ألا وإن في الجسد مضغة إذا صلحت صلح الجسد كله، وإذا فسدت فسد الجسد كله، ألا وهي القلب

Alas, In the body, there is a piece of flesh; If it is sound, the whole body is sound; and if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt... Alas, it is the heart... Hadith

إلا من أتى الله بقلب سليم

Except he who comes to God with a sound heart... Quran

The heart has two dimensions to it... both complementary. The physical dimension and the spiritual dimension.

As for the physical dimension: Healthy food in proportion, Regular exercise and regular fasting will make it healthy.

As for the spiritual dimension, it is a house of emotions - so powerful that it can affect the heart physically if not taken care of. Emotions are 100% linked to thoughts. Think good, feel good (and vice versa). "I am as my servant thinks I am" (Hadith Qudsi) or a more literal translation of the divine narration is "I am in the thought of my servant"

Most of us don't realise the power of thoughts - and the power of good thinking... The most common poison we plant in ourselves or the most common form of self-harm are bad opinions of others. Or bad thoughts of others.

If only we realise the reality of a bad opinion... or a bad thought... A bad opinion or a bad thought can be likened to a rotten fruit with worms and maggots coming out of it... its smell is so putrid that it can be smelt from miles away... it looks so disgusting that the mere sight of it is enough to induce vomiting. And the mere thought of consuming it, is enough to make one sick!

Now, here is the catch... whenever you have a bad thought/opinion of another person, the bad thought lives in you... yes YOU! It grows in you and it is nourished by you... It is not transferred to the other person except through physical actions that grow from this thought. The proportion of the thought to the action is usually a 90 - 10 one... Now, if I were to ask you to hold the fruit described above in your hands for a few minutes, you would angrily reject the very proposition of such a request... yet, you gladly plant, host, welcome, grow and nurture bad opinions of others on a regular basis... thinking that these opinions reach the person you are thinking of...

This is the most common form of self-harm... What is worse is when the opinion you have is based on one moment (or a few moments) in the person's life...  A very small proportion of the person's overall life... What if the person has reformed themselves... what if the moment is one of the worst moments in the person's life... would you love to be defined by your worst moments?

It is better to have a good opinion of a bad person than to have a bad opinion of a good person... And most importantly, don't disfigure your face to spite your enemies... don't destroy your heart in order to pay someone back for what they did to you...Your heart is the most precious thing you have - do not destroy it with bad opinions or bad thoughts of others...

Similarly, a good opinion is like a good fruit... with an amazingly nourishing and satiating taste that one never gets tired of. Its fragrance is so nice, it radiates beyond its house and can be smelt from miles away... It beautifies its host and everything that surrounds it... It is so precious a fruit, most kings would fight wars over it.. if only they knew its worth...

So, why is it so hard to replace bad opinions with good ones... why not "make 70 excuses for your brother" (Hadith). Why not "love for the other what you would love for yourself" (Hadith) and most importantly, why self-harm by insisting on planting something so rancid and putrid in your heart...?

Luckily, the choice is yours... and it is never too late to plant well... or uproot bad plants... Every thought or opinion dictates your emotion... and your emotion dictates your health, well-being and eventually your life... So, give yourself a break, take hold of your thoughts... plant well so that you will harvest well and live (love) well.