The word · The heart
قَسْوَةُ القَلْب
Qaswat al-Qalb
Hardness of heart: the state in which reminders arrive and nothing moves.
Also written · Qaswat al qalb · Qaswah · Qasawah · Rayn · Ran · Hard heart · Hardness of heart · Hard-hearted · Heart feels dead · No feeling in prayer · Rust on the heart
The meaning
What Qaswat al-Qalb means in Islam
The Qur'an says hearts hardened after that until they were like stones or harder (Qur'an 2:74), and warns those whose hearts are hardened against the remembrance of Allah (Qur'an 39:22). Classical writers trace it to accumulated small sins, idle talk, overeating, and long neglect of remembrance. The prescription they give is unglamorous: return to the daily adhkar, sit with people who remember Allah, visit the sick, and give something away.
Evidence · Qur’an · Stated directly in the Qur’an
Read beside it
Words that sit beside it
- QalbThe heart: in the Qur'an the seat of understanding and intention, not the organ alone.القَلْب
- GhaflahHeedlessness: not the denial of the truth, but the habit of never getting round to it.الغَفْلَة
- DhikrRemembrance of Allah, in set phrases and in the wider habit of not forgetting Him.الذِّكْر
- Kaba'irMajor sins: the ones the texts single out with a punishment, a curse, or a warning of the Fire.الكَبَائِر
More from The heart
- 'AfwPardon: dropping a wrong you are owed, without the other person having to earn it.العَفْو
- GhibahMentioning something about a person, behind their back, that they would dislike hearing.الغِيبَة
- KadhibLying: saying what you know is not so, in speech, in a hint, or in a misleading silence.الكَذِب
- NamimahCarrying words between people in a way that sets them against each other.النَّمِيمَة
- SakinahA stillness Allah sends down into the heart, usually at the moment it is least expected.السَّكِينَة
- TamimahAn amulet worn for protection, whose ruling depends on what has been put inside it.التَّمِيمَة