Learning to Talk as a Muslim (Part 2)

Peace, one and all…

 

As part of an ongoing series of posts (see below for links), I’m collecting material on Islamic understandings of ethical communication.  I posted a collection of ahadith (Prophetic Traditions) yesterday and as I’ve found some more useful examples, I thought iI’d post them too.  May we all read them, reflect upon our own shortcomings, and put them into practice in our lives.

In this first hadith, the Prophet’s general character (alaihi al-salatu wa al-salam) is referred to and is used as a benchmark for our own conduct:

“Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As said: ‘The Messenger of Allah (alaihi al-salatu wa al-salam) was neither obscene nor indecent. He used to say, ‘The best of you are those are the best in character’” (Bukhari, Muslim)

In our second hadith, related on the authority of Abu al-Darda’, the Prophet (alaihi al-salatu wa al-salam) said:

‘There will be nothing heavier in the balance of the believer on the Day of Rising than good character.  Allah hates foul language’ (Tirmidhi)

Good character in dealing with others will count greatly in the overall judgement of a Muslim’s life, whilst to say that God hates foul language is to underline its inappropriateness in Muslim dialogue.  In our third hadith, Abu Hurayrah relates the following incident:

‘The Messenger of God (alaihi al-salatu wa al-salam) was asked about the things most likely to bring people into the Garden. He said, ‘Taqwa of Allah and good character’.  He was asked about the things most likely to bring people into the Fire. He said, ‘The mouth and the genitals’ (Tirmidhi).

It is hard to overestimate the significance of good character.  Good character is connected with Taqwa of Allah (that is, with the fear of God, or God-consciousness) whilst bad character is connected to sexual misconduct (zina).  Umm al-Mu’mineen Aisha relates the following statement of the Prophet (alaihi al-salatu wa al-salam):

‘By his good character, a believer can reach the same rank as someone who fasts and prays at night’ (Abu Dawud).

Abu Umamah al-Bahili reports that the Prophet (alaihi al-salatu wa al-salam) said:

‘I guarantee a house on the outskirts of the Garden to anyone who abstains from arguing, even when he is in the right,and a house in the middle of the Garden for anyone who abandons lying, even when he jests, and a house at the summit of the Garden for anyone who has good character’ (Abu Dawud).

Jabir relates this from God’s Messenger (alaihi al-salatu wa al-salam):

‘Those I love most and those sitting nearest to me on the Day of Rising will be those of you with the best character. Those most hateful to me and the furthest of you from me on the Day of Rising will be the pompous, the braggarts and the arrogant’.  They said, ‘Messenger of Allah, we know the pompous and the braggarts, but who are the arrogant?’  He said, ‘The proud’ (Tirmidhi)

Pride, then, lies at the root of bad character.  The following hadith of Muhammad al-Mustafa (alaihi al-salatu wa al-salam) is particularly interesting in this regard.  Abu Hurayrah reports that God’s Rasul (alaihi al-salatu wa al-salam) said:

‘Sadaqah does not decrease property; Allah only increases a slave in might by forgiveness; and no one is humble for the sake of Allah without Allah elevating him’ (Muslim).

And finally, the following hadith (related by Ibn Mas’ud) offers advice on what our basic attitude should be.  The Prophet (alaihi al-salatu wa al-salam) said:

‘Shall I inform you about the one for whom the fire is forbidden? It is the one who draws near to the people, is easy going and gentle’ (Tirmidhi).

May we all become like this (and myself most of all).

Wa akhiru da’wana an il hamdu lillahi rabbi alameen

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Update: following a prompt by the ever-worthy SF (if I had a hat I’d be tipping it now, may God reward you), I’ve added links to the previous posts in this series.  Also, I’ve added this to my categories and all subsequent posts on this subject will be placed there. 

Update 2: I again forgot to mention (what’s wrong with me today?) that all of these ahadith were taken from Tahdhib al-Akhlaq, compiled by Sayyed Abdul Hayy al-Hasani and published by the UK Islamic Academy.

Previous posts in this series:

1. Learning to Talk
2. Learning to Talk: Some Resources
3. Learning to Talk as a Muslim: More Resources