The Pearls of Islam

21st February 2011 17 Rabee Al-Awal Volume 3 Issue 8 by Shadi Abdel-Gadir

Reminder Series

Perfecting Our Character

Having good morals and manners is an essential requisite of our faithand that takes much thought and effort. The Beloved Messenger of Allah said: The best amongst you are the best in character and manners. (AlBukhaari) What is good character? How can we do good things? The simplest way to answer these questions is to look at the Messenger of Allah as a role model. Allah says about him in the Quran (what means): You have indeed in the Messenger of Allah a beautiful pattern (of conduct) for any one whose hope is in Allah and the Final Day, and who engages much in the Praise of Allah. [Quran 33:21] One salient attribute of the Prophets (pbuh) character was perfectionand that he sought perfection in everything he did. He was the best father, the best husband, the best leader, the best teacher, and the best friend. According to his Companions he was known to be the most honest, patient, trustworthy, gracious, compassionate person of their time. The lesson for us is to perfect everything we do, however small or mundane. Although he (pbuh) was the leader of all the Muslims, he was humble. When someone would speak to him, he would turn around fully to talk. He did not answer carelessly while walking away nor did he merely turn his head towards them. When he walked into a congregation, he never demanded to sit at the center or near the front. He just sat wherever he found space. The way to establish a good moral code is to clear our heads of bad ideas and interpretations. We have to teach ourselves different and better ways to analyse ideas and events that we may come across. This may sound easy, but for most of us it requires intense training and effort. Let us look at some scenarios as examples. Let us say we are going out for a walk. We are walking along and we get stopped by a homeless person who asks us for money for food. Some of us will completely ignore this person and include him in a stereotype we might have of homeless people. We might think that this person will use the money for cigarettes or alcohol. We might even wonder why this person does not have a job like the rest of us. Enter our new and improved moral codewe can either give this person money for the sake of Allah and ask him to buy food with it or we can run over to the nearest fast food restaurant and buy this person a meal. The Be the shining light in the dark sky lesson here is to never turn away a person who asks you for help. This was the character of our beloved Prophet (pbuh). The second scenario involves a friend who trusts you with a secret that he/she thinks is important. You promise him/her not to tell anyone. Shortly after, you are speaking with a mutual friend and you think his/her secret would make a nice conversation topic. After all, you do not know why your friend is making such a big deal out of his/her little secret. Besides, you are going to make the person you are telling promise not to tell anyone, just like you did. Enter moral code and you stop, reminding yourself that a promise is a promise.The lesson here is to be trustworthy, whether it is with feelings, thoughts, and emotions or with material possessions. This also was one of the Prophets (pbuh) great characteristics. Before we act or react to anything, we should ask ourselves: What would the Prophet (pbuh) have done? The prayer and fasting alone will not guarantee us Paradise. Righteous, positive character is Islamic character. Once we develop a more positive, Islamic approach on the events that occur, we will perfect our character.