Nuh Ha Mim Keller - Adab of Islam

8/14/2019 Nuh Ha Mim Keller - Adab of Islam

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Adab of Islam

Nuh Ha Mim Keller

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, "When two vituperateeach other, [the sin of] what they say is borne by the one who first began, as longas the one wronged does not transgress [the bounds of merely defending himself,by answering back with worse]" (Muslim, 4.2000: 2587. S). And when a group ofJews covertly cursed the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) by using aplay on the words "as-Salamu 'alaykum," 'A'isha noticed it and gave them arounding, and he said, "Enough, 'A'isha; for Allah does not like vulgarity ormaking a display of it" (ibid., 1707: 2165(4). S). And in another version, "O'A'isha, always have gentleness, and always shun harsh words and vulgarity"(Bukhari, 8.15: 6030. S). This is the adab of Islam with hardened enemies, sohow should it not apply to our fellow Muslims, let alone family and loved ones?

It is of the adab of the high path of Islam to be honest when one speaks. TheProphet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, "Honesty certainly leads togoodness, and goodness leads to paradise. Truly, a man keeps speaking the truthuntil he is inscribed as being true through and through. And lying leads to goingwrong, and going wrong leads to hell. Truly, a man lies and lies until he isinscribed as being a liar through and through" (Muslim, 4.2012-13: 2607. S).

It is of the adab of the high path of Islam to completely abandon and shun guile,deceit, scornfulness, or sarcasm because these are unlawful. Allah Most Highsays, "O you who believe, let no men scorn other men, for they might well bebetter than they are. And let no women scorn other women, for they might well

be better than they. And do not find fault with one another, or give each otherinsulting nicknames" (Qur'an 49:11). And Allah Most High says, "Woe to whoeverdemeans others behind their back or to their face" (Qur'an 104:1). And theProphet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, "Let there be no harminganother, or harming him back. Whoever harms another Allah shall harm, andwhoever gives trouble to another Allah shall give trouble to" (Hakim, 2.58. Hg).

It is of the adab of the high path of Islam to abandon lying, for it is unlawful.Allah Most High curses liars by saying, "May liars be slain" (Qur'an 51:10), inwhich slain means "cursed" according to the Arabic idiom likening the accursed,who loses every good and happiness, to the slain, who loses life and every

blessing. The Qur'anic exegete al-Khazin notes that "May liars be cursed"originally referred to those who sat on the various roads outside Mecca warningpeople against the words of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) tokeep them from becoming Muslim. The verse, however, like other Qur'anicverses, is not limited to the original circumstances in which it was revealed, butapplies universally, to the end of time. Those who lie, except in circumstances inwhich Sacred Law permits it, are cursed by Allah.


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It is unlawful to lie, except when making up between two people, or lying to anenemy in war, or to one's wife. It is also unlawful to praise or blame another withan untruth. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, "Lying iswrong, except in three things: the lie of a man to his wife to make her contentwith him; a lie in war, for war is deception; or a lie to settle trouble betweenpeople" (Ahmad, 6.459. H). Ibn Jawzi has said, "The criterion for it is that everypraiseworthy objective in Sacred Law that cannot be brought about without lying

is permissible to lie for if the objective is permissible, and obligatory to lie for ifthe objective is obligatory." When lying is the only way to attain one's right, onemay lie about oneself or another, provided it does not harm the other. And it isobligatory to lie to if necessary to protect a Muslim from being murdered. Butwhenever one can accomplish the objective by words that merely give amisleading impression with actually being false, it is unlawful to tell an outrightlie, because it is unnecessary.

If one needs to swear a false oath in order to save a person whose life is unlawfulto take from being killed, then one must swear it, for saving such a person's life isobligatory, and if doing so depends on an oath, it is obligatory. Suwayd ibn

Handhala (Allah be well pleased with him) said: "We set out to the Messenger ofAllah (Allah bless him and give him peace) and Wa'il ibn Hajar was with us, andhe was captured by an enemy. The group was forced to swear an oath [that allwere of the same clan, which was under a protection agreement], so I swore thathe was my brother, and they released him. We reached the Messenger of Allah(Allah bless him and give him peace) and I told him that the group had beenforced to swear, and that I had sworn he was my brother, and he said, "You toldthe truth: the Muslim is the bother of the Muslim" (Abu Dawud, 3.224:3256. S).

The "Farewell Sermon" of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) athajj:

All praise is Allah's. We praise Him, seek His help, ask His forgiveness, and werepent unto Him. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our selves and our badactions. Whomever Allah guides none can lead astray, and whomever He leadsastray has no one to guide him. I testify that there is no god but Allah alone,without any partner, and I testify that Muhammad is his slave and messenger. Ienjoin you, O servants of Allah, to be godfearing towards Allah, I urge you to obeyHim, and I begin with that which is best.

To commence: O people, hear me well: I explain to you. For I do not know; I maywell not meet you again in this place where I now stand, after this year of mine.

O people: your lives and your property, until the very day you meet your Lord, areas inviolable to each other as the inviolability of this day you are now in, and themonth you are now in. Have I given the message?-O Allah, be my witness. So letwhoever has been given something for safekeeping give it back to him who gavehim it.

Truly, the usury of the Era of Ignorance has been laid aside forever, and the firstusury I begin with is that which is due to my father's brother 'Abbas ibn 'Abd al-


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He said, Then let whomever is present tell whomever is absent.

O people:, Allah has apportioned to every deserving heir his share of the estate,and no deserving heir may accept a special bequest, and no special bequest mayexceed a third of the estate. A child's lineage is that of the [husband who ownsthe] bed, and adulterers shall be stoned. Whoever claims to be the son ofsomeone besides his father or a bondsman who claims to belong to other than hismasters shall bear the curse of Allah and the angels and all men: no deflecting ofit or ransom for it shall be accepted from him.

And peace be upon all of you, and the mercy of Allah.

'Ata' ibn Abi Rabah, Mufti of Mecca (d. 114/732), of the generation that followedthat of the prophetic Companions (Sahaba) said of them, "They used to disliketalking more than necessary, and considered "more than necessary" to meanmore than your reciting the Qur'an, enjoining the right, forbidding the wrong, orspeaking about making a living, in the amount strictly necessary."

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, "Whoever believes inAllah and the Last Day should say something good or else be quiet" (Bukhari,8.13: 6019. S). He also said (Allah bless him and give him peace) "Whoever issilent is saved" (Ahmad, 2.159. S). And the Prophet (Allah bless him and give himpeace) said, "Verily the slave will say a word he thinks nothing of that Allah loves,for which Allah raises him whole degrees. And verily the slave will say a word hethinks nothing of that Allah detests, for which he plummets into hell" (Bukhari,8.125: 6478. S).

It is of the adab of Islam to know the value of one's word, not to give unless oneintends to keep it, and to keep it once it has been given. The Prophet (Allah bless

him and give him peace) said, "The signs of a hypocrite are three: when he speakshe lies, when he promises he breaks it, and when entrusted with something hebetrays it" (Bukhari, 1.15: 33. S).

When Abu Bakr was dying, he sent for 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (Allah be wellpleased with both of them), and told him, "O 'Umar, if you are given authorityover the people, fear Allah and hold fast to what is right. For the balance of thosewhose scale pans are heavy on Resurrection Day [with good deeds] shall only beheavy for their having followed what is right and its heaviness upon them; and itbefits the balance scale when what is right is placed in it tomorrow to be heavy.And the balance of those whose scale pans are light on Resurrection Day [because

of few good deeds] shall only be light for their having followed what is wrong andits ease upon them; and it befits the balance scale when what is wrong is placed init tomorrow to be light. And know that there are works for Allah at night that Hedoes not accept during the day, and that there are works during the day that Hedoes not accept at night. And that He does not accept a supererogatory work ofworship until the obligatory has been done."

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Nuh Ha Mim Keller - Adab of Islam