Keep These Words on Your Tongue

[Umm Mohammad]

Um Salamah, Mother of the Believers (may Allah be pleased with her) said the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to frequently say “Oh changer of the hearts make my heart stick to Your religion.” So, I asked him, “Oh Messenger of Allah, why do you often say, “Oh changer of the hearts make my heart stick to Your religion?” He (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Oh Um Salamah, every human being’s heart is between the two fingers of Allah. Whoever Allah wants to remain guided he’s guided. And whoever Allah wishes to be lead astray deviates

Collected by At-Tirmithi (3522) Al-Albani graded this hadeeth as being Saheeh in his checking of At-Tirmithi

Lessons to be learned from this Hadeeth

Al-Imam, Al-Hafith Al-Mubarakfuri ([1353] may Allah have mercy on him) wrote some wonderful words for this hadeeth in his explanation for Jam’I At-Tirmithi. He wrote

1. “Oh changer of the hearts…” Sometimes the heart is turned to obedience and other times its lead to disobedience. Also there are times when the heart is directed to be attentive of Allah, and other times it's diverted to be heedless

2. “Make my heart stick to Your religion…” This is a request to Allah to make the heart remain solid in Islam, without any deviation from the upright Religion and straight path

3. “Whoever Allah wants to remain guided he’s guided…” This means everybody’s heart Allah wishes to be guided; He allows it to remain sound and the person obedient

4. "And whoever Allah wishes to be lead astray deviates.” This implies that whoever Allah wants to be lead astray He turns his heart away from the truth, or away from Islam, and obedience to the Most Wise

5. There is another narration where after Mu’adh heard this hadeeth he recited the verse, “(They say): “Our Lord! Let not our hearts deviate (from the truth) after You have guided us, and grant us mercy from You. Truly, You are the Bestower.” [Al-Imran 8

6. Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) also asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), “You regularly say, “Oh changer of the hearts make my heart stick to Your religion.” Are you afraid for us? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Yes!”This means Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) knew these words the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said weren’t for him, because he was protected by Allah from sin and deviation, especially his heart. Rather, He (peace and blessings be upon him) would constantly say these words in order to teach his nation. [End of quote

We need to constantly follow and stick to the Sunnah; especially this Sunnah from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). We need it now more than ever, in this time where Fitnah is knocking on everybody’s door. Just look around and reflect. How many people were praised from Ahulus Sunnah, and are now dispraised by Ahulus Sunnah?! How many scholars were recommended to be learnt from, but now are being warned against?! How many people were Muslims have now left Islam?!. Reflect, Reflect, “Oh Ahulus Sunah,“Oh changer of the hearts make my heart stick to Your religion.”- Ameen

Taken from “Tuhfatul Ahwathee bi shari Jami’ At-Tirmithi

Translated by Abu Aaliyah Abdullah ibn Dwight Battle