Perfume from His Sayings

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Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, said: "I have only been sent to perfect good moral character."[1]
The purpose of all the revealed books has always been inner purification. Abraham prayed to his Lord to send to his descendants a Messenger who would recite His signs to them, teach them the scripture, and purify them. God answered his prayer by sending Muhammad. God says: "It is He who has sent amongst the unlettered people a Messenger from among themselves, to rehearse to them His Signs, to purify them, and to instruct them in the scripture and wisdom,- although they had been, before, in manifest error." (Quran 62:2)

He also says:
"Likewise, We have sent unto you a Messenger from among yourselves, who recites unto you Our revelations and purifies you, and teaches you the scripture and wisdom, and teaches you that which you did not know." (Quran 2:151)
This great purpose is what Prophet Muhammad declared when he said: "I have only been sent to perfect good moral character."[2]

The "good moral character" referred to here is comprehensive. It includes how we conduct ourselves with our Lord, how each of us relates to his or her self, and how we treat other people.
The Prophet’s statement implies there are two types of good moral conduct. The first is common knowledge. People know it instinctively. The other type is that which completes and perfects it. This cannot be known without God’s guidance through revelation. The Prophet was sent to teach it to the people as part of the message he brought.


The Prophet’s guidance in this matter is vast. Many books have been written about it. One of the most famous hadith in this regard is where the Prophet said: "Nothing weighs heavier in the balance on the Day of Judgment than good character. God hates that which is wanton and base."[3]


The Prophet was asked what causes the most people to enter paradise. He said: "Fear of God and good character." He was then asked what brought the most people to the Hellfire. He said: "The tongue and the private parts."[4]

The Prophet’s servant Anas observed: "God’s Messenger had the best character of all people."[5]

He also said: "I served the Prophet for ten years and he never once rebuked me. He never once said about something I did: ‘Why did you do that?’ and he never said about something I didn’t do: ‘Why didn’t you do that?’"[6]

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Al-Nawwas bin Saman asked the Prophet about righteousness and sin. He replied: "Righteousness is to exhibit good character. Sin is what disturbs your heart and you hate for others to know about it."[7]

The Prophet said: "The believers who have the most perfect faith are those who have the best character, and the best of them are those who are best to their womenfolk."[8]

He also said: "The most beloved and nearest of you to me on the Day of Judgment will be those of you with the best character. The most detestable and remote from me on the Day of Judgment will be those who are babblers, those who put people down, and those who are vainglorious."[9]

It is enough for us to look at the Prophet’s life, his relationship with his Lord, and how he treated people of all walks of life - his household, his relatives, his Companions, and his enemies.
Once the Prophet borrowed money from a man, and the man came demanding payment, speaking very harshly. The Companions wanted to respond to the man’s harshness, but the Prophet said: "leave him alone. The one who has a right to something is allowed to speak."[10]

Whenever the Prophet borrowed something from someone, he would always return it with more and pray for that person. He used to say: "The only reward for a loan is complete repayment and praise."[11]

Abd Allah bin Salam was one of the leading Jewish scholars in Madinah. He was just-minded and a seeker of the truth. When he heard about Prophet Muhammad’s arrival, he went to have a look at him. When he saw the Prophet’s face, he knew that it was not the face of a liar. The first thing he heard the Prophet say was: "O people! If you spread the greeting of peace among you, feed those who are in need, maintain family relations, and pray at night while people are sleeping, you will enter Paradise with ease."[12]

Abd Allah ibn Salam was able to read from the Prophet’s countenance the signs that he was honest, trustworthy, and pure-hearted. Such a countenance is only for people whose hearts are truly pure, whose conduct is righteous, and who devote themselves to God.

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There are many ways to exhibit good character. However, it all goes back to four essentials.
1. Patience: It takes patience to be obedient to God, and to be gentle and kind under trying circumstances. It takes patience to swallow back anger and exercise self-restraint. Patience is necessary for the qualities of forgiveness, pardon, and self-restraint.
God says:
"Let them pardon and overlook. Do you not wish that God should forgive you? And God is Forgiving and Merciful." (Quran 24:22)

2. Decency: This is the quality that helps people abstain from base and ignoble behavior and turns their hearts to that which is noble and high-minded. A decent heart will be honest with the Creator and to those he or she deals with.

3. Courage: This is the quality that inspires people to greatness and generosity and prevents them from succumbing to anger and rash behavior.

4. Justice: One needs to be moderate in one’s behavior. Every noble character trait stands between two ignoble traits at opposite extremes. For instance, gentleness is a good character trait, akin to kindness. However, taking it to an excess leads to indignity and humiliation, while being neglectful of it leads to harshness, cruelty, and severity. Generosity is another good and desirable character trait. Taking it too far leads to reckless spending and wastefulness, while neglecting it makes one a greedy, envious miser.


People naturally possess many good qualities and character traits, some of which they learnt from their parents or picked up from their social environment. These qualities become part of their personalities.

Prophet Muhammad said to Ashajj Abd al-Qays: "You possess two qualities that God loves: gentleness and forbearance.

In some narrations of this event, Prophet Muhammad goes on to tell Ashajj that God made these traits part of his natural disposition, to which Ashajj replied: "Praise be to God who placed within me two qualities that God and His Messenger love."

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1. Striving. To strive within yourself to exhibit good character traits and refrain from bad ones. God says: "Those who strive for Our sake, We will guide them to Our paths." (Quran 29:69) Good character is part of God’s guidance.

2. Self-assessment. This means to look back on one’s behavior. Those who call themselves to account benefit from it in all aspects of their lives. This is why God swears by the "self-reproaching spirit" in the Quran. Al-Hasan al-Basrī explains that the self-reproaching spirit describes the spirit of the believer.

3. Aspiring for the best. We should aspire to be the best we can be, and this includes our behavior. We should seek out and even create opportunities to exhibit good behavior.

4. Substitution. We should find alternatives to the bad behavior that we exhibit, alternatives that allow us to express and develop our good traits.

We are influenced by the people around us, by our families, classmates, colleagues, and friends. However, the greatest influence over us is the influence we have upon our own individual selves, in how we approach and understand ourselves, train ourselves and censure ourselves. This means we need to recognize our faults and our weaknesses as well as our virtues and strengths.
O God! Help us to see the weaknesses within ourselves and help us to overcome them. Do not leave us without Your assistance for a moment.

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In the famous hadeeth of Jibril عليه السلام narrated by Sayyiduna Abu Huraira رضى الله عنه (Hadeeth 47, Abridged Saheeh al-Bukhari), Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.says ‘Ihsaan is that you worship Allah as though you see Him. Then, if you do not see Him then indeed He sees you’.

This sentence of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. can be understood as follows; ihsaan is that you reach such a degree of devotion, sincerity, godliness, and awareness in your worship as well as in your very being and existence, that you obey Allah and worship Him in such a state that your belief extends to your body and mind. Not only are you convinced of Allah سبحانه وتعالى and your relationship with Him but that belief and conviction, that faith in Allah عز وجل permeates your very body, nay your very existence. And thus with this state of mind, heart and spirit you worship Allah سبحانه وتعالى with such conviction and faith as though you are constantly seeing Allah سبحانه وتعالى Himself. That is your level of awareness.

That is your state of obedience. Not only in salah, not only when you recite the Qur’an, not only when you engage in the dhikr (remembrance) of Allah but throughout your life you reach that level of awareness, devotion and concentration in your ibad’ah that you behave respectfully towards Allah عز وجل and you behave in such a state as though you are constantly seeing Allah سبحانه وتعالى.

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Rasulullah (Allah bless him & give him peace) said: “Of all the days, Friday is the most virtuous. It is on this day that the trumpet will be blown. Send abundant durood upon me on

Fridays because they are presented to me on that day. ” The Sahabah radiallahu anhum asked: “O Rasulullah! How will they be presented to you when even your bones will not be present

after your death?” Rasulullah (Allah bless him & give him peace) replied: “Allah Ta’ala has made the earth haraam upon the prophets forever . ” (Abu Dawud)
Media and Islam: War or Peace - Dr. Zakir Naik
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96JClil ... tml5=False

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It is related by Abdullah bin Masood that the Apostle of God said:
“The tears that fall from the eyes of a truthful Believer, out of the fear of the Lord, and, then, roll down his face, however little they are, even of the size of a fly [i.e., just one drop], shall prevent the Fire of Hell from [touching] his face.”
[Ibn Majah]

Commentary

It shows that the face that gets wet, at any time, with tears shed in response to the fear of the Lord will remain protected from the Fire of Hell.

generally, means that it is the characteristic attribute of that deed, and God will keep him safe from the infernal Fire who will carry it out provided that he is not guilty of a mortal sin which calls for the punishment of Fire, or if he has ever committed a sin entailing damnation, he has offered sincere repentance for it and resolved not to do it again
كوري يسأل : كيف نعيش بلا حروب ؟ - ذاكر نايك Zakir Naik
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHZoao9poIw

يرد الدكتور ذاكر على شبهة العين الحمئة في سورة الكهف - Zakir Naik
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljGK2NK3whU

My Journey To Islam Sister Layla Singleton
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L18XWSYXxQ

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It is related by Abbas bin Adbul Muttalib that he heard the Apostle of God say: “He tasted the flavour of Faith and experienced its sweetness who agreed with a truthful heart to accept God as His Cherisher, Islam as his religion, and Muhammad as his Prophet.” [Bukhari]



Just as all delicious foods posses a flavour but can be perceived only when one’s faculty of taste has not been lost or become perverted due to illness or any other cause, there is also a special sweetness in faith which can be enjoyed by those alone who have, willingly and earnestly, made Allah their Lord and Master, Muhammad (PBUH) their prophet and guide, and Islam their religion and way of life, and whose hearts have bowed in submission to God and yielded in obedience to the prophet and assented to be the adherents of the path of Islam. In other words, their bond with God, the prophet and Islam is not merely formal, hereditary or intellectual but real, sincere and genuine.



Anas related to us that “Only he will taste the sweetness of faith who has these three qualities: the love of God and the prophet that comes to him before everything else, he loves whom he loves solely for the sake of God, and the idea of going back to apostasy after he has embraced Islam is as repugnant to him as being thrown into fire.”

[Bukhari and Muslim]



The subject matter of this tradition is almost identical to that of proceeding one. It says that the sweetness of faith can only be perceived by him whose love for God and the Apostle is stronger that for anyone or anything else in the world, so much so that when he loves somebody, it is wholly for the sake of God, and who is so deeply devoted to the Islamic faith that the very idea of leaving it and reverting back to the apostasy is as painful to him as being cast into fire

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Moderation in Human Relations

“Love your friend moderately lest he becomes your enemy one day, and hate your enemy moderately lest he becomes your friend one day!” Tirmidhi

When we get extremely close to people and lower our guard by letting them know every detail of our life, trusting them with everything, a day can come when we regret because they can hold us ransom with what they know about us if the friendship is broken f…or some reason.

At times we cannot correct people because we have allowed them to get so close to us that they would use against us some of what they know of us.

Similarly when we dislike someone, we should never oppress them or do something unbecoming of a true believer as a day may come when a strong friendship is developed between us and we are embarrassed by past actions.

Amazing piece of advice which is worth pondering over and making good use of in our lives. An enemy can become a very great friend or relative and a friend can become a fierce enemy.

“The Almighty is all able to create between you and your enemies a strong bond of friendship for indeed Allah is All Able, Allah is Most Forgiving Most Merciful


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In the name of Allah, Most Beneficient, Most Merciful

It is related that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said ‘If the one passing in front of the one praying knew what was against him, his waiting forty would be better for him than passing in front of him.’ [Bukhari] Abu al-Nadr, one of the sub narrators, said ‘I don’t know whether he said forty days, or months or years’. In a version narrated by al-Bazzar the hadith reads ‘forty autumns’.

The offence being as serious as it is, the scholars defined what constitutes passing in front of somebody praying. If the one praying is in an open space or a large mosque, the scholars differed concerning what is considered passing in front, both opinions being deemed strong and follow-able.


One opinion is that it is passing by his place of prostration, such that if one where to pass in front of him but beyond his immediate place of prostration there would be no sin upon one. The other opinion, which is ibn Abidins preference, is that one would be considered passing in front if one is within the field of vision of the one praying if his eyes were fixed on his place of prostration.

If the one praying is in a room or a small mosque then one will be sinful for passing in front regardless of how far in front of him one is. Ibn Abidin defines a small mosque as being forty cubits.

However, is the one passing in front always to blame?

The possible scenarios that may occur are four,

1. The one passing has an alternative to passing in front and the one praying did not pray in a place where he is in people’s way.
-In this case the sin is only on the one passing.

2. The one passing has no alternative to passing and the one praying was in a place where he would be in people’s way.
-The sin in this case is solely on the one praying.

3. The one passing has an alternative to passing in front and the one praying was in a place where he would get in people’s way.
-The sin is on both of them.

4. Neither does the one passing have an alternative nor is the one praying in people’s way. -The sin is on neither of them.

In all of these cases the one passing in front would be free from sin if the one praying were to keep a sutra in front of him. A sutra is an object of about a cubit in height that one places in front of one as one prays.

One last scenario that is relevant to mention is that if someone prays near the entrance of the mosque or without filling in the gaps in the row in front, one can walk in front of him to fill in the gaps. [Radd al-Muhtar, 1:427, Dar Li Ihya al-Turath al-‘Arabi]

Looking now to the question at hand, if the mosque is considered a large mosque then there is no problem at all as there is no harm in walking in front of somebody by a few

metres in a small mosque. If it is not a large mosque then there still is no sin on the men as they are walking to fill in the rows which they can not do with out walking in front of the women.

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Allah says in the Quran what means

:

{Glory be to Him Who made His servant to go on a night from the Sacred Mosque to the remote mosque of which We have blessed the precincts, so that We may show to him some of Our signs; surely He is the Hearing, the Seeing.} (Al-Israa' 17:1)


There is no doubt that Al-Isra (the night journey) followed by Al-Miraj (the heavenly ascension) was one of the miracles in the life of our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). According to the most accepted view, it happened on the 27th of Rajab, the seventh month of the Hijri calendar, in the tenth year of Muhammad's prophethood.

It is reported in Hadith literature, that the Messenger of Allah was carried from the Sacred Mosque in Makkah to the "Farthest Mosque" (Al-Masjid al-Aqsa) in Jerusalem on a creature called Al-Buraq in the company of the archangel Gabriel (peace be upon him). There he led a congregational prayer of the prophets of God.


Then Gabriel took him to the heavens where he met the prophets Adam, John, Jesus, Idris, Aaron and Moses (peace be on them all). In the seventh heaven, he met Abraham (peace be on him).

He was then brought to the Divine Presence. The details of this encounter are beautifully detailed in the beginning of surat An-Najm (52).


Prayer: God-given Gift


During this time, Allah ordered for his nation fifty daily Prayers. But on the Prophet's return, he was told by Prophet Moses (peace be on him) that his followers could not perform fifty Prayers. Thus, he went back and eventually it was reduced to five daily Prayers. After this, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) returned to Makkah on the same night itself.


Therefore, Muslims should be thankful to Allah for this gift. They should take care of it and never neglect it. It is the thing that allows the Muslim to communicate with the creator five times as day.

Time and Space Are Not Bound for Allah


One major lesson of that miraculous event, was that space and time which are bound by laws of nature for humans, are not so bound for Allah. On that night prophet Muhammad bridged time and space and this world, traveling to the heavens by Allah's will.

I believe that for those who study philosophy the abstract as well as the symbolic implications of the event might be very stimulating indeed. The gap between the reality of this life and that of the life to come simply diminished. This is illustrated by the Prophet's encounter with other prophets who were long since dead as far as we normally think of it but who, in reality, live as beings in a different form somewhere else.

The implications of the night journey cannot be overstated. The miraculous nature of the Prophet's journey established his divine-stated legitimacy as the seal of all prophets. Allah brought him to Him to show us his true worth in the sight of Allah.

All religious traditions share the concept of miracles, that is, something that defies logic, nature, or the established constitution and course of things.


We will limit our discussion to legitimate miracles from Allah, which are by definition the only true miracles. When the forces of disbelief are strong, typically the prophetic miracles that oppose them are stronger.

Prophet Moses was given several miracles, which included his staff that turned into a massive snake and culminated in his parting of the Red Sea, as a divine response to the extreme infidelity of Pharaoh.

Similarly, Prophet Jesus was given even the power to raise the dead, in order to establish his legitimacy before the Jews who would ultimately condemn him to death for blasphemy. Nevertheless, his miracles were undeniable by their nature, and it was only the obstinacy and arrogance of the people to whom he was sent that enabled them to deny him.

Muhammad's night journey was obviously not easy for the pagan Makkans to believe. Nevertheless, the Prophet proved it logically by describing the approaching caravans that he overtook on his miraculous return.


Thus, this particular prophetic miracle not only established the Prophet's eminence for Muslims as discussed above, but it also helped to prove his prophethood to the non-believers of his time.

Celebrating the Event


As far as the Muslims are concerned, there is no particular celebration, fast or prayer to commemorate Al-Isra and Al-Miraj. But in some places, the Muslims themselves have started to have commemorative functions, where the story of the night journey is told in poetry or lectures.


While the Prophet himself did not establish these practices, there are scholars who maintain that gatherings meant to remind the Muslims of the importance of Al-Miraj in the history of Islam, or to remind us of the importance of love for the Prophet and the significance of the city of Jerusalem, are permissible.


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Narrated: Abdullah bin Abbas
who said : One day I was behind the prophet and he said to me: "Young man, I shall teach you some words [of advice] : Be mindful of Allah, and Allah will protect you. Be mindful of Allah, and you will find Him in front of you. If you ask, ask of Allah; if you seek help, seek help of Allah.

Know that if the Nation were to gather together to benefit you with anything, it would benefit you only with something that Allah had already prescribed for you, and that if they gather together to harm you with anything, they would harm you only with something Allah had already prescribed for you. The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried." narrated by Termithi,

who said it is true and fine hadith In a version other than that of Tirmithi it reads: "..Be mindful of Allah, you will find Him before you. Get to know Allah in prosperity and He will know you in adversity. Know that what has passed you by was not going to befall you; and that what has befallen you was not going to pass you by. And know that victory comes with patience, relief with affliction, and ease with hardship."


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Avoiding Contention.

The Prophet, sallallaahu alayhe wa sallam, said, “If a man gives up contention when he is in the wrong, a house will be built for him within the Garden of Paradise; but if a man gives up contention, even when he is in the right, a house will be built for him in the loftiest part of the Garden.” (Termithi) The value of this advice lies in the fact that contention and disputes lead to a breakdown in the relationship, even rancor, enmity, and hostility. I have worked with many families where this has occurred and it can be very difficult to mend the wounds that have been created and to bring family members back together. It goes without saying that it is best to completely avoid reaching this low level.


Let us all work to improve our style of communication and our relationships with each other. When our children feel that their parents understand them and are willing to listen to them, they will open up their hearts and trust will develop. Effective teaching and discipline cannot be implemented without a certain level of trust, understanding, and mutual respect.

If you are concerned about your children in a non-Muslim environment and it is affecting the way you interact with them, the best you can do is teach and advise them, give them responsibility, trust them, and let them know that you care for them. We can then make du’a and rely upon Allah’s Grace and Assistance. This is our best weapon in a world of non-belief. May Allah help each of us to strengthen the ties that bind us together as a family and bring happiness and contentment to our homes.

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