Qatar- Moral teachings of the Prophet

(MENAFN- The Peninsula) By Imam Ghazali

Islam came to illuminate the lives of the people with the light of virtue and good manners to create in them brightness of character and to fill their laps with the pearls of good conduct. It made the stages that came in the process of achieving this great objective an important part of the prophethood. Similarly it declared all attempts to create disruption in these stages as an expulsion from the religion and equivalent to throwing away the yoke of faith from one’s neck.

The position of morality is not like that of the means of pleasures and luxuries from which indifference may be possible. But morality is the name of the principles of life which the religion must adopt and it must care for the rights of its standard-bearers (i.e. the Muslims).

Islam has enumerated all these virtues and principles and has encouraged its followers to make them parts of their lives one after another.

If we collect all the sayings of the holy Prophet about the importance of good moral character then a voluminous book would have to be prepared about which many of the great reformers will be ignorant. Before we enumerate these virtues and state their details it will be proper if we quote some examples of how strongly and emphatically Islam has called upon the people to adopt good moral character.

Usama bin Shareek says: “We were sitting in the presence of the Messenger of Allah so quietly as if birds were perched on our heads. Nobody had the courage to open his mouth. In the meantime some people came and asked: “Amongst the slaves of God who is the dearest to Him.” The Prophet replied: “One who has the best moral character.” (Ibn Haban)

Another tradition has it: “They asked what is the best thing given to man ?” He replied: “Best moral character.” (Tirmidi)

The Prophet was asked: “Which Muslim has the perfect faith ?” He answered: “He who has the best moral character.” (Tabrani)

Abdullah bin’ Amar has reported: “I have heard the Prophet as saying: ‘Should I not tell you who amongst you is the most likeable person to me 1 And who will be the nearest to me on the Day of the Judgment 1’ He repeated this question twice or thrice. The people requested him to tell them about such a person. He said ‘He who amongst you has the best moral character.’”(Ahmed)

In another hadith he has said: “On the Day of the Judgement there will be nothing weightier in the balance of a Mu’min than the goodness of character.

Allah dislikes an obscene and a rude talker and the bearer of a good moral character reaches to the level of the observer of the prayer and fasting on account of his character.” (Imam Ahmed)

There would be nothing surprising if such teachings were to come from a philosopher who was busy in his campaign of moral-reform. But the great surprise is that these teachings come from a man who strived to establish a great new faith when some other religions turn their attention more towards the performance of worship and other religious rites.

The last Prophet gave a call for the performance of various fundamentals of worship and for the establishment of an Islamic government that was involved in a long-drawn war with its large number of enemies. In spite of the expansion of his religion and the immense increase in the various tasks of his followers the Prophet informed them of the fact that on the Day of Judgment there will be nothing weightier in their balance than their good moral character so definitely this reality is not hidden from him- that in Islam the value of morality is very high.

The fact is that if the religion is the name of good conduct between man and man then on the other hand in its spiritual sense it is also the name of the best relationship between man and his God and in both these aspects there is the same reality. There are some religions which give the glad tiding that if you embrace a certain belief your sins will be washed away or that offering fixed prayers by itself will cancel your mistakes.

But Islam does not believe in this. According to it these benefits will be available only when the axis and centre of belief is a conscious step towards virtue and payment of the compulsory (charitable) dues and when the proposed worship can become a real source of washing away the sins and generating real perfection. In other words evil can be removed by those virtues which man makes his own and by which he is able to reach high and lofty standards.

The holy Prophet has forcefully emphasised these valuable principles so that the Ummah may understand very clearly that the value of morality should not go down in its eyes and the importance of mere forms and shapes should not increase.

Hazrat Anas has reported: “Allah’s Messenger has said: ‘A slave achieves by means of the goodness of his character great position and high honour in the Hereafter though he may be weak in matters of worship; but on account of his wickedness of character he is thrown in the lowest recesses of the Hell.” (Tabrani).

Hazrat Ayesha narrates: “I have heard the Prophet as saying: ‘Mu’min by goodness of his character achieves the high position of the one who observes fast and offers prayers.” (Abu Dawood).

Ibn Umar is reported to have narrated: “I have heard the Prophet saying: ‘A Muslim who observes moderation in matter of worship on account of the goodness of his character and decency achieves the position of that man who observes fast and recites Allah’s verses during prayers in the night.” (Ahmed)

Abu Huraira has quoted the Prophet as saying: “A Mu’min’s nobility is his religiousness his tolerance is his intelligence and his lineage is his goodness of character.” (Hakim)

Abu Zar has narrated: “Successful is the man who has purified his heart for faith kept his heart on the right lines his tongue was truthful his self was content and his nature was on the right path.”(Ibn Haban)

Mere teachings and commands of Do’s and Don’ts do not form the foundation of good moral character in a society because these things are not sufficient for developing these good qualities in the human nature. A teacher cannot merely order to do such and such things and not to do such and such things and the society will become a moral society. The teachings of good conduct which are fruitful require long training and constant watchfulness.

The training cannot be on the right lines if the example before the society is not such that commands full confidence because a person having a bad moral character cannot leave a good impression on his surroundings.

The best training can be expected only from such a man whose personality by the force of its morality would create a response of admiration in the beholders. They would sing praises of his nobility and feel the irresistible urge to benefit from the example of his life. The world would spontaneously feel the urge to follow in his footsteps. For nourishing and developing more and more excellent good character among his followers it is necessary that the leader must possess higher and nobler character and attributes than his followers.

The Prophet himself was the best example of the good moral character emulating that to which he was calling his followers. Before advising them to adopt a moral life by giving sermons and counsels he was sowing the seeds of morality among his followers by actually living that kind of life.

Abdullah Ibn Amar says: “The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) was neither ill-mannered nor rude. He used to say that the better people among you are those who are best in their moral character.” (Bukhari)

Anas says: “I served the holy Prophet for ten years. He never said ‘Uf (expressing dissatisfaction) nor did he ever ask me why I did this or did not do that.(Muslim)

It is also reported by him: “My mother used to hold the Prophet’s hand and used to take him wherever she wanted. If any person used to come before him and shake his hand the Prophet never used to draw away his hand from the other person’s hands till the latter drew away his hands and he never used to turn away his face from that person till the latter himself turned away his face. And in the meetings he was never seen squatting in such a way that his knees were protruding further than his fellow-squatters.” (Tirmidi)



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