What is the cure for the hardness of the heart?

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Question:
A brother asks and says: What is the cure for the hardness of the heart?

Answer:
The hardness of the heart has many cures, the greatest of which is: turning to Allah by reading His great Book and reflecting on its meanings, increasing the remembrance of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), caring for what Allah has made obligatory, such as prayer and others, and being cautious of what Allah has forbidden……, and the servant being affected by the remembrance of Allah and the reading of His Book, caring for what Allah has made obligatory upon him, such as prayer and others, and staying away from the prohibitions of Allah…… as He said (peace and blessings be upon him):

Has the time not come for those who have believed that their hearts should become humbly submissive at the remembrance of Allah and what has come down of the truth? And let them not be like those who were given the Scripture before, and a long period passed over them, so their hearts hardened; and many of them are defiantly disobedient.

أَلَمْ يَأْنِ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنْ تَخْشَعَ قُلُوبُهُمْ لِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَمَا نَزَلَ مِنَ الْحَقِّ وَلَا يَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ مِنْ قَبْلُ فَطَالَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْأَمَدُ فَقَسَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَكَثِيرٌ مِنْهُمْ فَاسِقُونَ

[Al-Hadid: 16], so the lengthening of the term for those before us until they neglected and became lazy is what hardened their hearts, and whoever shortens his hope, follows the Shari'ah of Allah, and stays away from the prohibitions of Allah; Allah will soften his heart, expand his chest, and he will be upright on the path.
And in the hadith:

Do not talk too much without remembrance of Allah. Indeed excessive talking without remembrance of Allah hardens the heart. And indeed the furthest of people from Allah is the harsh-hearted.

لا تُكثروا الكلام بغير ذكر الله، فإنَّ كثرة الكلام بغير ذكر الله قسوةٌ للقلوب، وإن أبعد القلوب من الله القلب القاسي

Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2411Hasan (Darussalam)

, so the increase of speech, gossip, and delving into matters without right is among the causes of the hardness of hearts, and the increase of the remembrance of Allah, the reading of His Book, seeking forgiveness, and increasing in righteous deeds after performing the obligatory duties and leaving the prohibitions; all of this is among the greatest causes, indeed it is the only cause for the softness of the heart and safety from its hardness.
And what indicates this meaning is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him):

When the servant commits a sin, a black spot is marked in his heart.

إذا أذنب العبدُ نكت في قلبه نكتة سوداء

Al-Mustadrak lil-Hakim 1:6

, so if he repents, it is erased and his heart is polished, and if he returns to the sins, another black spot is marked, and so on until the heart becomes black, and until the heart becomes dark, he said:

And that is the rust.

وذلك الران

and he recited His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He):

No! Rather, the stain has covered their hearts of that which they were earning.

كَلَّا بَلْ رَانَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ

[Al-Mutaffifin: 14], this is the meaning of the hadith.
The point is that sins are among the causes of the blackness, darkness, and hardness of the heart, and repentance to Allah and engaging in righteous deeds are among the causes of its purity, softness, strength, zeal, and safety.

Source binbaz.org.sa

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

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