True belief
by Mohammed N. truthaboutislamTruth About Muslims: Anas (Razi-Allahu Anhu) reported that the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihiwasallam
(Peace be upon him) said: “No one of you becomes a true believer until he
likes for his brother what he likes for himself” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Islam, through its instructions
and legislations, was keen to organize people’s relation with their Lord the
Almighty, in order for them to attain happiness in both this life and the
Hereafter. At the same time, Islam legislates what governs people’s relations
amongst each other, in order for love and harmony to prevail in the Muslim
community. This can be achieved only when each individual is keen to protect
and guard the welfare of others just as he would his own, and only then will
the Muslim community become strongly
bonded and well-established.
For this great objective to be fulfilled, the Prophet Muhammad
Sallallahu Alaihiwasallam (Peace be upon him) guided his nation to accomplish the principle of
solidarity saying: "No one of you becomes a
true believer until he likes for his brother what he likes for himself", clarifying that for faith to become deeply rooted
in the heart one must love good for others just as he likes to attain it
himself, whether it is to be blessed with bounty or relieved from an agony;
this is the path towards a perfect level of belief in ones heart.
If we ponder the above narration,
we find that accomplishing such a state of belief requires the soul to possess
a high degree of excellence and good manners when dealing with others. In this
state a person overlooks mistakes, perseveres regardless of the harm others may
afflict on him and forgives ill treatment. Additionally, he shares the joy and
sadness of his fellow Muslims; he visits the sick, comforts the needy, sponsors
the orphan, provides for the widow and offers help to others and cheers them
with a smile.
Just as he likes people to be
happy, he also wishes that they prosper in the Hereafter, and thus he always
strives to guide them to the right path, whilst remembering the saying of Allah
(what means): “And who is better in speech than one who invites to Allah and does
righteousness and says, `Indeed, I am of the Muslims`” [Quran 41: 33]
The narration also goes beyond
the boundaries of the Muslims to cover wanting good to reach disbelievers. He
likes that Allah blesses them with the bounty of belief and that Allah rescues
them from the darkness of associating with Allah and disobedience. This meaning
is substantiated with the narration in which the Prophet
Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihiwasallam (Peace be upon him) said:"Being a true Muslim is achieved by
loving for people what you love for yourself" [At-Tirmithi]
Indeed, we have the best example in our Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihiwasallam
(Peace be upon him) Once Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu
Alaihiwasallam (Peace be upon him) advised Abu Thar (Razi-Allahu Anhu) “O
Abu Thar! I see that you are a weak person, and I love for you what I love for
myself, so never be in charge of (even as little as) two people, or be
responsible for an orphan’s wealth" [Muslim] Our Salaf (righteous
predecessors) rahmatullah alayh wanted to sell his donkey and the man who was
buying it from him said to him: “Do you think it is good for me” .
He rahmatullah
alayh replied: “Had I not thought so, I would not have
attempted to sell to you in the first place.”
These two examples and many more reflect the
loftiness in faith these people reached which yielded such results.
One of the implications of the narration we
are addressing is that a Muslim should not want for others what he hates
to happen to himself. This forces the person to shun many bad qualities, like
envy, spite, selfishness, stinginess and other dispraised qualities which he
would hate people to use when dealing with him.
Sponsor Ads
Created on Oct 16th 2019 08:59. Viewed 330 times.