VIRTUES OF THE RIGHTEOUS
CHAPTER 21
SHAKING HANDS
Know that it was the tradition of the companions to shake hands when meeting and parting. The Prophet ﷺ said, "Shake hands with each other, this will avert hatred." The Messenger of Allah ﷺ also said, “A complete greeting is in taking the hand and shaking hands with the right hand.” The Prophet ﷺ also noted, “The first to embrace was the prophet Ibrahim and before that both sides made a bow as a sign of greeting. And Islam brought the handshake.” A hadith says, “If two Muslims meet and shake hands, having given praise to Allah and they ask Him for forgiveness, Allah will forgive the sins of both of them." The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “If two Muslims meet and one of them greets the other, then the most beloved of both to Allah will be the one who is more cordial to his friend. When they shake hands, one hundred mercies of Allah will come upon them: ninety on the one who first greeted and ten on the other.”
CHAPTER 22
HONOURING ONE’S PARENTS
Know, O Muslims, that the beloved Prophet ﷺ told us that the most righteous relationship is maintaining good relationships with those who love their parents. And disobeying parents and causing them distress is one of the most grievous sins. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "The gravest of sins is when a person reviles his parents." Companions asked, “O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, how can a person revile his parents?” The Prophet ﷺ replied, “He vilifies the father of another person and that person vilifies his father; he berates the mother of another and that person berates his mother."
Almighty Allah, has enjoined honouring one’s parents, saying in the Quran (meaning), “Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him, and do good to parents. If any one of them or both of them reach old age, do not say to them: “uff” (out of anger or contempt) and do not scold them but address them with respectful words. And submit yourself before them in humility out of compassion, and say, “My Lord, be merciful to them as they have brought me up in my childhood.” (Sura Al-Isra, ayat 23-24)
Almighty Allah ordered every adult and accountable person (mukallaf) to worship Him alone and connected this with the command to be kind towards his parents. How are these commands related? Just as the true reason for our birth is only Allah and He is the one who really raised us, so one’s parents are the visible cause of our birth and who visibly bring us up. Such attributes of Almighty Allah as creation, divinity and mercy towards man were first manifested through our parents. Therefore, the Prophet ﷺ said, "Honouring one’s parents is more valued than additional prayer, fasting, Hajj, Umrah and jihad in the cause of Allah." The obligation to have a good relationship towards parents is reinforced when they reach old age, because with age their need for this increases. Therefore, it is forbidden for us to express discontent and annoyance] with our parents even with the word "tsk!" And this is the least that people say to show their discontent. Ibn Abbas said, "If there were an even smaller word to express discontent than "tsk", the Almighty would have forbidden it."
CHAPTER 23
SADNESS
Know that sorrow is one of the qualities of the wayfarers on the Sufi path and Almighty Allah loves every sorrowful heart. Whenever God loves a servant, He places a mourner in his heart, and whenever He hates a servant, He places a flute in his heart.
The Prophet ﷺ was constantly in a state of sadness and endless reflection. If there is no sorrow in the heart, it becomes dilapidated, just as the house falls into ruin if there is no tenant. A person’s grief is indicated by his frequent sighing. Sorrow also restrains a person from eating in calmness. The majority of what the believer will find in his ledger of good deeds on the Day of Judgment will be sadness and sorrow. There is zakat due on everything, and the zakat of the mind is prolonged sorrow. Sufyan ibn `Uyayna said, "If there is one who is grief-stricken crying in a community, then God will pardon them all because of his tears."
CHAPTER 24
HUNGER
Hunger is among the qualities of this group of people (the Sufis) and one of the pillars of striving. The ethic concerning hunger is to limit one’s daily meal to the size of a cat's ear. Hunger is light and satiety is fire. This fire will not subside until it consumes its host. The key to this world is filling one’s stomach, and the key to the Hereafter is hunger.
In books it is mentioned that when Fatima brought a piece of bread to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, he asked her, “What is this, O Fatima?” She replied, “This is a flat bread that I baked. My soul did not find tranquility until I brought you a piece of it." The Prophet ﷺ said: "This is the first bit of food to enter your father’s mouth in three days."
When one of the sheikhs cried out from severe hunger, he was asked about the reason, to which he replied, “Do you not know that Allah’s intended purpose in my hunger is my weeping?”
A sheikh was asked about a person who ate once a day. He responded, "This is the meal of the truthful (siddiqun)." He then was asked about those who consume two meals a day. He replied, "This is the eating of believers." And when he was asked about one who eats three times a day, he replied, "Tell his family to build a feeding trough for him."
One of the students of Abu Abdullah bin Khafif said, “A teacher told me to bring him ten raisins every evening for our breaking of the fast. I took pity on him and one night served him fifteen. He then looked at me and asked, "Who told you to bring so many?" He ate only ten of them and left the rest untouched."
CHAPTER 25
STEADFASTNESS (ISTIQAMAH)
Steadfastness [1] entails leaving behind what is familiar, abandoning convention and habits and standing before God firm in the inner reality of truthfulness. O my children, be among those who believe in the secret and the evident and enter into the circle of steadfastness (istiqamah) - it is more sublime than divine beneficence (karamah).
Remember that the presence of istiqamah makes the fear of God perfect. Istiqamah is inducing one’s nafs to observe morals spoken of in the Quran and hadith. The Almighty said (meaning), “O Muhammad), Keep to forgiveness and enjoin kindness, and turn away from the ignorant.” (Sura Al-A`raf, ayah 199)
In relation to one’s contemporaries, be like a father to the younger and like a son to the older. Summon people to the path of your Lord through wisdom [2] and beautiful exhortations and engage in kind argumentation with them. Be of gentle disposition, addressing people at the level of their understanding and in a language they understand. Then there is hope that Allah will make you one of the trusted and reliable people and give you believers to help you. Do not forsake the circle of istiqamah and do not count upon Allah to shield you from being tested (makr), for this is the most concealed of the hidden.
Almighty Allah said (meaning), “Verily, those who have declared, ‘Our Lord is Allah’ and then remained steadfast, on them the angels will descend, saying, “Do not fear, and do not grieve; and be happy with the good news of the Jannah (Paradise) that you had been promised. (Sura Fussilat, ayah 30) By the words of the Almighty, “then remained steadfast” is meant that believers committed deeds sincerely for the sake of Allah and were engaged in the worship of the Creator in accordance with the requirements of the Sharia. Abu Bakr al-Siddiq commented that this means that they do not associate anyone or anything with God. Umar believed that the meaning of this statement is that they did not swindle others like foxes.
The Prophet ﷺ said, “Be steadfast even though you will never be able to do so completely. [3] Know that the best part of your religion is prayer and only the true believer is capable of preserving his ritual purity.”
Also know that steadfastness (istiqamah) is a degree that makes one’s affairs sound and complete. Only great men can maintain this level. We give a story transmitted from one of the sheikhs in confirmation. He dreamed of the Prophet ﷺ, whom he asked, “O Messenger of Allah ﷺ, it is reported that you said, ‘When the Sura Hud was sent down, I turned grey-headed.’ What made your hair turn grey: parables about the prophets or stories about the destruction of nations?” He replied, ‘Not they but the words of the Almighty (meaning), ‘So be steadfast as you have been commanded.’” (Sura Hud, ayah 112)
_______________________________________
[1] Constant and rigorous adherence to the right path.
[2] Implement that which you teach others by yourself or with the help of the Koran.
[3] Or: You won’t be able to stay on the right path due to your strength and abilities.
