1. Welcome to ALI 132: Characteristics of the Human Being in Nahjul Balagha Session One ____________________________________________ Questions to think about Questions to think about 1) They say: Nature is born, character is built, and personality is developed. Do you agree or disagree? 2) Does a human being have inbuilt characteristic traits or are they situation specific?

2. Agenda Hadith on Character Hadith on Character Relationship of thought and action Relationship of thought and action The Heart The Heart - The heart and faith - The heart and faith - understanding of the heart - understanding of the heart - the diseased heart - the diseased heart - death of the heart - death of the heart - reviving the heart - reviving the heart

3. Character Hadith on Good Character 1) Character is the vessel of religion. 2) A praiseworthy character is the fruit of intelligence and a despised character is the fruit of ignorance. 3)The most perfect of believers in faith are those who are best in their characters.

4. Relationship of Thought and Action Heart Speech Action Have you not considered how Allah sets forth a parable of a pleasant word being like a pleasant tree its root is firm and its branches are in Heaven (14: 24)

5. The Heart A wonderous creation In man there is a piece of flesh attached to him with a vein and it is the strangest thing in him. It is the heart. It has a store of wisdom and things contrary to wisdom. If it sees a ray of hope, eagerness humiliates it and when eagerness increases, greed ruins it. If disappointment overtakes it, grief kills it. If anger rises in it, a serious rage develops. If it is blessed with pleasure, it forgets to be cautious... If trouble befalls it impatience makes it humble... If hunger attacks it, weakness makes it sit down, if its eating increases heaviness of stomach pains it. Thus, every shortness is harmful to it, and every excess is injurious to it. Saying 108

6. The Heart and Faith And from belief is that which is firm and steadfast in the heart and from it is that which remains temporarily in the heart and the chest up to a certain time. Khutba 189 The dwellers of the desert say we believe. Say you do not believe but say we submit, and faith has not yet entered into your hearts (49:14) Eyes do not see Him face to face, but hearts perceive Him through the realities of faith. Khutba 179

7. Understanding of the Heart Every possessor of a heart is not understanding every ear does not hear and every eye does not see. Khutba 88 He who has an understanding heart looks towards his goal. Khutba 154 Surely in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day are signs for a people who understand. (3:189)

8. The Diseased Heart Know that poverty is an affliction, but worse than poverty is sickness of the body, and worse than sickness of the body is sickness of the heart. Know that wealth is a blessing, but better than wealth is the health of the body, and better than the health of the body is piety of the heart. Saying 388 Hearts are imbued with passion and the power of advancing and retreating. Therefore approach them for action at the time of their passion and when they are in a mood of advancing, because if hearts are forced to do something, they will be blinded. Saying 193

9. Death of the Heart They are from among the people of the worlds but are not its people, because they remain in it as though they do not belong to it... They see that the people of this world attach importance to the death of their bodies but they themselves attach more importance to the death of the hearts of those who are living. Sermon 230

10. Reviving the Heart Certainly God Almighty has made His remembrance a means for cleansing and polishing the hearts. It makes them hear after deafness, see after blindness, and makes them submissive to guidance after being stubborn and resisting. In all periods of time when there were no Prophets there were individuals to whom He whispered through their thoughts and spoke to them through their intellects. As a result they were enlightened with a light awakening their hearts, their vision and their hearing. Khutba 222

11. Even if the body should lie amidst fragrance and musk On death it will petrify and give out its stink So scent not the body but perfume the soul with musk What is that musk except the name of the Glorious Lord? Rumi