A Beautiful Pattern of Conduct
In
the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Words
to live by from the lips of the Key of Mercy, the Key of Paradise, the Spirit
of Truth, the Delight of Allah, our Master Muhammad (may blessings and peace be
upon him),
“Anger ruins faith as aloe spoils
honey.” (Narrated by al-Bayhaqi in his Shu’ab al-Iman.)
Hatreds
never cease through hatred; through love alone do they end.
“A
judge must not deliver a judgment between two people when he is angry.”
(Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim.)
“The
strong man is not he who overpowers another, but the strong man is he who
restrains himself when angry.” (Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim.)
Once
in battle, Hazrat ‘Ali (may Allah be well pleased with him) squared off against
a ferocious warrior, and managed to get the upper hand by knocking his opponent
down. His sword was raised ready to deliver the final blow, when the enemy spat
in his face. Hazrat ‘Ali’s face flushed red with anger, and yet a sudden change
came over him. He sheathed his sword and walked away. His enemy was stupefied,
since his last act of defiance should have squandered any hope of receiving
mercy. He scrambled to his feet and pursued Hazrat ‘Ali (may Allah ennoble his
countenance) and asked for an explanation. The Prophet’s beloved son-in-law
replied: “I had intended to kill you, but you aroused my anger, and I am
obliged to never act violently in anger. I had to use force to stop you from
destroying the faith. But as soon as my personal pride intervened, the matter
was finished: I could not act.”
“Whoever
restrains his anger, Allah will withhold His punishment from him on the Day of
Judgment. (Narrated by al-Bayhaqi in his Shu’ab al-Iman.)
The
Beloved of Allah (may blessings and peace be upon him) counseled a man by
saying: “Do not become angry.” He repeated this guidance thrice. (Narrated by
al-Bukhari in his Sahih.)
When
the people of Ta’if rejected Islam in the year AD 619, they reviled and
insulted the Prophet (may blessings and peace be upon him). He sought safety
and peace in a private orchard, and offered the following prayer: “O Allah,
unto Thee do I complain of my weakness, of my helplessness, and of my lowliness
before men. O Most Merciful of the merciful, Thou art Lord of the weak. And
Thou art my Lord. Into whose hands wilt Thou entrust me? Unto some far-off
stranger who will ill-treat me? Or unto a foe whom Thou has empowered against
me? I care not, so that Thou be not wroth with me. But Thy
favoring help—that were for me the broader way and the wider scope! I take
refuge in the Light of Thy countenance whereby all darknesses are illuminated
and the things of this world and the next are rightly ordered, lest Thou make
descend Thine anger upon me, or lest Thy wrath beset me. Yet it is Thine to reproach
until Thou art well pleased. There is no power and no might except through
Thee.”[1]
Two
men of Quraysh had seen what had happened to our Master Prophet Muhammad (may
blessings and peace be upon him), so they called a young Christian slave of
theirs named ‘Addas and told him to take a cluster of grapes to him. ‘Addas did
has they had ordered, and when the Prophet put his hand to the grapes he said:
“In the Name of Allah.” The slave looked keenly into his face; then he said:
“Those words are not what the people of this country say.” “From what country
art thou?” said the Prophet. “And what is thy religion?” “I am a Christian,” he
said, “of the people of Nineveh.” “From the city of the righteous man Jonah,
the son of Matta,” said the Prophet. “How knowest thou aught of Jonah the son
of Matta?” said ‘Addas. “He is my brother,” was the answer. “He was a Prophet,
and I am a Prophet.” Then ‘Addas bent over him and kissed his head and his
hands and his feet.
When
the Qurayshi men saw this, they asked their slave: “Out upon thee, ‘Addas! What
made thee kiss that man’s head and his hands and his feet?” He answered: “Master,
there is nothing on earth better than this man. He hath told me of things that
only a Prophet could know.”[2] After this incident in Ta’if, the
Sublime Lord blessed the Prophet (may blessings and peace be upon him) with the
Light of His countenance on the Night of Ascension (‘Isra and Mi’raj).
The people of Ta’if also embraced Islam in the year AD 630.
Shaykh
Shihabuddin Yahya al-Suhrawardi (may Allah sanctify his splendid innermost
being) in his Hayakal al-Nur reminds us that “All the holy
mysteries—Allah’s words addressed to men in the one hundred tablets of early
scripture, the Psalms of David, the Torah, and the Gospels—are contained within
the Qur’an. The whole of the Holy Qur’an is contained within the Surah al-Fatihah,
the Opening Chapter:
In
the Name of Allah,
the
Beneficent, the Compassionate.
Praise
be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds,
the
Beneficent, the Compassionate.
Master
of the Day of Judgment.
You
do we worship and
Your
aid do we seek.
Show
us the straight path,
the
path of those on whom
You
have bestowed Your grace,
those
who go not astray,
and
do not receive Your wrath.
The
whole of the Fatihah is contained in the beginning line, ‘In the Name of
Allah, the Beneficent, the Compassionate.’”[3]
O
Divine Master, guide those who are misguided to Your light. Open up our hearts
to the beauty, excellence, and perfection of Your Beloved and shower Your
choicest blessings and salutations of peace upon him, and upon his noble Family
and righteous Companions. Amin.
May
we die with Islam following the Sunnah; and may we learn to control our anger,
and become powerful believers like our Master Hazrat ‘Ali (may Allah be well
pleased with him), who brought a fierce opponent to Islam through strict
adherence to the words and rarefied example of our liege-lord Muhammad (may
blessing and peace be upon him). Amin.
[1] Martin Lings, Muhammad: His Life
Based on the Earliest Sources (Rochester: Inner Traditions, 2006), 101.
[2] Ibid., 101-2.
[3] Hazrat Shihabuddin Yahya
al-Suhrawardi, The Shape of Light (Louisville: Fons Vitae, 2006), trans.
Shaykh Tosun Bayrak al-Jerrahi al-Halveti, 39.
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