Salamat al-Sadr
- Author died
- 1440 AH
- Editions
- Safir Press
Salamat al-Sadr (Soundness of the Breast) is a treatise on Islamic ethics and spiritual purification by the Saudi scholar Saeed bin Ali bin Wahf al-Qahtani (d. 1440 AH / 2018 CE), examining the virtue of maintaining a pure heart free of malice and the religious dangers of rancor, envy, and social discord in light of the Quran and the Prophetic Sunnah.
Overview and Composition
The full title of the work is Salamat al-Sadr wa Khatar al-Hiqd, wa-l-Hasad, wa-l-Tabaghud, wa-l-Shahna', wa-l-Hajr, wa-l-Qati'ah: Mafhum, wa Asbab, wa Adab, wa Ahkam, wa 'Ilaj fi Daw' al-Kitab wa-l-Sunnah (Soundness of the Breast and the Danger of Rancor, Envy, Mutual Hatred, Malice, Desertion, and Severing Ties: Concept, Causes, Etiquette, Rulings, and Remedy in Light of the Book and the Sunnah). Al-Qahtani completed the treatise in Riyadh on the afternoon of Thursday, 2 Jumada al-Ula 1426 AH. The treatise was composed to clarify the definitions and prohibitions of social estrangement (hajr), malice (shahna'), and severing kin ties (qati'ah), to warn against the triggers of enmity, and to detail the practical and spiritual means for achieving a sound and clean heart.
Structure and Contents
The work is organized into an introduction followed by four main thematic sections:
Definitions
The author begins by defining core terms in both Arabic linguistics and Islamic jurisprudence:
- Desertion (hajr): Linguistically signifying abandonment or cutting off; technically defined as forsaking a relative, ceasing contact, and withholding benevolence.
- Severing Ties (qati'ah): Cutting off relations with kin, separating from them, and denying them kindness.
- Malice (shahna'): Linguistic hostility and rancor; technically defined as the heart becoming filled with hostility, hatred, and resentment.
Dangers and Legal Rulings
This section details scriptural prohibitions against interpersonal rancor and spiritual ailments, citing foundational prophetic traditions. Al-Qahtani analyses the prohibition of envy (hasad), classifying it into blameworthy envy (resenting another's blessing and wishing for its removal) and commendable emulation (ghibtah), drawing upon the categories outlined by Ibn al-Qayyim. He enumerates the harms of envy, remedies for the envier, and ten means to ward off the envier's evil.
The author also examines rulings on desertion (hajr), emphasizing the general prohibition against boycotting a fellow Muslim for more than three days without a legitimate religious reason. He reviews juridical positions regarding whether initiating the greeting of peace (salam) lifts the sin of desertion, noting the views associated with al-Shafi'i, Malik ibn Anas, and Ahmad ibn Hanbal. He warns against prolonged estrangement, noting narrations stating that actions are withheld from divine forgiveness on Mondays and Thursdays when two disputants harbor mutual malice. Drawing on Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim, he distinguishes blameworthy personal boycott from legitimate disciplinary desertion (al-hajr al-mashru'), which is applied conditionally when its religious benefit outweighs its harms.
Causes of Enmity
The third section outlines primary causes of animosity and division among Muslims that must be avoided, including:
- Satan's incitement of discord (tahreesh al-Shaytan).
- Satan deploying his troops to cause strife and break marriages.
- The whisperings of the personal demonic companion (qarin).
- Calumny (namimah), tale-bearing, and two-faced behavior.
Means of Cultivating Soundness of Heart
The final section presents twenty practical and spiritual means to eliminate malice and foster love and harmony, including:
- Repenting from sins and repelling evil with good.
- Sound faith, beneficial knowledge, constant remembrance of Allah (dhikr), and reliance on Him.
- Restraining excess speech, socializing, eating, and sleeping.
- Spreading the greeting of peace (ifsah al-salam), exchanging gifts, and giving charity—particularly to estranged kin.
- Suppressing anger (kazm al-ghayz) and pardoning others, illustrated through prophetic models of forgiveness, Joseph's pardon of his brothers, and Abu Bakr al-Siddiq's pardon of Mistah.
- Supplications for removing heart malice (sakhimat al-qalb) and fasting the three white days of each month alongside Ramadan to dispel chest grievances (wahar al-sadr).
- Aspiring to the state of the "pure-hearted" (makhmum al-qalb), referencing the mutual love between the Muhajirun and the Ansar and the prophetic report describing a Companion guaranteed Paradise due to holding no grudge or envy against any Muslim.
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