Winning the War Within
Ṭibb al-Qulūb — The Medicine of the Hearts
Chapter One: Introduction
What Is This Book?
The Series
Winning the War Within is the first in a series on Ṭibb al-Qulūb — the medicine of the hearts — drawing from classical Islamic scholarship to address purifying the heart, disciplining the self, refining moral character, and safeguarding against Shayṭān.
The Primary Source
The series draws heavily from Imām Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 751 AH), arguably the most prolific scholar on this subject, who used the Qur'ān, Sunnah, and insights of preceding generations to masterfully outline and explain these topics — building upon the teachings of Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 AH).
"Look at what is best for your heart and do it." — Imām Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal
The Heart: The Ultimate Purpose of Knowledge
There is so much to learn in Islām, yet the purpose of all learning — to rectify the heart — is often neglected. Every branch of knowledge and practice in the religion is medicine for the hearts and a cure for societal ills.
"The religion is the medicine of the hearts and the Prophets are the doctors for the hearts and religious matters."
— Ibn Taymiyyah
"The heart's need for knowledge is not like the need of breathing for air; rather it is greater."
— Ibn al-Qayyim
Diseases of the Heart vs. Diseases of the Body
Why Spiritual Sickness Is More Severe
Ibn al-Qayyim explains: "The diseases of the hearts are more difficult than the diseases of the bodies. The ultimate consequence of a bodily illness is death, whereas the illness of the heart leads its possessor to eternal misery. There is no cure for this disease except through knowledge."
For this reason, Allah called His Book a healing for the diseases of the chests: "O mankind, there has come to you an admonition from your Lord and healing for what is in the breasts and guidance and mercy for the believers."
Scholars as Physicians
The relation of scholars to hearts is like doctors to bodies — yet the matter is even greater. Many nations can do without doctors, and a person may live their entire life without needing one. But scholars who possess knowledge of Allah and His commandments are the life and soul of existence, and one cannot do without them even for a moment.
The Medicine of the Hearts: Entrusted to the Prophets
Ibn al-Qayyim wrote that the medicine of the hearts is entrusted exclusively to the Prophets, and there is no way to achieve it except through them. The rectitude of the heart requires knowing its Lord, His names, attributes, and rulings — prioritizing His pleasure and avoiding His prohibitions.
"Presuming a healthy heart can be achieved without following them is a blunder. That is only the life of one's animalistic lustful self. Whoever cannot distinguish between this and that should weep for the life of his heart, for he is among the dead, and for its light, for he is immersed in the seas of darkness." — Ibn al-Qayyim
Any approach to purifying the soul outside the prophetic method is like a patient treating themselves without a physician — it produces the opposite of the intended outcome.
When the Cure Becomes the Disease
Ibn al-Qayyim warns that deviating from the prophetic method in purifying the soul leads to catastrophic results. He cites the example of music and singing: the early Companions cautioned that it plants hypocrisy in the heart, yet later mystics popularized it as a spiritual remedy — treating heart sickness with its most severe disease.
Shortage of True Physicians
Genuine scholars of the heart became scarce while the sick multiplied.
Chronic New Conditions
Spiritual diseases arose that were not present among the early generations.
Neglect of True Remedies
The beneficial treatments prescribed by the Sharī'ah were abandoned.
Worsening of Illness
Patients preferred what strengthened their disease, intensifying their condition.
"Consequently, hospitals, streets, and markets filled with patients, and every ignorant person started attempting to treat people." — Ibn al-Qayyim
Book Overview
The War Within: Four Chapters
The book describes the never-ending conflict in every human being — between intellect and desires, faith and the insistent self, the angel and Shayṭān. Compiled by Abu Suhailah Umar Quinn (2 Dhul Ḥijjah, 1444 | Maryland, USA).
1
Three Types of Heart & Self
The healthy, sick, and dead heart — and the corresponding states of the soul: at peace, self-reproaching, and commanding evil.
2
Strengthening the Heart with Emān
The necessity of fortifying the heart in all facets so the self and Shayṭān cannot destroy it.
3
How the Self Sickens the Heart
How the inner self weakens the heart and empowers Shayṭān to destroy it.
4
The Inner Conflict & Vigilance
Detailed insights on the war between heart, self, and Shayṭān — and how to remain proactive throughout life.
Chapter 1
The Heart's Function & Dysfunction
Ibn al-Qayyim explains that every organ was created for a specific function — its perfection lies in performing it, its illness in being unable to. The disease of the heart is to be unable to do what it was created for: knowing Allah, loving Him, longing for His meeting, and preferring that over all desires.
"If a servant knew everything but did not know his Lord, it would be as if he knew nothing. And if he attained every share of the world's pleasures but did not secure the love of Allah, it would be as if he had not achieved any pleasure, bliss, or coolness of the eye." — Ibn al-Qayyim
Three Types of Heart
The sick heart may worsen into death or recover into health depending on which force prevails. The cure lies in going against one's desires — the most difficult thing for the soul, yet the most beneficial.
Signs of a Dead Heart
The Dead Heart
It does not know its Lord and does not worship Him. It stands with its desires and pleasures even if they incur Allah's wrath. Its desires are its leader, lust its guide, ignorance its driver, and heedlessness its vessel.
It is called to Allah from a far-off place but does not respond. It follows every rebellious devil. The world angers and pleases it; desires deafen and blind it.
The Danger of Association
Ibn al-Qayyim warns starkly:
"Associating with the owner of this heart is a disease; socializing with them is poison, and sitting with them is destruction."
The heart may become ill and its illness intensify, yet its owner may not recognize it — preoccupied and diverted from understanding its health. It might even die while its owner doesn't realize. The sign: the owner is not pained by vileness nor anguished by ignorance of truth. "A wound does not cause pain to the dead."
The Heart's Intrinsic Instability
"The heart of the son of Adam fluctuates more intensely than a pot whose contents are boiling."
— The Prophet ﷺ (reported by al-Miqdād b. al-Aswad)
"The heart is named for its fluctuation. The simile of the heart is like a feather in the wilderness, attached to the base of a tree, being flipped by the wind, back to front."
— The Prophet ﷺ (reported by Abū Mūsā al-Ash'arī)
Ibn al-Qayyim identifies the greatest contributors to this instability: weak knowledge, heedlessness, natural desires, lust, self-justification, Shayṭān's deception, delayed promises, distant hopes, love for instant gratification, and the familiarity of bad habits. When these combine, only He who keeps the heavens and earth from vanishing can maintain faith.
Trials & the Two Hearts
The Prophet ﷺ said: "Tribulations are presented to the heart, one by one, like a straw mat is woven reed by reed. Any heart that absorbs them will have a black spot put into it, and any heart that rejects them will have a white spot." (Reported by Ḥudhayfah b. al-Yamān)
Two Hearts, Two Thrones
Ibn al-Qayyim presents a breathtaking metaphor: Allah created hearts as a place for knowing Him, loving Him, and wanting Him — making the heart the throne of the highest description. If the heart is pure, the highest description is established upon it with knowledge, love, and will. If not, the similitude of the lower world ascends over it, causing it to constrict and darken.
🌟 Throne of the Merciful
Light, life, joy, happiness, delight, and the treasures of goodness. The heart is a garden with a tree of knowledge, a lantern of faith, and angelic guards.
🌑 Throne of Shayṭān
Constriction, darkness, death, sorrow, and anxiety — sad for what has passed, worried about what is to come, distressed in the present. A ruin inhabited only by pests.
"Whoever recognizes the value of his house, what inhabits it, and the treasures within it, benefits from his life. And whoever is ignorant of that is ignorant of himself and squanders his happiness." — Ibn al-Qayyim
Chapter 1 Continued
Three Types of the Inner-Self (Nafs)
Al-Ammārah (Commanding to Evil)
The self that primarily follows its desires to commit sins and disobedience. It commands its possessor toward wrong. This corresponds to those led only by personal desires — satisfied only by what they are given, angry only at what is denied.
Al-Lawwāmah (Self-Reproaching)
The soul that sins and then repents — wavering between good and evil. It blames its possessor for sins and returns to the right path. This is the majority of believers, in whom the desire to obey and disobey coexist.
Al-Muṭma'innah (At Peace)
The peaceful soul that loves good, desires righteousness, hates evil, and despises it — making this its character and second nature. Allah addresses it: "O reassured soul, return to your Lord, well-pleased and pleasing to Him."
Ibn Taymiyyah clarifies: these are not three different souls but three states of a single soul — a matter every person finds within themselves.
Three Types of Soul — Ibn al-Qayyim's Framework
Each type sees what it is preoccupied with as most worthy of sacrifice, and turning away from it as a loss. The three-fold division of souls mirrors the three-fold division of hearts — and the three categories of people: those led by desires, those of authentic religiosity, and the majority who combine both.
A Closing Reflection
"I ask Allah to make this small effort beneficial for its compiler and readers, and to forgive me, you, and all Muslims, for our shortcomings and sins."— Abu Suhailah Umar Quinn | 2 Dhul Ḥijjah, 1444 | Maryland, USA
The War Within
The never-ending conflict between intellect and desires, faith and the insistent self, the angel and Shayṭān — between high aspiration and undignified urges.
The Medicine
Knowledge of Allah, following the Prophets, and purifying the heart through the Qur'ān and Sunnah — the only true cure for the diseases of the heart.
The Goal
A heart that is the Throne of the Merciful — filled with light, life, joy, and the treasures of goodness — rather than the throne of Shayṭān.