" 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.
Hadith Text & Reference
"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.
Source: The Book of Virtue, Enjoining Good Manners, and Joining of the Ties of Kinship, Sahih Muslim, Hadith: Sahih Muslim 2564 b
Core Meaning & Significance
This profound hadith establishes that Allah's judgment is based not on external appearances, wealth, or social standing, but on the spiritual and moral condition of the heart (qalb). The Prophet's gesture emphasizes that the true self, the seat of intention (niyyah), faith (iman), and character (akhlaq), resides within.
It liberates the believer from the anxiety of worldly judgments and redirects spiritual focus inward, to the cultivation of a sound heart (qalbun salim) free from malice, hypocrisy, and spiritual diseases.
Commentary on the "Heart" (Qalb)
In Islamic scholarship, the "heart" is not merely the physical organ but the spiritual center of a human being. It is the locus of intellect, understanding, faith, and moral consciousness. A sound heart is one filled with God-consciousness (taqwa), sincerity (ikhlas), love for Allah and His Messenger, and compassion for His creation.
Conversely, a diseased or hardened heart is one filled with envy, pride, hatred, and heedlessness. This hadith makes the purification of the heart (tazkiyat al-qalb) the primary spiritual objective of a Muslim's life.
Scholarly Elucidation
Imam An-Nawawi, in his commentary on Sahih Muslim, explains that this hadith highlights the insignificance of physical forms and outward beauty in the divine scale. What is paramount is the inner reality—the piety, purity, and righteous intentions contained within the heart.
Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali states that this teaching corrects a fundamental human error: valuing the ephemeral container over the eternal content. The ultimate success with Allah is determined by the state of one's heart at the moment of death.
Practical Implications for the Believer
This teaching demands constant self-vigilance (muraqabah). The believer must regularly assess their intentions, purge their heart of spiritual maladies, and adorn it with virtuous qualities.
It fosters humility, as one cannot boast of lineage or appearance, and promotes compassion, as one judges others by their inner piety, which is known only to Allah, encouraging us to assume the best about our fellow believers.