As salam alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuhu dearest 😊😍

How is your weekend going? I hope you've had an amazing one so far. To my Nigerian sisters, a happy independence season to us all. I can only pray that Nigeria becomes a great nation in our lifetime. Ameen!

You see, I almost didn’t write this letter as I sincerely do not feel up to it but over time I have learnt that to do the things that are important and matter to me, sometimes I have to push how I ‘feel’ aside and do what I have to. Perhaps as I write, my thoughts will flow freely. { Pro tip: remember this anytime you feel bleh and have stuff to do 😄}

My title for today is how do you take care of your heart and it is indeed ironic that as I write this, my heart is heavy and quite unsettled. I have had to remind myself over and over again that seasons change and Allah is in control. Do say a little prayer for ease for me will you? Thank you 🙏🏼 

, Thursday, 29th of September was World Heart Day and as expected, there were lots of talk about the physical aspects of caring for our heart. You know - eating right, exercising and all that good but sometimes challenging stuff 😉 . Those tips are of course valid, but I know that it’s barely scratching the surface when it comes to taking care of our heart. In order to holistically take care of our heart, we need more than the physical aspects and this is what I would like to share with you as succinctly as I can.

As a disclaimer, I am seeker of knowledge just like you and I am only passing on what I have learnt so far since I started this journey of intentionally tending to my heart and praying for Allah’s help in making me amongst those with a pure heart. 🙏🏼🙏🏼

I will now proceed to share this very important Hadith and 'saying' that would be the crux of our exploration today:

1.The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

أَلَا وَإِنَّ فِي الْجَسَدِ مُضْغَةً إِذَا صَلَحَتْ صَلَحَ الْجَسَدُ كُلُّهُ وَإِذَا فَسَدَتْ فَسَدَ الْجَسَدُ كُلُّهُ أَلَا وَهِيَ الْقَلْبُ

Verily, in the body is a piece of flesh which, if sound, the entire body is sound, and if corrupt, the entire body is corrupt. Truly, it is the heart.

Source: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 52,

Grade: Muttafaqun Alayhi

2.

• Thoughts form first ( in the mind)
• Thoughts travel to the heart
• The heart will decide to act upon it or not, which then commands the limbs
• The limbs carry out the orders of the heart

Source: Seekers hub ( purification of the heart )

The Hadith emphasises the fact that the heart is the most vital organ of our entire being and the control centre of our body whilst the 'saying' shows the beautiful cycle of how our minds, emotions and body are connected.

, to take care of your heart holistically, in addition to the physical aspect, you have to pay attention to your mind (mental) and your emotions ( emotional) states. 

How do you do this? 

Let’s go back to this phrase : “Thoughts are formed (in the mind)”

This phrase (let’s call it stage 1) sheds light on the role our mind plays in keeping our heart healthy. So what’s your responsibility in all this? You need to help your mind in its task by feeding it with positive input i.e being conscious of what you watch, hear and speak to others and yourself. It’s this simple : if you feed your mind with positivity then you get the luxury of producing positive thoughts majority of the time AND VICE VERSA.

Moving on to the next piece(s) in the cycle ( let's call them stage 2&3) , I believe it gets easier from here once stage 1 is sorted . If you are able to generate positive thoughts, then your heart has an easier time, as it has no other option but to process positivity. Based on this, there is a 99.99999% chance that the instructions it sends to the limbs ( your body) are going to be positive. Hence, you find that your actions are inherently good. 

, we have so far spoken about the physical and mental aspects to taking care of our hearts, let’s touch on the last part; our emotions .

Our emotions are a by-product of actions that are either carried out by us or done to us. For example, if we are given a gift, we feel grateful. If we are faced with an unknown, we feel anxious .You get it? In turn, our emotions form the basis for which our thoughts are formed and the cycle goes on and on. 

Now, I know we are not in Jannah and we are imperfectly perfect beings. Therefore, there is no way things would be a 100% perfect. We

do not have the power to control

what happens to us and what triggers us. In addition, by virtue of our human nature, we struggle with one or more diseases of the heart e.g anger, jealousy, miserliness etc. 

What we do have though , is a gift of natural affinity to Allah, free will that enables us ‘choose’ how we react to situations and the type of thoughts we focus on. 

So what do we do in this strive to take care of our heart? 

We turn to Allah and focus on Him, because everything good emanates from Him. We ask him to help us purify our hearts and make it rooted in goodness and positivity. We build emotional resilience by relying on Allah, being self aware, cultivating good relationships, exercising self-control and being flexible in our thinking ( Newsflash! most things are never black /white) . Lastly, we can shift our perspective on things happening to us or around us and put on our rose-colored lens when needed 😎. 

, I am sure you agree with me that this was a long read *whew!*. I thank you for sticking to the end of my mini masterclass 😂😂 and in shaa Allah, I hope it’s done something for you.

Before I leave you today, I have some things to share with you:

1. If you would like to learn about how to purify your heart, you might want to check out the Purification of the heart course by Seekers Hub. New live sessions have just started, but you can also study at your own pace.
2. My sisters @ibadahplug are hosting a workshop called Pockets of Time on the 30th of October. If you are struggling with effectively managing your time, then this might be right up your alley. Even better? Early bird tickets are available and for N5000/ $11 you can secure your spot. Learn more and sign up here.
3. Lastly, season 2 of the Radiant Woman Podcast went live over a week ago. Yayyy!!! In the very first episode, I shared what it means to be a radiant woman and live a radiant life. Be my guest and listen here.

Alright , till you read from me again. I leave you in Allah’s care.

Your sister,

Sekinat 

P.s: I always look forward to reading from you. So hit reply and tell me how you are doing.