Excellence in faith

In one of the great prophetic narrations which included few, yet very
comprehensive words, the Prophetclarified one of the means for
salvation, and a sign of the excellence of Islam. This narration gives
the believing slave a tool by which to measure himself and realize how
close or far he is from the straight path.
Abu Hurayrahreported that the Messenger of Allaahsaid:"It is from the
excellence of (a believer's) Islam that he should shun that which is
of no concern to him".[At-Tirmithi].
This narration contains many great meanings which a believer should
understand and apply. It is one of the principles and foundations of
good manners, and thus some scholars considered it to constitute
one-third or one-fourth of the religion of Islam.
Imaam Ibn Al-Qayyimsaid: "The Prophetsummed all the aspects ofpiety
and devoutness in this narration. Heoutlined for the slave what to do
and what to shun, and it is an indication to the first pillar of soul
purification,namely, shunning what does not concern the person, which
leads to the second pillar, and that is busying oneself essentially
with what concerns him"
Heclarified that shunning that which does not concern the person is a
means to attain excellence in religion. This means, that people, in
reality, are of two categories, those who are excellent in Islaam and
those who arenot. The one who appliesIslam inwardly and outwardly is
the one whohas reached the level of excellence , as Allaah says(what
means):"And who is better in religion than one who submits himself to
Allah while being a doer of good and follows the religion of Abraham,
incliningtoward truth? And Allah took Abraham as an intimate
friend."[Quran: 4:125].
On the other hand, the one who does not apply Islam inwardly and
outwardly is the one whose degree of commitment to Islam is low, and
one of the signs of this in him is that he busies himself in that
which does not concern him.
The following verse is proof substantiating the meaning of the
narration, in which Allaah Says (what means):"And they who turn away
from illspeech"[Quran: 23:3]."… ill speech"is anything from falsehood,
and that includes association, other minor sins and all useless
speech, actions and concerns. Furthermore, busing oneself with that
which does not concern him is included in the definitionof "ill
speech".
There are other prophetic narrations which highlight the virtue of
excellence in religion, such as the narration of Abu Hurayrahin which
he reported that the Messenger of Allaahsaid:"When one of you reaches
the level of excellence in faith, then every good deed is multiplied
for him ten times up to seven hundred times; and eachsin is recorded
as only one, until he meets Allaah"[Muslim].
The saying of the Prophet:"… that which is of no concern to him"means,
that which does not benefit him in his worldly life or the Hereafter,
and this includes things that are prohibited, disliked, doubtful, and
excess permissible matters which one does not really need.
The measure by which one knows whether something is of his concern or
not, is Islamic teachings and not ones desires.
Many people decide to abandon enjoining good and forbidding evil under
the pretext that this is interfering with people's privacy and
personal life. They would do so claiming that it is not a person's
concern tointervene in other people's affairs, basing their argument
on an incorrect understanding of this very narration.
Abu Bakr As-Siddeeqsaid: "O you people! You recite and misinterpret
the following verse (which means):`O you who believe! Take care of
your own selves. If you follow the (right) guidance [and enjoin what
is right (Islamic Monotheism and allthat Islam orders one to do) and
forbid what is wrong (polytheism, disbelief and all thatIslam has
forbidden)] no hurt cancome to you from those who are in
error.`[Quran:5:105] But Ihave heard Messenger of Allahsaying:"When
people see an oppressor but do not prevent him from (doing evil), it
is likely that Allaah will punish them all.""[Abu Daawood &
At-Tirmithi].
In another narration hesaid:"Never that evil is committed and people
do not prevent it, though able to do so, but Allaah will overwhelm
them with punishment".
One other thing that one must concern himself with is the affairs of
other believers and their issues, because he who does not worry about
theaffairs of his fellow Muslims is not one of them.
The need to understand this narration, its implications and
applications intensifies intimes like ours, when people's commitments
and personal obligations have increased and priorities are mixed up.
The implementation of this narration is the first practical step
toward reforming oneself and those under his guardianship and care
which leads to achieving excellence in religion. This happens by
concentrating on that which is beneficial and staying away from all
that is not ones concern.