VIRTUES OF THE RIGHTEOUS
CHAPTER 26
LOVE OF COURTESY
Know, O Muslims, that one who has lived peaceably, has lived the life of a martyr (shahid). Because maintaining peaceful relations with others is a moral quality of prophets and the truthful ones (siddiqun). For one who is gentle, polite and at ease in relations with others, Allah makes Hell forbidden. Thus, the Prophet ﷺ was a gentle person to the utmost degree. Whenever his companions spoke of the worldly life, he discussed worldly life with them and when they spoke of the eternal life, he also spoke about Hereafter and when they talked about food, the Prophet ﷺ talked about food too.
Umar ibn al-Khattab said, “Today you find yourselves (vacillating) between being strict and being severe. The Prophet ﷺ was always at ease and compassionate with his servants, servants and all his companions.»
Almighty Allah said (meaning), “And He is Ever Most Merciful to the believers.” (Sura Al-Ahzab, ayah 43) Another ayah says (meaning), “Surely, there has come to you, from your midst, a Messenger who feels it very hard on him if you face suffering, who is very anxious for your welfare, and for believers is very kind and very merciful.” (Sura At-Tawbah, ayah 128) This means that the Messenger who came to you is a man like you. Allah elevated him for his distinction above others and therefore put on him a robe of clemency and appointed him over you to be sympathetic and compassionate to you. Most of all, he is concerned that you believe.
The meaning of the above can also be expressed as follows: O Arabs, a Messenger has come to you, who like you, is an Arab and speaks in your own language. For you see the commonality of language brings people closer to mutual friendship and sympathy, alleviates disagreement and makes it possible to quickly understand one another’s contentions. Guidance on the right path is impossible without knowledge of the language of the person whom you are teaching.
The Prophet ﷺ is also the [most valued substance of that which Almighty Allah has created.
Abu Huraira related that the Prophet ﷺ asked the angel Jabrail, «O Jabrail, how old are you?» He replied, “O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, I do not know how old I am but in the fourth heaven there is a star that rises once every seventy thousand years. I have seen this star seventy-two thousand times.” Then the Prophet ﷺ said, “O Jabrail, I swear by the greatness of my Lord, this star is I.”
Having created the prophet Adam , the Almighty placed the light (nur) of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ on his back and nur shone on Adam’s forehead. The noble descent and origin of the Prophet ﷺ are the best among all Allah’s creations. And his ﷺ pure soul is the most exalted among pure souls. His ﷺ tribe is the most worthy of all tribes. His ﷺ language is the best of all languages. The Book sent down to him ﷺ is the best of all the Divine Scriptures. His ﷺ companions and family are the best of companions and households. The time of his ﷺ birth is the best of times. And his ﷺ radiant burial chamber of ar-Rawdah is the most highly esteemed place on earth. Water that flowed from his ﷺ noble fingers was the best of all waters. Allah’s words “who feels it very hard on him if you face a hardship, who is very anxious for your welfare” mean that the Prophet ﷺ is ardent about your faith and the improvement of your conditions. And the words «and for the believers he is very kind and very merciful» mean that his ﷺ compassion and mercy are directed only to believers. That is why it was said: politeness in all matters is like musk among all other perfumes.
CHAPTER 27
JUSTICE
Know that justice is not following one’s nafs in what it desires.
The Prophet ﷺ said, “Establishing justice for an hour is better than worshipping for sixty years.” When the prophet Musa prayed for the Almighty to destroy the pharaoh, Allah sent him down the revelation, «O Musa, his unbelief does not harm Me and for My servants there is benefit from his just order.» But when the pharaoh began to oppress people and combined injustice with his disbelief, Allah destroyed him.
CHAPTER 28
LOVE AND ABHORRENCE FOR THE SAKE OF ALLAH
Know, O Muslims, that whoever loves worldly life will never be relieved of the hatred of certain people. The Prophet ﷺ explained this by associating detachment from the worldly with the love of people. He said, «Renounce that which is in others’ hands and they will love you.» The more a person loves the worldly, the more enemies he has.
When you abhor for the sake of Allah, this abhorrence should be directed only at qualities and attributes - and not at the essence of creatures of Allah. This is because the essence created by Allah is His own very creation and does not change.
Reflect upon the words of the Prophet ﷺ about garlic, «This is a plant whose smell I do not like.» Note that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not say that he abhors garlic, rather he said that he did not like its smell.
O Muslims, I will teach you the criteria by which you can determine whether your objection towards certain people arises for the sake of Allah or for the sake of the whims of your own nafs. Compare the deeds of the person towards whom you have misgivings with the Quran and Sunna. If his deeds are praised in them, love him. But if they are condemned in them, then show your dissatisfaction. This evaluation should be followed so that it does not turn out to be that you either love or abhor a person because of the whims of your nafs. A vow was taken from us that we would not subject any Muslim to abhorrence for the sake of the whims of our nafs. But as for the disobedient and the reprobate who openly surrender to sin, we are obliged to abhor them for Almighty Allah’s sake. But this does not apply to having a bad opinion of anything. [1]
CHAPTER 29
CONTENTMENT
Know that contentment is to abandon desire for what is lost, and satisfaction of the nafs with the sustenance that has been apportioned to it. Whoever is contented is rich, even though he be hungry. The intelligent one is he who arranges the concerns of the world with contentment and at a slow pace, the concerns of the afterlife with greed and haste and the concerns of religion with knowledge and striving.
Contentment with what one has requires that a person eats only once a day. One who eats twice a day is already named as not being content with little.
Almighty Allah assigned five attributes to five practices: greatness - to obedience to Allah; debasement - to disobedience to Allah; reverence - to night vigil in worship; wisdom - to an empty stomach; wealth - to contentment with what one has. Al-Kattani said, “Whoever sells greed for contentment gains glory and valor.»
One of the pious recounted, “When I was sitting next to Junaid al-Baghdadi during the season of the pilgrimage, someone came up with five hundred dinars and, putting them in front of the scholar, said, “Distribute these amongst the muridin.” Junaid then asked, «Do you still have any more dinars?» He replied, «Yes, I have many more.» The scholar asked, «And do you wish for more than you possess?» The man answered affirmatively. Then Junaid said, «Take your dinars, you need them more than we do» and did not accept the money from him.
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[1] We hate a person’s sinfulness but not the person himself. We must love each person as an individual being.
