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People of Imaan and Piety readily accept the Truth
Shaykh Usamah Al Khayyat [(Dhul Qa'dah 10, 1424 (January 2, 2004)]
All praise is due to
Allaah, Lord of all the worlds. Peace and blessings of Allaah be upon the
Messenger, his household and companions.
O
you who believe! Fear Allaah as He should be feared and work towards your
salvation tomorrow on, “The Day whereon
neither wealth nor sons will avail, except him who brings to Allaah a clean
heart.”
(Ash-Shu‘araa 26:88-89)
And “The Day when man shall remember what he
strove for.”
(An-Naazi‘aat 79:35)
Fellow Muslims! It is part of a Muslim’s magnanimity, nobility
and good manners to always seek for and surrender to the truth out of desire for
the pleasure of Allaah and out of fear of falling into the abyss of arrogance.
The Messenger of Allaah said,
“Whoever has the weight of mustard seed of pride in his heart will not enter
Paradise.” A man said, “[What about] a person who likes his clothes to be fine
and his shoes to be fine.” The Prophet responded, “Verily, Allaah is beautiful
and He loves beauty.
Pride is disregard for the truth and contempt for people.”
(Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim)
Disregard for the truth
is to reject it. And contempt for people is to scorn them and show them all
forms of arrogance either through words or deeds.
Rejecting the truth
also implies denying it, hating it and turning away from it, as former people
who were punished had done. The punishment of Allaah came to them in their homes
and what happened to them became a lesson for others. Allaah says,
“And never an Ayah (sign) comes to them from
the Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of their
Lord, but that they have been turning away from it. Indeed, they rejected the
truth (the Qur'aan and Muhammad (peace be upon him)) when it came to them, but
there will come to them the news of that (the torment) which they used to mock
at. Have they not seen how many a generation before them We have destroyed whom
We had established on the earth such as We have not established you? And We
poured out on them rain from the sky in abundance, and made the rivers flow
under them. Yet We destroyed them for their sins, and created after them other
generations.”
(Al-An‘aam 6:4-6)
Allaah also says,
“Indeed We have brought the truth (Muhammad
(peace be upon him) with the Qur'aan), to you, but most of you have a hatred for
the truth.”
(Az-Zukhruf 43:78)
As for those who have faith and fear Allaah,
their most prominent characteristic is acceptance of the truth, submitting to it
and calling others unto it. That is why they are the wisest of all people and
the most knowledgeable of the causes of happiness, victory and success. Wisdom
is the lost property of a believer; he takes hold of it wherever he finds it.
Refraining from rejecting the truth is safety from being in the same group with
the erroneous and deniers of the signs of Allaah. It is also the safety from
sharing in the consequences of their rejection of the truth as a result of their
arrogance in the land.
You will notice that those who fear Allaah
have habituated themselves on accepting the truth irrespective of the person
from whom the truth comes. Hence you find them accepting the truth from
children, ignorant and enemies. This is the opinion of eminent scholars like
Qaadee ‘Iyaad and others.
Another noble quality of those who fear
Allaah is that when anyone of them debated with someone, he supplicated secretly
for his opponent to Allaah to strengthen his opponent, make him reach at the
truth and let the truth come from him. An example of this is Imaam Ash-Shaafi‘ee
who used to say, “Whenever I argued with someone, I always wished that Allaah
show the truth through him.”
Brethren in faith! The God-fearing Muslim treats his brother as
gently as he can. He lowers his voice when he speaks with him, he guards his
tongue and hands from attacking his honour and never harms him with any form. He
always bears in mind the saying of the Messenger of Allaah that goes thus, “A
Muslim should neither be slanderer nor a curser, nor an immodest nor foul.” And
his saying, “A Muslim is someone
from whose hand and tongue the Muslims are safe.”
(Al-Bukhaaree and
Muslim)
He also abstains from useless argument and he fears the malice
and hatred that quarrelling leads to. In this regard he follows the Prophet’s
admonition that goes thus, “I
guarantee a house in the surroundings of Paradise for a man who avoids
quarrelling even if he were in the right.” (Aboo Daawood) And his saying, “No
nation went astray after they had been on guidance except that they were
afflicted with quarrelling and deprived of (fruitful) actions.” (Ahmad
and At-Tirmidhee)
In short, sincerity of
purpose and an intention to arrive at the truth is the goal. The Muslim must
beware of promoting his personal ego and showing that he is better than other.
He should also treat all people with compassion and wish them well. Allaah says,
“That home of the
Hereafter (i.e. Paradise), We shall assign to those who rebel not against the
truth with pride and oppression in the land nor do mischief by committing
crimes. And the good end is for the pious.”
(Al-Qasas 28:83)
Fellow Muslims! A scholar among our righteous
predecessors wrote a letter to a brother of his in which he asked him for
admonition and advice on an issue. The scholar wrote him the following reply:
“To proceed, if Allaah is with you who are you then afraid of? And if Allaah is
against you, who is he unto him you can fix your hope? Bye.”
Dear brethren! This short statement is a
great admonition, a strong reminder and a brilliant word. Allaah’s care for His
slave supersedes all other cares; and with the care of Allaah, the slave is in
no need of the care of others. The special divine care means protection and
support. Allaah tells us about those who deserve this protection when He says,
“Truly, Allaah is with those who fear Him
(keep their duty unto Him), and those who are good-doers.”
(An-Nahl 16:128)
May Allaah include us among the pious and the
righteous. May He guide us to the path of His sincere slaves and keep us away
from causes of His wrath and punishment.
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