Beauty of Character Indeed a time has long passed upon the Ummah of Islām when people used to enter the religion of Allāh (i.e. Islām) in crowds and groups on the part of what they saw of the people of the religion (i.e. Muslims) from the completeness of their morals, the beauty of their social graces, and the goodness of their social interaction in all aspects. I read a statement of the great scholar, ‘Abdul ‘Azeez Ibn Baaz, may Allāh have mercy upon him and give him a place in paradise, in which he swore by Allāh and said: The Muslims today, rather the entire world, are in more intense need of a clarification of Allāh’s religion (i.e. Islām), a demonstration of its good qualities, and an explanation of its reality. I swear by Allāh, if the people and the world truly knew its reality today, indeed they would have entered it in multitudes, just like they entered it in multitudes after Allāh had granted victory to His Prophet salAllāhu ‘alayhi wasallam over Makkah. 1 By Allāh he proved to be true and he was truthful. I met a man from India whom more than a thousand Hindus accepted Islām by his efforts. All of them accepted Islām one at a time; he did not give da’wah to two people together. His da’wah only pertained to a single person. His method in giving da’wah was that he had excellent knowledge of the religion’s good qualities, good manners, and its perfection. Then indeed whenever he encountered one of the Hindus – and in most cases he used to select whomever he noticed had anxiety, grief, and/or huzn (i.e. sorrow about what passed him by) or he noticed that he is in a specific difficulty sitting by himself. He would sit with him and ask him about his circumstance and his problem. There he would mention to him some of the beauties of the religion. And he said to me: For many of them, it would only take fifteen minutes, or half an hour at the most. I would enumerate to him some good qualities of this religion (i.e. Islām), afterwards he would ask me, “How do I enter this religion? And how can I become a Muslim? So I demonstrated Islam to him (i.e. the two testimonies) and he embraced Islām. Indeed we – O nation of Islām, nation of Muhammad salAllāhu ‘alayhi wasallam are in great need of firstly knowing the good qualities of our religion, drinking from its sweet spring and its pure spring well. We need to seek its shade and quench our thirst from its fresh pure water. Therefore, we should follow Islām’s moral examples. We should devote our attention to the good character which the Lord of all that exists has called us to. We should be conscious that these good characteristics are a command that the creator of this universe and the Lord of all that exists, the All-Wise, the All-Knowing subhanahu wa ta’ala of his creation has called us to. Therefore, we should carry out his command, comply with it, submit and obey, hoping by that for our Lord’s reward and his generous promises to those who fulfill what Allāh commanded us to do from the rights and obligations. It is a must that you pay attention to this matter; that your carrying out these rights and your performance of them is only an act of obedience to Allāh, seeking Allāh’s reward and waiting for His promises in this life as well as the hereafter, from His rewards which are given in the dunya and His subhanahu wa ta’ala blessings which are given in the Hereafter. Allāh says: (Saying): “We feed you seeking Allāh’s Countenance only. We wish for no reward, nor thanks from you.” [Al-Insan 76:9] So take caution not to include in acts of kindness that you do not give anything unless you are being compensated for it. If someone keeps ties with you, then you keep ties with them, and if they sever them, you do likewise (i.e. you also keep ties with them). One of the companions said to the Prophet salAllāhu ‘alayhi wasallam: O Messenger of Allāh, indeed I have relatives with whom I try to keep in touch with, but they cut me off; I treat them well, but they abuse me; I am patient and kind towards them but they behave foolishly towards me. So the Messenger salAllāhu ‘alayhi wasallam didn’t instruct him to sever his relationship with them although they would do so with him. He salAllāhu alayhi wa sallam only instructed him to keep the ties of kinship even though they may break them and he reminded him of the reward of Allāh and His magnificent favors. Then he said, If you are as you say, then it is as if you are putting medicinal powder on their faces. Allāh will continue to support you as long as you continue to do that. 2 Footnotes: 1. Shaykh Ibn Baaz’s Collection of Fatawa | Volume 2 | Page 338. 2. Muslim reported it, #6640 from the hadeeth of Abee Huayrah, may Allāh be pleased with him. Transcribed from: The Rights of Elders in Islam | Shaykh ‘Abdur-Razzaaq bin ‘Abdil-Muhsin Al-’Abbad Al-Badr
Posted on: Thu, 24 Oct 2013 01:00:22 +0000
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