What this Article is About?
The article explains that faith is more than words spoken by the tongue. True belief requires the mind, heart, and body to submit to Allah. Each part of the human being has a role in worship and obedience. Islam calls for unity between belief, intention, and action. Real faith is shown through conscious, complete submission to Allah.
When a human being says “La ilaha illa Allah” – there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah ﷻ – that utterance is not just a declaration. It is a revolution. It is a surrender. And more than that, it is a summons to the entirety of your existence to obey. It is not your tongue alone that says it. Your heart must submit. Your mind must understand. Your limbs must act. Your eyes must see differently. Your ears must hear selectively. Your soul must ache for its Lord. To live as a servant of Allah ﷻ is to live with every part of you bent toward Him.
Let us walk through the body – not as anatomy, but as sacred trust. And let us ask, for each part: “To whom does this belong?” The answer must always be: To Allah ﷻ.
The Mind: The Seat of Intention, Reflection, and Rational Belief
The human mind was not created merely to think – it was created to ponder, to recognize, and to witness.
Allah ﷻ commands us not just to worship, but to think:
“Do they not reflect upon the Qur’an, or are there locks upon their hearts?” (Qur’an 47:24)
And again:
“Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day are signs for those of understanding.” (Qur’an 3:190)
The intellect is a gift. But a gift is only honored when it is used to fulfill its purpose. In a world that trains the mind to chase delusion – to memorize formulae but forget the truth, to pursue credentials but ignore revelation – the Muslim must rebel. The mind’s highest purpose is not to conquer the world but to recognize the Ayat of its Maker.
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was praised not for speculation or philosophy, but for clarity of thought, sincerity of purpose, and firmness in conviction. His ﷺ mind was free – because it was submitted. When we misuse our intellect – to rationalize sin, to justify rebellion, to distort the truth – we betray the sacred trust of this organ.
And let us not forget: belief itself is rooted in reason. The Qur’an repeatedly appeals to the ‘aql – the rational mind – to lead one toward faith. Blind tradition is condemned. Allah ﷻ wants the human being to arrive at belief in Him through reflection, through deduction, through evidence. It is not an irrational leap – it is a rational submission. True iman is not without thought – it is the conclusion of correct thought.
Real intelligence is to ask:
“Who made me? Why was I made? And what will happen after I die?”
If your mind is not busy asking those questions, it is not really thinking – it is wandering.
The Heart: The Throne Room of Worship
If the mind is the general, the heart is the throne room. For it is here that love, fear, and hope reside – the core of every act of worship.
The Prophet ﷺ said: “Truly in the body is a morsel of flesh which, if it is sound, the whole body is sound. And if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt. Verily, it is the heart.” (Bukhari and Muslim)
You can memorize a thousand books. You can write essays on Tawheed. But if your heart is hardened, if it does not tremble at His Words, if it does not burn with longing for Him – you have not worshiped. You have only performed.
The heart was created to attach to the Divine. That is its fitrah. The disbeliever fills it with money, women, pride, fame. The believer empties it and cries out: “I am nothing without You.”
This is why the Qur’an repeatedly makes duʿā for the heart:
“Our Lord, do not let our hearts deviate after You have guided us.” (Qur’an 3:8)
A clean heart is the only thing that will matter on Judgment Day:
“The Day when neither wealth nor children will benefit [anyone], except one who comes to Allah with a sound heart.” (Qur’an 26:88-89)
Do you feel the Qur’an break your heart open? Do you weep in the stillness of the night? Does your heart skip a beat when His Name is mentioned? Then know that it is alive. Feed it gratitude. Guard it with remembrance. Soften it with repentance. Because it belongs to Him.
The Eyes and Ears: The Portals of the Soul
The eyes were not created to gaze at the forbidden. The ears were not made to echo back filth. Both were designed to be gateways to remembrance.
“Indeed, the hearing, the sight, and the heart – about all those [one] will be questioned.” (Qur’an 17:36)
What do your eyes seek when you scroll at night? What voices fill your ears when you are alone? These senses are not just tools – they are testimonies. They will speak on the Day when your tongue is silent.
“Their hearing and their eyes and their skins will testify against them about what they used to do.” (Qur’an 41:20)
What we see and hear reshapes the soul. That is why the Prophet ﷺ would lower his gaze even in purity. Why he would cover his ears when falsehood was uttered. Because even a drop of poison contaminates a stream.
Use your eyes to weep over the Qur’an, to study the signs of Allah ﷻ in the heavens. Use your ears to hear the call to prayer, the recitation of the Book, the cries of those in need.
