• Review: at night, account for slips, without excuses, and reset.

Purification Is a Process, Not an Event

Tazkiyah is not a doorway we pass once; it is a road we travel daily. As we maintain bodily cleanliness, we must maintain the heart. Purity and sincerity do not survive neglect. This is why our imams favored small deeds done consistently, based on the Prophet’s ﷺ teaching:

Choose a regimen you can keep and guard it from display.

Practical anchors

• A fixed portion of Qur’an with reflection.

• Guarding the obligatory prayers at their times.

• A measured dhikr after Fajr and Maghrib.

• Each day, leave one tolerated sin for Allah’s sake.

Neuroscience affirms the wisdom: repeated small cues and acts lay down durable pathways, while consistency strengthens self-regulation and calm through neuroplastic change and improved autonomic balance.

Moral Relativism and the Measure of Sharia

Our age praises moral relativism, “morality must bend to time and place.” Islam recognizes context in application, but the foundation does not move. Sharia is the measure, and the Sunnah is the model. The intellect is honored, but it is limited and often becomes a lawyer for the nafs. When the wisdom of a ruling is hidden from us, we obey first, trusting that obedience clears the lens while rebellion scratches it. We take guidance from Revelation and let reason work within its light.

Repentance Without Spectacle

If you have fallen, the path is not cut. “All the children of Adam are sinners, and the best of sinners are those who repent.” Jamiʿ at-Tirmidhi 2499. Repent without delay and without public display. The Prophet ﷺ said that Allah forgives this Ummah except those who publicize their sins, tearing the veil Allah placed. Sahih al-Bukhari 6069, Sahih Muslim 2990. True tawbah has clear terms: regret, immediate abandonment, resolve not to return, and restitution when others’ rights were harmed.

Guarding the Tongue, Ordering Love

Among the swiftest ways to soften the heart is to guard the tongue. Much speech without remembrance dulls sensitivity and feeds self-importance. Reduce idle talk, increase dhikr, and arrange your day so that Allah is not an afterthought but the reference point. When we remember that no crowd can benefit or harm us except by Allah’s leave, the world shrinks to its true size and obedience lightens. See the counsel to Ibn ʿAbbās: “If the nations gathered to benefit you, they could not benefit you except with what Allah has decreed…”

A Straight Program You Can Start Today

1. Name your tolerated sin. Write it plainly.

2. Install a replacement. Each urge triggers dhikr or a small beneficial task.

3. Protect one consistent deed. Keep it for forty days.

4. Close doors. Remove triggers you control: times, places, apps, companions.

5. Account nightly. Two honest minutes before sleep: Where did we prefer other-than-Allah today? What repair tomorrow?

Applying This Teaching to Our Personal Lives (Sunnah-grounded)

1. Guard the Obligatory Prayers on Time

   • Sunnah reference: The five prayers are the pillar of practice described throughout the Sunnah.

   • Spiritual benefit: Re-orders love, tethering the day to Allah’s command.

   • Scientific note: Stable time-anchors reduce decision fatigue and strengthen habit formation via consistent cues.

2. Small, Consistent Deeds

   • Sunnah reference: “Most beloved deeds are those done regularly, even if few.” (Bukhari 6464).

   • Spiritual benefit: Purifies intention and prevents the rust of neglect.

   • Scientific note: Repetition sculpts neural pathways; small wins release reward signals that sustain momentum.

3. Conceal the Sin and Return to Allah

   • Sunnah reference: “Publicizing sins is condemned; tawbah is praised.” (Bukhari 6069)

   • Spiritual benefit: Preserves divine covering and humility.

   • Scientific note: Shame-cycles are reduced when we focus on private, values-aligned repairs rather than performance for an audience.

4. Daily Dhikr after Fajr and Maghrib

   • Sunnah reference: Remembrances around these prayers are well-known in the books of adhkar.

   • Spiritual benefit: Keeps the heart awake and guarded.

   • Scientific note: Slow, rhythmic breath with dhikr can increase heart-rate variability and calm reactivity.

5. Nightly Muhasaba (Self-Accounting)

   • Sunnah reference: The early Muslims practiced nightly reflection and istighfar; the Qur’an praises people who remember Allah and then seek forgiveness.

   • Spiritual benefit: Prevents small slips from becoming grooves.

   • Scientific note: Brief reflective journaling strengthens metacognition and weakens maladaptive habit loops.

FAQ

1) What is “love of dunya” in Islam?
Anything that distracts the heart from Allah. Wealth, status, praise, or comfort become “dunya” when preferred over His command.

2) How do we balance intellect and Revelation?
Reason is honored yet limited. We begin with Revelation’s guidance and let intellect operate within its light. When wisdom is veiled, obedience precedes insight.

3) Why focus on small, regular deeds?
They preserve sincerity and keep rust from forming on the heart, and they align with how habits and neural circuits strengthen over time. (Bukhari 6464)

4) Are “minor sins” really dangerous?
Yes, when taken lightly, repeated, or enjoyed. Enjoyment binds them, repetition engrains them, and the heart hardens. (Qur’an 83:14)

5) Should I confess publicly to feel “authentic”?
No. Conceal your sin, repent sincerely, and make right any harm. Publicizing sins tears Allah’s covering. (Bukhari 6069)

Conclusion

Purification is daily work. If the disease is preferring other-than-Allah, the cure is re-ordering love: vigilance over the self, steady repentance, remembrance that keeps the heart awake, and disciplined obedience that trains the limbs. The path is to strive, fall, repent, and stand again, until standing becomes our second nature by Allah’s grace.

Footnotes

1. Wood, W., & Neal, D. T. (2007). A new look at habits and the habit-goal interface. Psychological Review, 114(4), 843–863.

2. Schultz, W. (1997). Dopamine neurons and reward. Neuron, 19(3), 473–485.

3. Gollwitzer, P. M. (1999). Implementation intentions. American Psychologist, 54(7), 493–503.

4. Merzenich, M. (2013). Soft-Wired: How the New Science of Brain Plasticity Can Change Your Life. Parnassus.

5. Neff, K. (2011). Self-Compassion. William Morrow.

6. Lehrer, P., & Gevirtz, R. (2014). Heart rate variability biofeedback. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 756.