In Pursuit of Excellence

Bismillaah.

The question for the day is:

Do we really want excellence from Allaah?

Yes!  Of course!

Yes???  Well, how badly do we want it?  Do we want it bad enough to fight our natural inclinations, and let His commands dictate our actions?

That is the question!!!

Allaah says in Qur’an (interpretation):

“The good deed and the evil deed cannot be equal…”

Meaning: Performing good deeds and acts of obedience that please Allaah, is not equal to performing bad deeds and acts of disobedience which displease Allaah.  Likewise, treating Allaah’s creation with excellence (Ihsan) is not equal to mistreating His creation, in any way shape or form, and not in terms of reward.  He goes on to say:

“Is there any reward for Ihsan other than Ihsan?” (Al-Rahman: 60).

Then, He commanded us with a particular type of excellence (Ihsan), which holds a great position, and that is: Excellence toward the one who has mistreated you.  Allaah says:

“Repel (the evil) with that which is better…”

Meaning: when a rude person has mistreated you, particularly those who have the most rights over you (like your relatives, friends, etc.), be it by words or manners, then repay him with excellence.  Hence, if he cuts you off, then continue to keep ties with him; if he oppresses you, forgive him; if he speaks ill of you–in your face or behind your back–then don’t return the deed, rather, forgive him, and deal with him with soft words.  And if he forsook you and stopped speaking to you, then speak to him with the best of words, and generously greet him with salaam.  Because if you returned mistreatment with excellence, a great benefit will occur:

…”then verily! he, between whom and you there was enmity, (will become) as though he was a close friend.”

Meaning: As if he was the closest of your companions.

“But none is granted it (the above quality)…”

Meaning: None will be able to establish such a praiseworthy characteristic as this…

“…except those who are patient…”

Who train their souls to persevere upon that which they dislike, and force their souls to conform to that which Allaah loves.  For indeed the souls are naturally inclined to return mistreatment with mistreatment and to not be forgiving, so how then with excellence?!!

So when mankind trains his soul to persevere, and he adheres to the commands of his Lord and is aware of its tremendous reward, and knows that returning mistreatment with mistreatment is of no benefit to anyone or anything, and only increases in enmity and harshness, and that choosing to return mistreatment with excellence is not from humbling himself before the offender, but rather humbling himself before his Lord, the matter becomes easy for him, and he performs this deed with tasting the sweetness of its rewards.

“…and none is granted it except the extremely fortunate.”

And that is because it is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the creation by which a slave reaches a high rank in this world and in the hereafter, making it from the most honorable of characteristics.

Tafseer verses 34-35 Surat Fussilat, Tayseer al-Kareem al-Rahman fee Tafseeri Kalaam al-Mannaan by Shaikh Abdulrahman bin Naser al Sa’ady; translated by Asiya Abdullah

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So again, let each one of us ask ourselves:

Do we really want excellence from Allaah???

Pride, the Silent Killer

Bismillaah.

May Allaah cleanse our hearts and give us all refuge from pride and arrogance, ameen.

Indeed It is the source of all evil.  It is the reason for shaytan being expelled from Paradise.  It is a cause for Allaah’s anger.

It infests a person’s heart slowly, killing the light of all that is good in the heart, until the heart becomes dead, lifeless.

It prevents a person from the honor of doing a variety of good deeds and consequently growing closer to Allaah, and receiving His pleasure and mercy.  It leads away from Paradise and straight to hellfire.

Abdullaah bin Masud (may Allaah be pleased with him) reported:  The Prophet – sall Allaahu alayhi wa sallam – said:

“He who has in his heart an ant’s weight of pride or arrogance will not enter paradise.”

Abu Said al-Khudri (may Allaah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet said,

“There was a dispute between Hell and Paradise, and Hell said, ‘The haughty and proud are in me.’  Paradise said, ‘In me are the weak and humble.’” (Muslim)

Salamah bin al-Akwa (may Allaah be pleased with him) reported: Allaah’s Messenger said,

“Mankind continues to display haughtiness and arrogance until he is recorded among the arrogant and will be therefore afflicted with what afflicts them.” (Tirmidhi)

The opposite of pride is humility, or humbling oneself.  Ibn al-Qayyim says:

Humility comes from knowing about Allaah and His names and attributes, and His greatness, venerating Him, loving Him and being in awe of Him; and also from knowing about oneself and one’s faults, and weaknesses. From that may develop the attitude of humility, which means feeling helpless before Allaah, and being humble and compassionate towards His slaves, so that the person does not feel superior towards anyone, or think that he has any rights over anyone else; rather he thinks that others are better than him, and that their rights come before his. This is a characteristic that Allaah gives to those whom He loves, honours and draws close to Him.

It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said:

“Wealth does not decrease because of charity, and Allaah increases His slave in honour when he forgives others. And no one humbles himself before Allaah but Allaah will raise him (in status).”

Narrated by Muslim, 2588.  Imam al-Nawawi included it in a chapter entitled: “The recommendation of forgiveness and humility.”

Al-Nawawi said:

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “And no one humbles himself before Allaah but Allaah will raise him (in status).” This is understood in two ways: the first is that He will raise him (in status) in this world, and give him status in people’s hearts because of his humility, and give him a high status in people’s eyes. The second is that what is meant is his reward in the Hereafter, where his status will be raised because of his humility in this world.

The scholars said: It may be that both are meant, (and that his status will be raised) both in this world and in the Hereafter. And Allaah knows best.

May Allaah erase pride and arrogance from the hearts of the muslims, and increase us in humility, ameen.