Amrad al-Qulub wa Shifauha

Amrad al-Qulub wa Shifauha (Arabic: أمراض القلوب وشفاؤها, lit. 'Diseases of the Hearts and Their Cure') is a treatise on spiritual purification and ethics by the Hanbali theologian and jurist Ibn Taymiyya (d. 728 AH / 1328 CE), focusing on the spiritual ailments that afflict the human heart and their remedies through Quranic guidance Amrad al-Qulub wa Shifauh…+1.

Attribution and Context

The work is documented among the treatises (qawa'id) of Ibn Taymiyya by his biographer Ibn Abd al-Hadi in al-Uqud al-Durriyya, distinguishing it from Ibn Taymiyya's other spiritual writings such as al-Tuhfat al-Iraqiyya fi al-Amal al-Qalbiyya Durus li al-Shaykh Muhamm…. It addresses the internal states of the soul, contrasting spiritual health with the afflictions that corrupt moral and religious rectitude Amrad al-Qulub wa Shifauh…+1.

Themes and Contents

The treatise investigates the nature of cardiac illness and vitality, drawing continuous analogies between physical ailments and spiritual afflictions:

• Nature of Sickness and Health: Ibn Taymiyya defines sickness as a corruption that impairs sound perception and natural motion Amrad al-Qulub wa Shifauh…. While bodily sickness impairs physical senses or movement, heart disease undermines the heart's capacity for sound knowledge and righteous intent Amrad al-Qulub wa Shifauh…+1. Absolute ignorance causes the heart's death, whereas partial ignorance and moral weakness constitute its illness Amrad al-Qulub wa Shifauh….
• Categories of Diseases: The work divides heart afflictions into two primary types: diseases of doubts (shubuhāt), which corrupt knowledge and belief, and diseases of base desires (shahawāt), which corrupt intention and action Amrad al-Qulub wa Shifauh…. It also examines painful emotional states such as anger, rage (ghayz), sadness, and destructive inclinations such as envy (ḥasad) Amrad al-Qulub wa Shifauh…+1.
• Quranic Remedy and Purification: The treatise asserts that the Quran provides the ultimate cure for both forms of affliction Amrad al-Qulub wa Shifauh…. It supplies definitive proofs to dispel intellectual doubts, alongside exhortations, warnings, and wisdom to curb corrupt desires Amrad al-Qulub wa Shifauh…. Ibn Taymiyya discusses spiritual purification (tazkiya), explaining that it entails both the cultivation of righteousness and the purging of sinful blemishes, analogous to expelling noxious humors from the physical body Amrad al-Qulub wa Shifauh….
• Envy and its Treatment: In addressing envy, Ibn Taymiyya notes the saying that no body is entirely free of envy, but while the noble person conceals it, the base person manifests it Mawqi al-Islam Su'al wa J…. He advises anyone feeling envy to exercise piety (taqwa) and patience, disliking that inclination within oneself and restraining from acting upon it through unjust words or deeds Mawqi al-Islam Su'al wa J….

Publication and Reception

The treatise has been widely utilized in subsequent discussions of Islamic spiritual psychology, serving as an influence on the works of his student Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya Majallat Jamiat Umm al-Qu…. It was published as an independent tract, including a printing by al-Matba'a al-Salafiyya in Cairo in 1399 AH Bayt al-Qasid fi Sharh Ki…, and was compiled within the tenth volume of Majmu al-Fatawa edited by Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Qasim Majmu al-Fatawa.