What does it mean to have a pure heart?

A pure heart is one that has returned to the good nature with which God created human beings. It becomes fully pure when the inner inclination to goodness meets the truth that comes from God.

Purity of heart does not belong to any one religion. It is the aim of almost every path that seeks to make people better, even those that do not speak of God. Religions differ less in the goal than in how it is to be reached.

Islam teaches that God created human beings with a good basic nature. If people were not good at the core, they could never become good. To have a pure heart therefore means to return to this original nature. This happens when a person takes on the attributes of God as far as humanly possible, such as mercy, truthfulness and justice.

One can also look for goodness only within oneself. But there one can be mistaken. Our own wishes, our culture and the spirit of the age all colour what we take to be the truth. This is why inner truth needs an outer truth against which it can be tested.

An example makes this clear. A healthy eye sees nothing when there is no light. A healthy ear hears nothing when there is no sound. Our senses are well made, but they need something outside that corresponds to them. The heart is the same. It may be innocent and on the way to purity. It becomes fully pure only when its good nature meets the light that comes from God.

The hadith above shows how close this teaching is to everyday life. A pure heart feels at peace with what is good and uneasy with what is wrong. Whoever listens to that voice and sharpens it in the light of God will find his heart growing ever purer.