He says: I am writing this letter to your eminence and I hope that you will answer it from all angles, as the discussion between me and one of the brothers from one of the Arab countries has been long, until we reached the rectification of the heart, where this brother said that the heart is not what rectifies the body and all the limbs, as evidenced by the fact that if a heart transplant operation were performed on a believing person, replacing his heart with the heart of a disbeliever who does not believe in Allah, this heart from the disbeliever would not affect him, and he would continue in his faith in Allah. Is this correct? He raised a doubt with me that left me confused, which is: if this ruling or statement is correct, what is the meaning of the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in the hadith: "Know that in the body there is a morsel; if it is sound, the whole body is sound, and if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt"? May Allah guide you, and peace be upon you and Allah's mercy.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : This letter reached us from al-Qasim, from al-Shumasiyyah, from the sender Ali al-Yahya, son of Abd al-Rahman al-Yahya. In fact, the question is long, but it must be read. He says: I am writing to your eminence this letter and I hope that you will answer it from all angles, as the discussion between me and one of the brothers from one of the Arab countries has been long, until we reached the rectification of the heart, where this brother said that it is not the heart that rectifies or causes the rectification of the body and all the limbs, as evidenced by the fact that if a heart transplant operation were performed on a believing person, replacing his heart with the heart of a disbeliever who does not believe in Allah, this heart from the disbeliever would not affect him, and he would continue in his faith in Allah. Is this correct? He raised a doubt with me that left me confused, which is: if this ruling or statement is correct, what is the meaning of the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in the hadith Sahih al-Bukhari 52 May Allah guide you, and peace be upon you and Allah's mercy.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. It should be known that the speech of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is truth, and that nothing but truth issues from him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us that in the body there is a morsel; if it is sound, the whole body is sound, and if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt. Then he said: He began the explanatory sentence clarifying this morsel with "Know", which indicates attention and emphasis, pointing to the certainty of this matter, and that if this heart is sound, the whole body is sound. However, the heart has a place and specific organs. As long as it is in this body in which it was created, if it is sound, it must rectify the body. But if it is moved to another place, it is moved from its domain, so it is not necessary that its soundness rectifies the other body. This is because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was speaking about a matter that was understood at that time: that the heart does not exceed its place and body, in which the organs are like the soldiers of a ruler who obey him.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : This is one aspect, and another aspect is that it can be said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) specified the location of the heart, and that the intended meaning of "heart" is the conceptual heart, which is the intellect, whose location is the heart. This intellect is in the soul of the person whose guidance was decreed, meaning that the conceptual, rational power in this heart composed in this body is the administrator of this body. If its location moves, it remains, so guidance remains in the heart of the believing, guided person, even if his heart is removed. This is on the assumption that this issue might mean that a Muslim's heart is transplanted and a disbeliever's heart is fitted to him, or vice versa. The answer is from one of these two aspects: either it is said that the intended meaning of the heart is this physical morsel, but it has authority over the body in which it was composed and left, the body in which Allah created it; if it is sound, the body is sound.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Unlike when it is moved to another domain, in which case it is not necessary that this new domain obey its command.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Or it can be said that the intended meaning of the heart is the rational power prevalent in the soul of the body, whose location and source is the heart.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Or the heart. One of these two aspects clarifies what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) intended.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : It is not necessary, based on either of these two aspects, to say that if a believer's heart is fitted to a disbeliever, that this disbeliever becomes a believer, or that if a disbeliever's heart is fitted to a believer, that this believer becomes a disbeliever.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
There is a piece of flesh in the body if it becomes good (reformed) the whole body becomes good but if it gets spoilt the whole body gets spoilt
ألا وإن في الجسد مضغة إذا صلحت صلح الجسد كله وإذا فسدت فسد الجسد كلهThe Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. It should be known that the speech of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is truth, and that nothing but truth issues from him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us that in the body there is a morsel; if it is sound, the whole body is sound, and if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt. Then he said:
And it is the heart.
ألا وهي قلبThe questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : This is one aspect, and another aspect is that it can be said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) specified the location of the heart, and that the intended meaning of "heart" is the conceptual heart, which is the intellect, whose location is the heart. This intellect is in the soul of the person whose guidance was decreed, meaning that the conceptual, rational power in this heart composed in this body is the administrator of this body. If its location moves, it remains, so guidance remains in the heart of the believing, guided person, even if his heart is removed. This is on the assumption that this issue might mean that a Muslim's heart is transplanted and a disbeliever's heart is fitted to him, or vice versa. The answer is from one of these two aspects: either it is said that the intended meaning of the heart is this physical morsel, but it has authority over the body in which it was composed and left, the body in which Allah created it; if it is sound, the body is sound.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Unlike when it is moved to another domain, in which case it is not necessary that this new domain obey its command.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Or it can be said that the intended meaning of the heart is the rational power prevalent in the soul of the body, whose location and source is the heart.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Or the heart. One of these two aspects clarifies what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) intended.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : It is not necessary, based on either of these two aspects, to say that if a believer's heart is fitted to a disbeliever, that this disbeliever becomes a believer, or that if a disbeliever's heart is fitted to a believer, that this believer becomes a disbeliever.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.