A BELIEVER’S BEHAVIOUR

Prophetic Guidance

THE behaviour of a true believer in his environment is one of love, mercy and compassion. Here are some relevant references from the sayings of the Prophet of Islam in this regard.

  • “A guardian of orphans (whether the orphan be of one’s near or distant relation or of strangers) and I will be in one place in Paradise, like my two fingers”, said the Prophet and his fingers were nearly touching each other at the time". (Muslim)
  • Someone said: ‘O Prophet of God, teach me something’. “Abuse no one”, replied the Prophet, “and despise not anything good and speak to your fellow-men with open countenance”. (Tirmidhi)
  • God has no mercy for him who has no mercy for his fellows. (Bukhari & Muslim)
  • A man came to the Prophet and said, ‘How many times should forgive a servant?’ The Prophet kept silent. The man repeated the question thrice. “Forgive your servant seventy times everyday”, said the Prophet. (Abu Dawud)
  • He who does not behave kindly towards younger people and does not show due respect to older ones is not of us. (Tirmidhi)
  • Someone asked: ‘What is Islam? The Prophet said: “Purity of speech and hospitality.” (Musnad Ahmad)
  • The Prophet said: “On the Day of Judgement God will question: ‘O Man, I was sick and you did not visit Me’. 'My Lord', the man will wonder, ‘How could I visit you when You are the Lord of the universe?’ God will remind! ‘My so and so servant was sick and you did not visit him. Had you visited him, you would have found Me there, with him?” (Muslim)
  • Visit the sick, feed the hungry, and help to relieve people’s misery. (Bukhari)
  • Muslims who live in the midst of society and bear with patience the afflictions that come to them are better than those who shun society and cannot bear any wrong done to them. (Abu Dawud)
  • Every good deed is a charity, and it is a good deed that you meet your fellowmen with a cheerful countenance and you pour water from your bucket into the vessel of your fellow.
  • Answering a questioner with mildness is charity. Removing that which is inconvenience to wayfarers, such as thorns and stones is charity. (Tirmidhi)
  • The leader of a people is truly their servant. (As-Suyuti)
  • Faith (iman) is to restrain oneself against all violence, let no believer commit any violence. (Abu Dawud)
  • God has forbidden you disobedience of parents, miserliness, false claims, and the burying alive of female infants (female foeticide). (Bukhari & Muslim)
  • Give the worker his wages before his sweat dries. (Ibn Majah) y The seller is under obligation to disclose any defect in the article offered for sale. (Bukhari)
  • Someone asked the Prophet, ‘What fanaticism was?’ and he replied: “That you help your people in wrongdoing”. (Abu Dawud)
  • That one will not enter Paradise whose neighbour is not secure against his mischief. (Muslim)
  • He who believes in God and the Last Day must not put his neighbour to inconvenience. (Bukhari & Muslim)
  • He is not a believer who eats to his fill while his neighbour goes without food. (Ibn Abbas, Al-Baihiqi)
  • The Prophet said: “A person passing through a street carrying anything pointed or with a sharp edge should cover it up, so that nobody is exposed to the risk of injury due to his carelessness. (Muslim)
  • Once when the Prophet was in retreat in the mosque he was disturbed by the sound of loud recitation. Raising the curtain, he said to the worshippers. “Look, you are all intent on beseeching God, but in so doing you must not trouble others. Don’t raise your voices to outdo each other while reciting the Quran.”
  • He who eases the hardship of another, will have ease bestowed upon him by God in this world and the next... God goes on helping a servant so long as he goes on helping his fellow-men. (Muslim)
  • The Prophet was very insistent upon kindness towards animals. On one occasion he noticed a dove flying around agitatedly, and discovered that somebody had caught its young. He was very annoyed and asked the person to restore the young to the mother immediately. (Abu Dawud)
  • With regard to servants, the Prophet said: They are your brothers, and you must treat them as such. Provide them with the kind of clothes that you wear, and if you set them a hard task, join them in it to help them complete it. (Abu Dawud)
  • The Prophet, during his night prayer, used to say, “O God! I bear witness that all human beings are brothers”. (An-Nasai)