The core of our hearts is called the lubb. What does lubb mean? The lubb is the very inner core of our hearts, the area which is reserved for only Allah (swt). If we fill up our lubb with others than Allah, such as a person – this can be our spouses, our children, our parents, materialistic things – this can be money, cars, purses, or a status – such as becoming rich or respected, we will suffer. We will suffer because the lubb is not created for the purpose of anything but the worship of Allah (swt).
As stated in Surah Adh-Dhariyat, verse 56:
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ ٱلْجِنَّ وَٱلْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ
I did not create the Jinns and the human beings except for the purpose that they should worship Me.
Here Allah tells us that we human beings, and Jinns, have not been created for any other purpose, but to worship Him. That’s it.
Allah started off the verse with a negation, stating that He did not create human beings and Jinn for any purpose. Why is the sentence formatted like this? Why didn’t Allah just say, “Human beings and Jinns were created to only worship Me.” It would still have the same meaning, wouldn’t it? The answer is no. When Allah begins the verse with a negation, He is leaving no room for anything else. When someone says, “I am not going anywhere else but home”, this implies that this person will in fact not go anywhere but home. If this person had said, “I am going home.” This doesn’t have the strict meaning that this person is only going home and no where else. The person could be going to school first, or to the mall, then they might go home.
By clearing out any other purposes for humans’ and Jinns’ purpose in life, Allah starts with a blank slate. Then He mentions that we were created to worship Him. All other false purposes are wiped out. Our only purpose is to worship Allah, everything else we do are just tools to either help us get closer to Allah or to take us away from Him. When we fit something into the core of our hearts that is not Allah, we suffer a great amount of pain.
Take the example of Amirah, and her husband Hamad.
Amirah and Hamad have been married for a year. They don’t have children yet, but plan to have some in the future. Amirah is hopelessly in love with Hamad. Everything Hamad wants, Amirah obeys. She never wants to upset her husband and angering him is her worst fear. When Hamad is angry with Amirah, he doesn’t talk to her for a few days. This is absolute torture for Amirah. She cannot focus on anything else and focuses all her attention on trying to gain her husband’s attention again. When Amirah wishes to do something, which is halal, such as going to visit her parents house, if Hamad doesn’t allow her, Amirah immediately listens, and sacrifices her wants and needs to keep Hamad happy. When Amirah wakes up, the first thought on her mind is Hamad. When Amirah goes to sleep, the last thought on her mind is Hamad. Whenever Amirah wants to do something, she always asks herself, “What would Hamad think?” By making Hamad the centre of her heart, by absorbing Hamad into her lubb, Amirah is left in constant suffering whenever Hamad is upset at her, even after all her efforts to keep him happy. When Hamad doesn’t give her the attention she needs, Amirah is left in a miserable and depressed state, until Hamad begins giving her attention again. Amirah chases after Hamad’s approval the way that a cat chases after a string. Amirah claims that she loves Hamad, and that this is what true love means.
What Amirah has done here is taken Hamad as an ‘illah’(god). She has turned her ‘love’ for Hamad into worship. Even if she is not physically worshipping Hamad, such as bowing down to him, and believing that he can grant her dua’s, Amirah has absorbed Hamad into her heart so much so that she fears Hamad’s anger more than Allah’s anger. She constantly thinks about Hamad and about how to please him rather than think about how to please Allah. She focuses all her actions and has made her purpose in life to serve Hamad rather than serve Allah.
Taking anything from creation, whether it be a person, such as Amirah and Hamad’s example, or taking the love of money, love of fame, love of status, will cause you nothing but suffering, as the heart’s core was created to only house the love and worship of Allah.
As stated in Surah At-Tawbah, verse 24:
قُلْ إِن كَانَ ءَابَآؤُكُمْ وَأَبْنَآؤُكُمْ وَإِخْوَٰنُكُمْ وَأَزْوَٰجُكُمْ وَعَشِيرَتُكُمْ وَأَمْوَٰلٌ ٱقْتَرَفْتُمُوهَا وَتِجَـٰرَةٌۭ تَخْشَوْنَ كَسَادَهَا وَمَسَـٰكِنُ تَرْضَوْنَهَآ أَحَبَّ إِلَيْكُم مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦ وَجِهَادٍۢ فِى سَبِيلِهِۦ فَتَرَبَّصُوا۟ حَتَّىٰ يَأْتِىَ ٱللَّهُ بِأَمْرِهِۦ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِى ٱلْقَوْمَ ٱلْفَـٰسِقِينَ
Say, “If your fathers and your sons and your brothers and your spouses and your clan and the wealth you have earned and the trade you apprehend will recede and the homes you like are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger and Jihād in His way, then, wait until Allah comes with His command. Allah does not lead the sinning people to the right path.”
Here Allah lists the things that are halal for us to love. Loving something as opposed to worshipping something are two different things. We are supposed to love our spouses, our children, our parents, our siblings, and even our materialistic things. It is okay to harbour love for these things. When we begin to prioritize these things over Allah, then our love becomes problematic.
Allah ends this verse with a warning:
‘are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger and Jihād in His way, then, wait until Allah comes with His command. Allah does not lead the sinning people to the right path.”
“Wait until Allah comes with His command.” What does this mean? This is implying that if we make the mistake of absorbing something of creation into our lubb, then that very thing which we absorbed will be used to cause us great suffering and pain until we squeeze it out of our lubb and place Allah (swt) back into it.
In Amirah and Hamad’s example, Hamad had turned into a cause of suffering for Amirah. Amirah had began prioritizing her husband over Allah. While the rights of the husband are very important, no one’s rights are more important than Allah (swt’s) rights. The object of our worship being turned into a cause of suffering is a mercy from Allah, Ar-Rahman, Ar-Raheem. The pain helps us open our eyes and realize, that we need to change our focus and remind ourselves that our only purpose in life is to worship Allah. Without the pain, we would continue to stay on the wrong path and continue to worship creation rather than the Creator.
Keeping this in mind, think about what you have absorbed into your heart. What causes you the most suffering? If it isn’t disobeying Allah and His messenger, then it’s time to re-orient and repent. Remind yourself of your purpose, of why you were sent down to this earth.
