blessings of Allâh be upon the Messenger, his household and
companions.
O you who believe! Fear Allâh as He should be feared and work towards
your salvation tomorrow on,
"The Day whereon neither wealth nor sons will avail, except him who
brings to Allâh a clean heart." (Ash-Shu'arâ 26:88-89)
And
"The Day when man shall remember what he strove for." (An-Nâzi'ât 79:35)
Fellow Muslims! It is part of a Muslim's magnanimity, nobility and
good manners to always seek for and surrender to the truth out of
desire for the pleasure of Allâh and out of fear of falling into the
abyss of arrogance. The Messenger of Allâh said,
"Whoever has the weight of mustard seed of pride inhis heart will not
enter Paradise."
A man said,
"[What about] a person who likes his clothes to be fine and his shoes
to be fine."
The Prophet responded,
"Verily, Allâh is beautiful and He loves beauty. Pride is disregard
for the truth and contempt for people." (Al-Bukhârî and Muslim)
Disregard for the truth is to reject it. And contempt for people is to
scorn themand show them all forms of arrogance either through words or
deeds.
Rejecting the truth also implies denying it, hating it and turning
away from it, as former people who were punished had done. The
punishment of Allâh came to them in their homes and what happened to
them becamea lesson for others. Allâh says,
"And never an Ayah (sign) comes to them from the Ayât (proofs,
evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of their Lord,
but that they have been turning away from it. Indeed, they rejected
the truth (the Qur'ân andMuhammad (peace be upon him)) when it came to
them, but there will come to them the news of that (the torment) which
they used to mock at. Have they not seen how manya generation before
them We have destroyedwhom We had established on the earth such as We
have not established you? And Wepoured out on them rain from the sky
in abundance, and made the rivers flow under them. Yet We destroyed
them for their sins, and created after them other generations."
(Al-An'âm 6:4-6)
Allâh also says,
"Indeed We have brought the truth (Muhammad (peace be upon him) with
the Qur'ân), to you, but mostof you have a hatred for the truth."
(Az-Zukhruf 43:78)
As for those who have faith and fear Allâh, their most prominent
characteristic is acceptanceof the truth, submitting to it and calling
others unto it. That is why they are thewisest of all people and the
most knowledgeable of the causes of happiness,victory and success.
Wisdom is the lost property of a believer; he takes hold of it
wherever he finds it. Refraining fromrejecting the truth is safetyfrom
being in the same group with the erroneous and deniers of the signs of
Allâh. It is also the safety from sharing in the consequences of their
rejection of the truth as a result of their arrogance inthe land.
You will notice that those who fear Allâh have habituated themselves
on accepting the truth irrespective of the person from whom the truth
comes. Hence you find them accepting the truth from children, ignorant
and enemies. This is the opinion of eminent scholars like Qâdî 'Iyâd
andothers.
Another noble quality of those who fear Allâh is that when anyone of
themdebated with someone, hesupplicated secretly for his opponent to
Allâh to strengthen his opponent, make him reach at the truth and let
the truth come from him. An example of this is Imâm Ash-Shâfi'î who
used to say,
"Whenever I argued with someone, I always wished that Allâh show the
truth through him."
Brethren in faith! The God-fearing Muslim treats his brother as gently
as he can. He lowers his voice when he speaks with him, he guards his
tongue and hands from attacking his honour and never harms him with
any form. He always bears in mind the saying of the Messenger ofAllâh
that goes thus,
"A Muslim should neither be slanderer nor a curser, nor an immodest nor foul."
And his saying,
"A Muslim is someone from whose hand and tongue the Muslims are safe."
(Al-Bukhârî and Muslim)
He also abstains from useless argument and he fears the malice and
hatred that quarrelling leads to. In this regard he follows the
Prophet's admonition that goes thus,
"I guarantee a house in the surroundings of Paradise for a man who
avoids quarrelling even if he were in the right." (Abû Dâwûd)
And his saying,
"No nation went astray after they had been on guidance except that
they were afflicted with quarrelling and deprived of (fruitful)
actions." (Ahmad and At-Tirmidhî)
In short, sincerity of purpose and an intention to arrive at the truth
is thegoal. The Muslim must beware of promoting his personal ego and
showing that he is better than other. He should also treat all people
with compassion and wish them well.
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