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Vain desire (hawa)

الهوى

Hawa in the forty-first hadith of the Forty is the soul's inclination that must be made subject to revelation: 'none of you believes until his desire is brought to follow what I have brought' — following vain desire is the opposite of following the Messenger, and a condition of faith is that the soul's bent be made a follower of the Law, not followed; from it grow the corruption of opinion ruling alone and the preferring of appetite over proof (Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam p. 824).

Depth

At a glance

Era: The Prophetic Era
Region: Global / Diaspora
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Spirituality and Sufism

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Based on: Arba'un 41 — none believes until his desire follows what I brought
Part of: Iman (faith)

People and things also explored

Iman (faith)· Arba'un 41 — none believes until his desire follows what I brought· Prophetic adab (proper conduct)· Love for one's brother· Ihsan (excellence in worship)· Istiqama (steadfast uprightness)· Hypocrisy (nifaq)· Trust in God (tawakkul)

Sources

Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam — Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali

Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Vain desire (hawa)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/hawa/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-13.

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Ideas

Beliefs, concepts, sciences and schools, explained in plain words. Related

Iman (faith)

Belief in the articles of the creed as the Prophet set them out in the hadith of Jibril: belief in God, His angels, His books, meeting Him, His messengers and the resurrection; al-Bukhari's chapter heading on the branches of iman states that it is speech and action, which increases and decreases.