The Prophet: The Best in Morals and Manners
Speaking about Prophet Muhammad
(s.a.a.w.), Allah T'ala says in the Holy Quran:
وَإِنَّكَ
لَعَلى
خُلُقٍ
عَظِيمٍ
“Indeed you stand on an exalted standard
of character.” (Al-Qalam 68:4)
Morality is an important aspect
of Islam. In the Islamic terminology it is called “khuluq” and its plural is
“akhlaq”. There are two aspects of a human being: one is “khalq” that is the
physical aspect and the appearance. The other is “khuluq” and that is
character, behavior and inner dispositions. Islam emphasizes that we take care
of our physical appearance by keeping it clean, properly covered, healthy and
nourished with Halal food and drinks. In a similar way it tells us that we
should take care of our character and behavior.
قَالَ
ابْنُ
عَبَّاسٍ
كَانَ
النَّبِيُّ
صَلَّى
اللَّهُ
عَلَيْهِ
وَسَلَّمَ
أَجْوَدَ
النَّاسِ
وَأَجْوَدُ
مَا يَكُونُ
فِي رَمَضَانَ
وَقَالَ
أَبُو ذَرٍّ
لَمَّا
بَلَغَهُ
مَبْعَثُ
النَّبِيِّ
صَلَّى
اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ
وَسَلَّمَ
قَالَ
لِأَخِيهِ
ارْكَبْ
إِلَى هَذَا الْوَادِي
فَاسْمَعْ
مِنْ
قَوْلِهِ
فَرَجَعَ
فَقَالَ
رَأَيْتُهُ
يَأْمُرُ
بِمَكَارِمِ
الْأَخْلَاقِ
(البخاري )
Ibn ‘Abbas reports that the Prophet -peace be upon him-
was the most generous person. He used to become even more generous in Ramadan.
And Abu Dharr said that when he heard about the coming of the Prophet -peace be
upon him- he said to his brother, ‘Go to this valley and hear his words.’ He
returned and said to him, ‘I saw him commanding people about the noblest morals
and manners.’ (Al-Bukhari)
The Prophet was sent by Allah to
teach the humanity the noblest morals (makarim al-akhlaq). He said,
عَنْ
أَبِي
هُرَيْرَةَ
قَالَ قَالَ
رَسُولُ
اللَّهِ
صَلَّى
اللَّهُ
عَلَيْهِ
وَسَلَّمَ
أَكْمَلُ
الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
إِيمَانًا أَحْسَنُهُمْ
خُلُقًا
وَخِيَارُكُمْ
خِيَارُكُمْ
لِنِسَائِهِمْ
خُلُقًا
(الترمذى
“The most perfect believer in
faith is the one who is best in moral character. The best of you are those who
are the best to their spouses in manners.” (al-Tirmidhi 1082)
عَنْ
عَائِشَةَ
قَالَتْ
سَمِعْتُ
النَّبِيَّ
صَلَّى
اللَّهُ
عَلَيْهِ
وَسَلَّمَ يَقُولُ
إِنَّ
الْمُؤْمِنَ
يُدْرِكُ
بِحُسْنِ
خُلُقِهِ
دَرَجَاتِ قَائِمِ
اللَّيْلِ
صَائِمِ
النَّهَارِ
(مسند أحمد
‘Aishah -may Allah be pleased with her- said, “I heard
the Prophet -peace be upon him- say, ‘Indeed the believer by his good morals
reaches the ranks of those who spend the whole night in prayer and whole day in
fasting. (Musnad Ahmad, 23219)
عَنْ
أَبِي
الدَّرْدَاءِ
قَالَ
سَمِعْتُ النَّبِيَّ
صَلَّى
اللَّهُ
عَلَيْهِ
وَسَلَّمَ
يَقُولُ مَا
مِنْ شَيْءٍ
يُوضَعُ فِي الْمِيزَانِ
أَثْقَلُ
مِنْ حُسْنِ
الْخُلُقِ
وَإِنَّ
صَاحِبَ
حُسْنِ
الْخُلُقِ
لَيَبْلُغُ
بِهِ دَرَجَةَ
صَاحِبِ
الصَّوْمِ
وَالصَّلَاةِ
(الترمذي
Abu al-Darda’ reports that I heard the Prophet -peace be upon him- say, “There
is nothing in the Balance heavier than the good morals. Indeed the person of
good morals will reach by them the rank of the person of fasts and prayers.”
(al-Tirmidhi 1926)
There are many Ahadith that
indicate the high place of morals and manners in Islam. The good morals and
manners should be observed in one’s personal life as well as in one’s relations
with others.
Some Ahadith on Islamic manners:
عَنْ
عَبْدِ
اللَّهِ بْنِ
عَمْرٍو
رَضِيَ اللَّهُ
عَنْهُمَا
عَنْ
النَّبِيِّ
صَلَّى اللَّهُ
عَلَيْهِ
وَسَلَّمَ
قَالَ الْمُسْلِمُ
مَنْ سَلِمَ
الْمُسْلِمُونَ
مِنْ لِسَانِهِ
وَيَدِهِ
وَالْمُهَاجِرُ
مَنْ هَجَرَ
مَا نَهَى
اللَّهُ
عَنْهُ
)البخاري
“The Muslim is he/she from whose hand
and tongue other Muslims are safe and Muhajir is he/she who leaves what Allah
has forbidden.” (al-Bukahri 9)
حَدَّثَنَا
قَتَادَةُ
عَنْ أَنَسٍ
عَنْ النَّبِيِّ
صَلَّى
اللَّهُ
عَلَيْهِ
وَسَلَّمَ
قَالَ لَا
يُؤْمِنُ
أَحَدُكُمْ
حَتَّى يُحِبَّ
لِأَخِيهِ
مَا يُحِبُّ
لِنَفْسِهِ
(البخاري
“None of you will be a believer until he loves for his brother what he loves
for himself.” (al-Bukhari 12)
عَنْ
أَبِي
هُرَيْرَةَ
أَنَّ
رَسُولَ
اللَّهِ
صَلَّى
اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ
وَسَلَّمَ
قَالَ لَا
يَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّةَ
مَنْ لَا
يَأْمَنُ
جَارُهُ
بَوَائِقَهُ
(مسلم
“He will not enter heaven whose neighbor is not safe from his troubles.”
(Muslim 66)
عَنْ
أَبِي
هُرَيْرَةَ
قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ
اللَّهِ
صَلَّى
اللَّهُ
عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ
الْإِيمَانُ
بِضْعٌ
وَسَبْعُونَ
أَوْ بِضْعٌ
وَسِتُّونَ
شُعْبَةً
فَأَفْضَلُهَا
قَوْلُ لَا
إِلَهَ
إِلَّا
اللَّهُ
وَأَدْنَاهَا
إِمَاطَةُ
الْأَذَى
عَنْ الطَّرِيقِ
وَالْحَيَاءُ
شُعْبَةٌ
مِنْ الْإِيمَانِ
(مسلم
Faith has more than seventy
branches (or he said more than sixty branches). The supreme branch is the
statement that ‘There is no god except Allah’ and the lowest branch is the
removal of obstacles from the path. The modesty is a branch of faith.” (Muslim 51)
These issues are not small; they are very important. No macro change can come
without the micro change. Bad manners have sometimes drastic social affects.
Some of you may have heard of some interesting research on crime, called the
“broken window” effect. Two researchers did the following test. They put one
car in the poorer areas of New York, with the hood open. They put another car
in a really affluent suburb in California. The car in New York got pulled to
pieces within 24 hours. The car in California remained untouched for two weeks.
Then one of the researchers smashed one window in the car and within a day, the
car ended up like the one in New York.
They concluded that by breaking
the window on the car, they essentially marked the car as “neglected” and thus
people thought of it as “fair game”, even though it was in a good
neighbourhood. Similarly, the authors concluded, if you allow little things to
get away, like the breaking of windows, unless the window gets fixed very soon,
all the windows get smashed.
Three years ago, in New York, they had a new police commissioner. He decided to
implement this idea, by ensuring that the police no longer just attack the big
issues, the homicides, the car stealings, the breaking and entering; but also
the little things, like making sure streets were clean, fixing broken windows.
The net effect? Crime rates in New York, formerly one of the world's crime
centres, fell by almost one third in three years. Why does this work? By taking
care of the little things, you give people a sense of security.
We observe good morals and manners to obey Allah and His Messenger. This is
part of our faith. Our faith leads to good morals and manners and they in their
turn reinforce our faith. On the other hand, we should also keep in mind the
best da’wah is to live among people with good morals and manners. Before
listening to our message people see us and our behavior. Non-Muslims sometimes
say when they see the bad example of Muslims, “If your religion has not made
you a good person, how can it be a good religion for us.” We have a big
responsibility and we must take our actions seriously.
Reference url:
http://www.isna.net/services/library/khutbahs/MoralsandMannersinIslam.html
Khutbah at ISOC - 24 Shawwal 1421/ January 19, 2001 By Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi
