Faith is such a power thatit keeps men away from low attributes and
mean acts, and encourages himto achieve high attributes and clean
morals. That is why whenever Allah called hisslaves towards virtue or
whenever He wanted them to hate evil, He declared it as an
essentialrequirement of the Faith in their hearts. For example when
He, in Surah Tauba, commands men to adopt righteousness and to speak
truth, He addressesthem as ''0 you who havefaith" (or "O you who
believe"): "0 you, who have faith ! Fear Allah and be with the
truthful people."
(Tauba: 119)
Allah's Messenger has nicely explained it that when faith is firm and
belief is strong, then strong and lasting moral will be developed, and
if the moral character is low then faith will accordingly be weak.
A man, who is immodest and ill-mannered and who adopts bad habits
without caring for others, is like the person about whom the holy
Prophet has said:
"Modesty and faith are twins. One who gives up one has to lose the other too."
Once the Prophet passed by an Ansari who was scolding his brother
about his immodesty. TheProphet advised him to let him go as modesty
was a branch of faith.
A man who harasses his neighbor and makes him suffer any kind of
damage is called cruel and stone hearted by the religion. In this
connection the decision of the Prophet is:
"By God, he cannot be a Momin ;by God, he cannot be a Momin; by God,
he cannot be a Momin. He was asked: 'who"? He answered: 'He from whose
misdeeds hisneighbor is not safe."
--(Bukhari)
The holy Prophet advises his companions to keep away from the talk
that istrash, the acts that are wicked, and the deeds that are
senseless. He says:
"A person who believes in Allah and the Hereaftershould speak about
goodthings or else should keep quiet."
--(Bukhari)
In this way through the truth of faith and by means of its perfection
noble qualities are nurtured and developed and they are guarded and
kept secure till they bear fruits.
Rows disrupted, heartssad, prayers tasteless
However, you will also find such people, who will be calling
themselvesMuslims, yet they will be lazy in offering compulsory
prayers, and will be posing in the public as if they are very keen on
establishing these prayers. But they will not lag behind at thesame
time in acting in such a way that will be contrary to the demands of
the noble character and perfect faith. Such people have been warned by
the holy Prophet and the Ummah has been asked to be careful of them.
A man who commits the mistake of performing the various forms of
worship without understanding their significance can only be aman who
had not understood the spirit of the worshiper has been unable to rise
to that standard.
Many times even a child can copy the movements of salat and is able to
repeat what is recited during the prayer. Sometimes an actor also
offers prayer with all humility and concentration, and performs all
the necessary rites.
But these kinds of movements do not benefit belief or meet thepurpose.
There is only one way of offering prayers in the best manner or
performing other forms of worship that will never bring out wrong
results, and that is: high moral character. Any person who has this
attribute in him, his prayer is useful. But one who is deprived of
this attribute, his worshiping is useless.
It is narrated by Imam Ahmed: "One person asked the Prophet: 'O
Messenger of Allah ! a certain woman is very famous for her prayers,
fasting and many charities, but she talks rudely with her neighbors.
Tell me, what will be her fate ?' He replied that she would go to
Hell. Then that person asked: "O Messenger of Allah! Another woman
does notdo much by way of prayers and fasting ; gives pieces of cheese
in charity and does not harm her neighbors. He replied: 'She is of the
Paradise.' "
This reply gives an idea of the high value attached to good character.
It also shows that charity is a collectiveprayer whose benefit reaches
the society. For this reason there is no room for any reduction in
them. As salat and fasting are apparently individual forms of worship,
a little relaxation--to a very littleextent--is allowed in not making
very elaborate arrangements about them.
The holy Prophet did not merely answer a casual question that explains
the relationship betweenmorality and the religion,shows its connection
with the correct forms of worship, and forms the basis of reform and
improvement in the world and salvation in the next world.
The problem of morality was much more important. It was necessary that
he should have continually provided guidance to his followers. He
should havepersisted in giving good advice to them so that its
importance takes root in the mind and heart and itbecomes quite clear
that faith, goodness and morality are all dependent on each other.
They are connected with each other and none can separate them.
Who is poor ?
One day the Prophet asked his dear companions whether they knew who
was poor. They answered thatpoor was one who had no dirham or dinar
(money)' He said:
"In my Ummah, the poor is that man who would appear on the Day of the
Judgment before Allah; he had offered prayer; hehad paid Zakat ;he had
observed fast; but he would have abused somebody, he would have
falsely accused some one; he would haveunauthorizedly taken some one
else's property;he would have murderedsome one; would have hit some
body. All his virtues would be given tohis victims. If his Virtues are
finished before his wicked deeds are finished, then the errors and
sins of the victims would be given to him and he would be thrown into
the Hell.''
(Muslim)
Such a man is really poor.His condition is like that trader who has
goods worth one thousand rupees but he is a debtor for two thousand
rupees.How can such a man be called rich ?
A religious man who offers certain prayers or performs certain forms
ofworship, but even after that performs certain evildeeds, behaves
rudely with the people, treats poor and helpless people cruelly, how
then such a man will be called righteous ?
The Prophet has explained by quoting an example. He said that the best
moral character melts errors like water and bad morals spoil man's
record as vinegar spoils honey.
Identification of a hypocrite
When wickedness is nourished in the self, andthe loss caused by it has
become manifest and thedanger has increased, then that man has come
out of his religion like a nude who has come out of his garments. At
that time his claim of righteousness or faith would be false.
What will be the value of religiousness without good morality ? How is
it possible that a man should belong to Allah and at the same he
should be a victim of corruption ?
This relationship between faith and morality is clearly shown in the
hadith of the holy Prophet:
"The man who has these three habits is a hypocrite even if he observes
fast, offers prayers, performs umra (pilgrimage), and calls himself a
Muslim: when he talks he speaks untruth, when he makes a promise he
does not keep it, and when he is given something in trust, he commits
dishonesty."
-( Muslim ).
In another tradition, he has said:
"There are three signs of a hypocrite: when he talks he speaks
untruth, when he makes a pro mise he does not keep it, and when he
makes a contract he deceives, although he may be offering prayers,
observing fast and callinghimself a Muslim."
He has also said:
"There are four habits, in whosoever they are found, he will be a
complete hypocrite. If any one of these habits isfound in a man, he
will have one habit of disruption till he gives it up, when something
is given to him in trust he commits dishonesty, when he talks he tells
lies, when he makes a contract he deceives, andwhen he quarrels he
starts abusing. -( Bukhari).
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