Diseased hearts

As with so many of the other key concepts, the very narrative of the Qur'an reflects this emphasis on the connection between one's heart and faith in God. After the famed opening chapter of the Qur'an (the Fatiha), the second chapter of the Qur'an, the longest chapter in the whole book, starts out by talking about hearts - diseased hearts. Many who are reading through the Qur'an for the first time are put off by this discussion of diseased, troubled, and hypocritical hearts in the beginning pages of the second chapter. These pages describe the hearts of the people who, according to the Qur'an, claim that they have faith in God and the Last Day but in reality have not had their hearts illuminated by faith. These is a disease in their hearts, and they think that are cheating God - whereas in reality they are only cheating their own souls. These are stern and in some ways frightening words, yet the Qur'an has to start there because that is the starting place for most of humanity. We can start a journey only from where we are. We have to know that we are broken before we can be healed.

-Memories of Muhammad: Why the Prophet Matters by Omid Safi, pg. 69