Clarifying the error in the common saying: "What matters is what is in the heart"

Abu Layla : It seems he is sincere; he was released from the army, and the signs of leaving began to appear.

The Shaykh : And the reverse is also possible, do you know...

The questioner : We had someone who would get angry and say, "The first thing I do when I start my day with a sin is shave my beard."

The Shaykh : May Allah grant him success in obeying Allah and His Messenger in everything, in his appearance and in his reality, in his outward and in his inward, if Allah wills. In any case, the outward is the indicator of the inward. The matter is not as some lost young people say: "My brother, what matters is what is in the heart." Yes, what matters is what is in the heart, but the matter is as it was said: "Every vessel emits what is in it." This meaning is taken from his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): If the spiritual, conceptual matter, as they say today, is like the physical, bodily matter, it is not possible to find a body that is sound in appearance while the heart is sick; the effect of this sickness must appear on the outward body. Likewise, regarding the aspect of faith, if faith is settled in the heart of this person, it must appear on the body of this person. This is explicit in the previous hadith . So we ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to rectify us outwardly and inwardly.