Purification of the heart - Part 3 - The diseases

Love of the world

There are five classical rulings, which determine how loving something worldly is viewed.

1 - Obligatory (wajib)
2 - Recommended (mandub)
3 - Permissible (mubah)
4 - Reprehensible (makruh)
5 - Forbidden (haram)

Example: We should love certain aspects of the world, like the Quran, the Ka'ba, our Prophet (saw) etc. In regards of wealth we should love helping needy with it.
The Prophet (saw) prohibited to condemn the world. He said: "Do not curse the world, for God created the world, and the world is a means to reaching God. - Hadith

Whether loving the world is good or bad for us, depends on what it leads us to. Does it lead to a arrogance and greed? OR does it lead to goodness? Attaining wealth is not a negative thing per se, it is just the outcome that makes it either bad or good. Does acquiring wealth means you are neglecting religious tasks or falling into sinful matters? Then it is considered blameworthy! But if you use your wealth to do good and it does not preoccupy your thoughts and invade your religiosity than it is considered praiseworthy.
One other illness in this world is the love of praise.


"The world is a bridge; so pass over it to the next world, but do not try to build on it." - Prophet Isa (as) 

Envy

Envy (hasad) is a severe disease and even considered the root of all diseases by some scholars.The Quran teaches us too seek refuge in God from "the evil of the envier when he envies" (Qur'an, 113:5).
The Prophet (saw) said that envy consumes good deeds as the fire destroyes dry food. The evil eye is often linked to envy, thou it is not necessary.
Envy is when one wishes that a blessing may be taken away from someone. This blessing can be anything, a house, wife, or even a dress. A blessing (ni'mah) is something that Allah gives us, envying someone for their blessings would mean actually questioning why God has given them these blessings! This makes envy despicable and forbidden.
Imam Mawlud gives us treatments for envy.
1 - Act consciously against one's caprice. Be objective and not let your caprice take over you.
2 - Do something that will benefit the person you envy.
Envy can damage one's sanity, when they keep on thinking about the things they envy in a person.  One must understand that it is Allah who distributes the blessings and gives us or does not give us the things we have or we would like to have,' Allah is all-knowing and wise and knows whom to give which and how much blessings. A key to getting rid of envy is to establish Taqwa, having a sense of awe of God.

Blameworthy Modesty

Modesty is considered praisworthy in Islam. However if the modesty would prevent us from seeking knowledge, because we would be to shy to ask for questions than modesty is something blameworthy. We also should not be modest in term of denouncing tyranny or corruption. 

Fantasising

Engaging in matters that are of no concern to us is a disease, such as fantasising about a persons beauty one is not married to. If an sction is forbidden then even thinking about it is forbidden too. But also thinking about faults and weaknesses of other people is a widespread disease now-a-days. The prophet (saw) said: "There is a tree in Paradise reserved for one whose own faults preoccupied him from considering the faults of others." - Hadith
It is important for us to focus on our own shortcomings then rather focusing on people's faults as time is short and we should be making the most out of our time.

Fear of poverty

"Satan threatens you with poverty, and he commands you to immorality. But God promises you His forgiveness and bounty" - Qur'an 2:268
The fear to lose one's poverty can be very strong, to the point that people deprive the needy of their share and even do not spent on themselves. A person who has this irrational fear is very vulnerable in transgessing laws to secure and increase their wealth. It is important for us to understand that it is Allah alone who gives us our wealth, and who can take it from us again. Contenment is very important so we will not worry too much about losing our wealth. Be content and happy with what you have and expect the best from Allah.

Ostentation

Purification of the heart; page 44/45

"What I fear most for my community is doing things other than the sake of God" - Hadith
Ostentation means showing off - doing something for the sake of telling it to other people and get the praise or fame for it.
Imam Mawlud tells us about three signs of ostentation:
1 & 2 - Laziness and lack of action in religious deeds: Feeling lazy and unwilling to pray or read Quran at home when no people are around you, but praying and reading loads of Quran once in the mosque among people.
3 - increasing one's action when one is praised and decreasing one's actions in absence of praise

The cure of ostentaion is to remove this four things from one's heart: love of praise, fear of blame, desire for wordly from people and fear of harm from people. To achieve this it is important to nurish the certainty that only God can benefit or harm us. An other thing we can do to prevent ostentation is to pray at night alone, to read the Quran in private and to give charity without telling anybody.

Relying on other than God

When we rely on any other than God, it is a sign of not having enough trust and reliance on God. Everything good comes from HIM, and people can never help us, if it was not for God making them able to be helpful to us. It is among the basis of Islam to have Tawwakul - trust and reliance on God.