his eyes.” (1) The point relevant here is his statement: “A man who was solicited by a woman of status and beauty but said, ‘I fear Allah.’” To have one’s heart opened to the revealed ruling means accepting it, being pleased with it, and complying with it; it means saying, “We hear and obey.” Sometimes you yourself find your heart open to worship, performing it with ease, submission, tranquility, and contentment. At other times, the opposite is true: were it not for your fear of sin, you would not perform it. If such variation occurs within a single person, what then of different people?

As for having one’s heart opened to Allah’s decree, you will find that the person whose heart Allah has opened to His decree governing creation is pleased with Allah’s judgment and decree and is at peace with it. He says, “I am a servant, and Allah is the Lord; He does whatever He wills.” A person in this state will always be cheerful, neither grieving nor worrying. He experiences pain, but it does not reach the point of burdening him with worry or grief. Hence, it is related in an authentic hadith that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said: “How remarkable is the believer’s affair! All of his affair is good, and that is true of no one but the believer. If hardship befalls him, he is patient, and that is good for him; and if prosperity comes to him, he is grateful, and that is good for him.” (2)

Thus, opening the heart means expanding and preparing it to receive Allah’s revealed rulings and His decrees. Such a person is never distressed by Allah’s rulings and decrees. Our Prophet Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—received the fullest share of this. You therefore find him to have been the most God-fearing of all people, the most diligent in obeying Allah, and the most patient under Allah’s decrees. What did people do to him when he undertook the call to Allah? And what illnesses afflicted him? He would even suffer a fever as severely as two of us; that is, illness bore down upon him as it would upon two of us. Abdullah ibn Masūd—may Allah be pleased with him—reported: “I entered upon the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—while he was