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AlGhazalisIhya-Book_of_Destructive_Matters_of_Life, page : 15
process of self-discipline and inner purification.
An Exposition detailing satan’s Entrances into the Heart
The heart is like a castle, and a man must guard its entrances against the
enemy, who is the devil. The main entrances are: (i) irascibility and desire; (ii)
envy and greed; (iii) Eating one‟s fill, for this increases the other desires, causes
illness, and reduces one‟s receptivity to wisdom and desire for worship; (iv) Love
of self adornment, whether in clothes, furnishings or residence; (v) Coveting what
others own and control, and hence flattering and deceiving them; (vi) Haste,
which according to the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, „comes from
satan‟; (vii) Money, property, and all other kinds of wealth in excess of one‟s
needs, for wealth creates its own concerns, which will distract the heart; (viii)
Avarice and fear of poverty, which will destroy the heart‟s serene conviction that
Allah will provide; (ix) Fanatical attachments to schools of thought and sects
(ahwa), hatred of rival doctrines, and delight in criticizing them; (x) Studying
advanced theological doctrines from which one is not prepared, and hence falling
An Exposition detailing satan’s Entrances into the Heart
The heart is like a castle, and a man must guard its entrances against the
enemy, who is the devil. The main entrances are: (i) irascibility and desire; (ii)
envy and greed; (iii) Eating one‟s fill, for this increases the other desires, causes
illness, and reduces one‟s receptivity to wisdom and desire for worship; (iv) Love
of self adornment, whether in clothes, furnishings or residence; (v) Coveting what
others own and control, and hence flattering and deceiving them; (vi) Haste,
which according to the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him, „comes from
satan‟; (vii) Money, property, and all other kinds of wealth in excess of one‟s
needs, for wealth creates its own concerns, which will distract the heart; (viii)
Avarice and fear of poverty, which will destroy the heart‟s serene conviction that
Allah will provide; (ix) Fanatical attachments to schools of thought and sects
(ahwa), hatred of rival doctrines, and delight in criticizing them; (x) Studying
advanced theological doctrines from which one is not prepared, and hence falling