Dr. Iyad Qanibi

An Immediate Reward We Forget

We often mention that those who fall into temptations and desires are overcome by them. But this is only half the truth! The other half, which is no less important: those who resist them earn an immediate reward: the white spot!

When you are exposed to temptation, there are two outcomes, no third: either a white spot or a black spot. There is no third possibility, neither for you nor against you!

Here is the immediate reward when you resist desire and temptation. You do not only restrain yourself for the reward of the Hereafter, nor only because if you leave something, Allah will replace it with something better later. But there is an immediate white spot, which qualifies you to become one of the owners of the white hearts that distinguish right from wrong in this confusing world, those who feel the pleasure of attachment to Allah, those in whom Allah pours His mercy, longing for Him, love for Him, love for His religion, His Book, His Messenger peace be upon him, and love for the Muslims in Him, glory be to Him.

When you see that Allah exposes you to temptations and tests you with them, know that He wants you for a honor in religion that requires a white heart. This does not mean, of course, that we hover around desires and plunge into them, but that we endure if we are confronted.

On the other hand, remember that accepting temptation and enjoying it has an immediate punishment: a black spot that deprives you of the noble feelings mentioned, and replaces them with distraction and confusion in the temptations of desires and doubts.

These meanings are explained in a hadith narrated by Imam Muslim that the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him said:

• (Temptations are presented to the hearts like the mat, strand by strand, i.e., intertwined, many one after the other like the intertwining of the mat.
• (So any heart that drinks it, a black spot is placed in it) i.e., the heart that inclines to it and accepts it receives a black spot.
• (And any heart that rejects it, a white spot is placed in it) the one who resists it and endures it receives a white spot.
• (Until they become two hearts, one white like Safa, so no temptation harms it as long as the heavens and the earth endure) the heart of the one who endures temptations becomes white little by little, as white as Mount Safa, so he becomes immune to the temptations that will be presented to him later, even if they are greater than the first.
• (And the other is black, dark like the inverted jug) black in color like the overturned jug that no matter how much water you pour on it, it will not enter it. Similarly, this one is not benefited by the verses, hadiths, lessons, and sermons.
• (He does not recognize good nor denounce evil except what he drinks from his desires) his motive in life and his measure in judging things becomes desire alone.

O Allah, make us among the people of the white hearts.