The Open Heart

 أَعُوذُ بِٱللَّهِ مِنَ ٱلشَّيۡطَٰنِ ٱلرَّجِيمِ، بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

Truly, the only way to Allah is with an open heart. Imaan/belief has to be carried inside of it, or else it cannot be held anywhere within a person. The mind may choose to submit, but if its heart does not follow, then it will never taste the sweetness, will never understand what trust in Allah is supposed to be. 

Having an open heart, in this day and age, is an especially risky proposition. People hide themselves behind layers upon layers of this or that, distraction or misdirection, so that they only try to show the preferable, superficial aspects. People end up with so many personas for various situations, that they tend to forget which of those veneers they actually were to begin with. To be fair, this tendency is very understandable. To have an open heart means leaving a particular kind of vulnerability to the outside world open. This isn't necessarily 'heart on a sleeve' in terms of emotional expression, but more like retaining a sensitivity to things in a way that allows the heart to act as a direct filter for what comes into a person. Without a doubt, the pain of it can go beyond any limits we fathom.

But the truth is that without an open heart, most of the deen can't settle into a person. The crux of Islam is submission, accepting the role of a slave to the most worthy Owner of all that exists. Which mind would find this easy to swallow? I would say practically none. It's the job of the heart to go past the obvious/inherent disinclination to servitude and try to understand what Allah's connection is to us, why it's important, why He is so important. The ability of the heart to accept its place in regard to its Creator is unmatched. Pride gets drowned in the heart by an overwhelming love that is borne from a very special dependency that is unique to Allah. There is nothing like it, no matter what help we may or may not have had in life, what Allah has done for each of His creation is incomparably more significant. The least of these being, He created us before we were even atoms in existence. I would say this is the foundation of fitrah, an internal acceptance and acknowledgement that Allah is Who He is, our Creator, and we are who we are, His creation. 

How can one taste this notion without an open heart? From where would the tears of a hard-hearted person be shed? For stones cannot bleed or shed. The Quran makes mention of this parable, comparing hearts to stones which can easily (or not so easily) be broken and release water gushing forth in proportion to their imaan. The harder the stone/heart, the more difficult it is for water to come from it, and water we should remember is the source of life and an eternal symbol of mercy/purity. Allah knows precisely how difficult it is for a heart that chooses to stay open, He knows well what type of challenges it faces, but why should we fear the consequence when He Himself is our Mawla, our Wali? Let the gates of the heart remain open, let whatever He wills to come for us, come, and whatever happens we should never be afraid to grow from the results and realize ever-more-strongly how much we need His help in everything we do, in everything we are.