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The Prophet guided his Ummah (nation) to everything good and warned
them against everything evil, and bad morals are among the things
which the Prophet warned against. Theyare detestable and indicate an
unrighteous demeanor that usually arises from unsoundness of the
heart.
Pillars of Bad Morals
Ibn-ul-Qayyim said,
Bad manners are established and constructed upon four pillars:
ignorance, injustice, desires and anger.
Ignorance makes a person see beauty in an ugly image and ugliness in a
beautiful image, andthe perfect thing as deficient and the deficient
as perfect.
Injustice motivates one to put things in an inappropriate place, and,
therefore, he gets angry when he should be pleased and satisfied when
he should be angry. He also becomes rash when he should be deliberate,
stingy when he should be charitable, and generous when he should be
miserly. He retreats when he should be courageous, and advances when
he should retreat.
He becomes lenient when he should be tough and severe when he should
be lenient, humble when he should be proud and arrogant when he should
be humble.
Desires urge one to be miserly, stingy, unchaste, greedy, gluttonous,
and lowly… to the end of all evil attributes.
Anger drives one to be ostentatious, spiteful, envious, aggressive and foolish.
Any two of these evil morals formother bad morals. The fundamental
causes behind thesefour bad morals are two: excessive weakness and
excessivepower.
Excessive weakness leads to humiliation, miserliness, meanness,
ignobility, baseness, stinginess and fanaticism on trivialities.
Excessive power leads to injustice, anger, stiffness, foulness and indiscretion.
When two bad morals mingle, many more evil morals ensue. The human
soul may be weak and strong at the same time, andthe person hence
becomes the haughtiest when he is powerful and the most humiliated
when he is subdued. He is aggressive and tyrannical, but, when
subdued, may become weaker than a woman. He is gutless in the face of
the powerful, and audacious towards the weak.
Consequently, bad morals generate more bad morals, and good morals
generate more good morals.
Could Good Morals Turn into Bad Ones?
Bearing in mind that bad morals could turn into good ones by following
the Sharee'ah and training the self upon good manners, we now wish to
ask whether it is possible that good morals turn into bad ones?
To answer this question, we will mention a digest of what Al-Maawardi
said. He mentioned that good morals andleniency may turn into rough
demeanors and obscenity due to accidental causes that render
gentleness into harshness, leniency into roughness and cheerfulness
into scowling. Here are some causes for this.
1- One's position of presidency or administration may alter his morals
and incite him to keep away from his old friends. This usually comes
from ignobility.
2- Removal from office, which may develop bad morals and hopelessness
owing to extreme sorrow or lack of patience.
3- Wealth: when a person feels that he is rich, his morals may change
and he may become haughty.
4- Becoming poor may change one's morals, either because he fears
being described as needy orbecause he feels sorrow over lostrichness.
5- Concerns can also distract one's mind and cause anxieties, and
consequently, one could no longer endure. It is said that concerns are
like poison and that sadness is like a disease concealed in the heart
of the depressed.
6- Diseases also change one's character just as they affect his body,
so neither do morals become moderated and nor can aperson bear such
diseases.
7- Aging, as it affects the organs and also affects man's morals. Just
as it weakens the body beyond tolerating physical weight, old age also
weakens thesoul beyond bearing what it usedto bear of opposing
desires, anger and the like.
These were seven causes that may result in bad manners.
Also, hatred is a particular cause of a specific bad manner. A person
avoids the one whom he hates and would treat him in a particularly bad
way. If the bad manner is caused by something, it ends only when its
cause comes to an end.
Scholars and the Righteous Predecessors Warn Against Bad Morals
Al-Fudhayl ibn 'Iyaadh said, "Do not socialize with a person who has
bad morals, for he calls to nothing except evil."
He also said, "Accompanying a good-mannered man with no religious
practice is better for methan accompanying a worshipperwho is
bad-mannered."
Al-Hasan said, "The ill-mannered person is a self-tormentor."
Yahya ibn Mu'aath said, "Being bad mannered is an evil deed with which
a lot of good deeds would [nevertheless] not be beneficial. Having
good manners is a good deed with which a lot of evil deeds would not
be harmful."
Imam Al-Ghazaali said, "Bad morals are deadly poisons, massive
destruction, disgraceful ignominy, flagrant vices and wicked
attributes that keep one away from Allaah The Almighty. Bad manners
cause one to sink into the company of the devils and lead to the
kindled fire of Allaah which leaps up over the hearts."
He also said, "Wicked morals are the diseases of hearts and illnesses
of the inner-selves; they would make man miss the everlasting life."
He also added,
A Muslim ought to socialize with others. However, he should warn
himself of and keep away from any bad manner existing among them. A
believer is the mirror of his fellow believer and he sees hisown
defects through the defects of others. He also recognizes
thatdispositions are close to one another in following desires. If a
peer has a certain attribute, his counterparts inevitably have the
origin of this attribute, something greater, or at least something of
it. So a person should examine and purify himself from any moral
defect. This would indeed be an excellent means of self-discipline.
He also said, "Good manners represent faith and bad manners represent
hypocrisy."
Ramifications of Bad Manners
Ill-mannered persons are spoken of badly and they are detested in the
sight of Allaah and in the sight of His Prophet . Also, all people,
irrespective of their attitudes, dislike them.
It was narrated on the authority of Jaabir ibn 'Abdullaah that the
Prophet said: "And the most detested to me and farthest from me in the
Hereafterwill be those of the worst manners." [Ahmad, Al-Albaani -
Hasan]
The ill-mannered person is the one whom people dispraise a lot and
which he himself hears. It was narrated on the authority of Ibn
'Abbaas that the Prophet said: "The people of Paradise are those whom
Allaah The Almighty fills their ears with people's praise while they
hear it,and the people of Hell are those whom Allaah The Almighty
fills their ears with people's dispraise while they hear it." [Ibn
Maajah, Al-Albaani - Saheeh]
Ill-mannered people cause troubles, grief, distress and poverty to
themselves as well as suffering to others.
Abu Haazim Salamah ibn Dinaar said, "Wretchedness due to ill manners
afflicts the ill-mannered person himself the most, then his wife, and
then his children. When he enters his house while his children are
happy, they would rush away outof fear at the sound of his voice. His
riding animal would even swerve from his way because of the stones
that he hurls at it. His dog would bounce against the wall upon seeing
him and even his cat would escape from him."
Dear Muslim, monitor yourself and let no bad manner penetrate your
heart. Treat yourself from the very outset, and the matter will be
easy; when the disease deepens, it may lead one to destruction. May
Allaah The Almighty help all of us avoid bad manners.
