We all know the heart is very important. If it stops functioning (such as during cardiac arrest), your body begins systematically shutting down.

Think of your body as a computer. Your brain is both the hard drive and the processor. It’s where everything is stored, all programs, files, memory. So it is very important.

The heart, however, is the power supply. And without the power supply, nothing else works. The system won’t even turn on. Your heart creates actual electoral pulses that run through your body, supplying energy to everything.

The thing is, if that power is turned off, everything doesn’t just shut down; it starts to die. Your organs need a constant supply of blood and oxygen. When the heart stops, the body is getting neither blood nor oxygen.

The heart is part of your body’s circulatory system. It’s made up of the atria, ventricles, valves, and various arteries and veins. The main function of your heart is to keep blood that’s full of oxygen circulating throughout your body.

The structure and functioning of the heart is too complicated to get into and especially not at this time of the morning, so let`s suffice by taking a look at some fun facts about the heart.

•  The average heart is the size of a fist in an adult.
•  An adult heart beats about 60 to 80 times per minute.
•  New-borns hearts beat faster than adult hearts, about 70 to 190 beats per minute.
•  Your heart will beat about 115,000 times each day.
•  Your heart pumps about 2,000 gallons of blood every day.
•  An electrical system controls the rhythm of your heart. It’s called the cardiac conduction system.
•  The heart can continue beating even when it’s disconnected from the body.
•  The first implantable pacemaker was used in 1958. Arne Larsson, who received the pacemaker, lived longer than the surgeon who implanted it. Larsson died at 86 of a disease that was unrelated to his heart.
•  The youngest person to receive heart surgery was only a minute old. She had a heart defect that many babies don’t survive. Her surgery was successful, but she’ll eventually need a heart transplant.
• The earliest known case of heart disease was identified in the remains of a 3,500-year-old Egyptian mummy.
•  The fairy fly, which is a kind of wasp, has the smallest heart of any living creature.
•  The American pygmy shrew is the smallest mammal, but it has the fastest heartbeat at 1,200 beats per minute.
•  Whales have the largest heart of any mammal.
•  The giraffe has a lopsided heart, with their left ventricle being thicker than the right. This is because the left side has to get blood up the giraffe’s long neck to reach their brain.
•  The heart weighs between about 10 to 12 ounces (280 to 340 grams) in men and 8 to 10 ounces (230 to 280 grams) in women.
•  A woman’s heart beats slightly faster than a man’s heart. (Not surprised right!)
•  The beating sound of your heart is caused by the valves of the heart opening and closing.
•  The heart pumps about 6 quarts (5.7 litres) of blood throughout the body.
•  The heart is located in the centre of the chest, usually pointing slightly left.
•  If you were to stretch out your blood vessel system, it would extend over 60,000 miles.
•  Heart cells stop dividing, which means heart cancer is extremely rare.
•  Laughing is good for your heart. It reduces stress and gives a boost to your immune system.

We explored very briefly the physical functions of the heart, but the heart is a place of great spirituality as well.

After all is the heart not the residence of our Imaan.
قَالَتِ ٱلْأَعْرَابُ ءَامَنَّا ۖ قُل لَّمْ تُؤْمِنُوا۟ وَلَـٰكِن قُولُوٓا۟ أَسْلَمْنَا وَلَمَّا يَدْخُلِ ٱلْإِيمَـٰنُ فِى قُلُوبِكُمْ
The Bedouin Arabs say: “We have believed.” Tell them: “You have not believed; rather say ‘We have become Muslims;’ for faith has not yet found its way into your hearts. [Al Hujurat: 14]

The Hadith also makes this clear:
عَنْ عَلْقَمَةَ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ “‏ لاَ يَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّةَ مَنْ كَانَ فِي قَلْبِهِ مِثْقَالُ حَبَّةٍ مِنْ خَرْدَلٍ مِنْ كِبْرٍ وَلاَ يَدْخُلُ النَّارَ مَنْ كَانَ فِي قَلْبِهِ مِثْقَالُ حَبَّةٍ مِنْ إِيمَانٍ ‏”
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Whoever has a mustard seed’s weight of pride (arrogance) in his heart, shall not be admitted into Paradise. And whoever has a mustard seed’s weight of faith in his heart, shall not be admitted into the Fire.” [Jami` at-Tirmidhi]

So the heart is not only the place of Imaan and all good qualities, but even the bad and evil qualities prevalent in us are stored in our hearts,

عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَمْرٍو، قَالَ قِيلَ لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ أَىُّ النَّاسِ أَفْضَلُ قَالَ ‏”‏ كُلُّ مَخْمُومِ الْقَلْبِ صَدُوقِ اللِّسَانِ ‏”‏ ‏.‏ قَالُوا صَدُوقُ اللِّسَانِ نَعْرِفُهُ فَمَا مَخْمُومُ الْقَلْبِ قَالَ ‏”‏ هُوَ التَّقِيُّ النَّقِيُّ لاَ إِثْمَ فِيهِ وَلاَ بَغْىَ وَلاَ غِلَّ وَلاَ حَسَدَ ‏”‏
It was narrated that ‘Abdullah bin ‘Amr (RA) said: “It was said to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): ‘Which of the people is best?’ He said: ‘Everyone who is pure of heart and sincere in speech.’ They said: ‘Sincere in speech, we know what this is, but what is pure of heart?’ He said: ‘It is (the heart) that is pious and pure, with no sin, injustice, rancour or envy in it.’” [Sunan Ibn Majah]

عن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال‏:‏ ‏ “‏يدخل الجنة أقوام أفئدتهم مثل أفئدة الطير‏”
Abu Hurairah (RA) reported: The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “A group of people (both men and women) whose hearts will be like the hearts of birds, will enter Jannah”. [Muslim].

It has been interpreted that such people are those who put their trust in Allah; another interpretation is that these people are tender- hearted.

So it is because of the heart being such a spiritual place that we are encouraged to strive more at beautifying the heart than the rest of the body.

“‏ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لاَ يَنْظُرُ إِلَى أَجْسَادِكُمْ وَلاَ إِلَى صُوَرِكُمْ وَلَكِنْ يَنْظُرُ إِلَى قُلُوبِكُمْ ‏”‏ ‏ وَأَشَارَ بِأَصَابِعِهِ إِلَى صَدْرِهِ ‏
“Verily Allah does not look to your bodies nor to your faces but He looks to your hearts,” and he pointed towards the heart with his fingers. [Sahih Muslim]

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏”‏ إِنَّ الْعَبْدَ إِذَا أَخْطَأَ خَطِيئَةً نُكِتَتْ فِي قَلْبِهِ نُكْتَةٌ سَوْدَاءُ فَإِذَا هُوَ نَزَعَ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ وَتَابَ سُقِلَ قَلْبُهُ وَإِنْ عَادَ زِيدَ فِيهَا حَتَّى تَعْلُوَ قَلْبَهُ وَهُوَ الرَّانُ الَّذِي ذَكَرَ اللَّهُ ‏:‏ ‏(‏ كلاَّ بَلْ رَانَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ ‏)‏ ‏”‏
Abu Hurairah (RA) narrated that: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Verily, when the slave (of Allah) commits a sin, a black spot appears on his heart. When he refrains from it, seeks forgiveness and repents, his heart is polished clean. But if he returns, it increases until it covers his entire heart. And that is the ‘Ran’ which Allah mentioned: ‘Nay, but on their hearts is the Ran which they used to earn.’” [Jami` at-Tirmidhi]

We also need to understand that our hearts are in the total control of Allah.
عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَمْرِو بْنِ الْعَاصِ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «يَقُول إِنَّ قُلُوبَ بَنِي آدَمَ كُلِّهَا بَيْنَ أُصْبُعَيْنِ من أَصَابِع الرَّحْمَن كقلب وَاحِد يصرفهُ حَيْثُ يَشَاءُ ثُمَّ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ الله مُصَرِّفَ الْقُلُوبِ صَرِّفْ قُلُوبَنَا عَلَى طَاعَتِكَ»
‘Abdallah b. ‘Amr reported Allah’s messenger ﷺ as saying, “The hearts of all men are between two of the Compassionate’s fingers as if they were one heart which He turns about as He wills.” Then God’s messenger said, “O Allah, who turnest the hearts, turn our hearts to Thy obedience!” [Muslim]

Furthermore, the Prophet of Allah ﷺ specifically praised certain people because of the softness of their hearts.
عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ ‏ “‏ أَتَاكُمْ أَهْلُ الْيَمَنِ، أَضْعَفُ قُلُوبًا وَأَرَقُّ أَفْئِدَةً، الْفِقْهُ يَمَانٍ، وَالْحِكْمَةُ يَمَانِيَةٌ ‏”
Narrated Abu Huraira (RA): The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “The people of Yemen have come to you, and they are more soft hearted and gentle hearted people. The capacity for understanding religion is Yemenite and Wisdom is Yemenite.” [Sahih al-Bukhari]

The Messenger of Allah also gave us the remedy to prevent our hearts becoming hard, when He ﷺ said:
عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ “‏ لاَ تُكْثِرُوا الْكَلاَمَ بِغَيْرِ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ فَإِنَّ كَثْرَةَ الْكَلاَمِ بِغَيْرِ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ قَسْوَةٌ لِلْقَلْبِ وَإِنَّ أَبْعَدَ النَّاسِ مِنَ اللَّهِ الْقَلْبُ الْقَاسِ
Ibn ‘Umar (RA) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Do not talk too much without remembrance of Allah. Indeed excessive talking without remembrance of Allah hardens the heart. And indeed the furthest of people from Allah is the harsh-hearted.” [Jami` at-Tirmidhi]

It is therefore imperative for us to constantly remember Allah, and one way of doing that is by being grateful for all the favours of Allah.