In a time
where his teachings are being grossly misinterpreted, here are some
practical pieces of advice from the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). These are
humanitarian principles, not just Muslim principles, from a man who promoted
love, peace
and compassion.
All
of these extracts are from the Prophet’s advice to his companion Abu
Dharr al Ghifarri who once saw him alone in his mosque in Madinah
and took the opportunity to seek counsel.
1. Take advantage of your youth, health, wealth, time and
life
“Oh Abu Dharr! Take advantage of
five things before five things seize you; Your youth before Your old age, your health before your sickness, Your wealth
before your poverty, your spare time before your being busy and your life
before you death.”
This
beautiful tradition highlights the importance of not taking our bounties
for granted. It is only when they are removed that we will appreciate their
significance.
2. Don’t procrastinate
“Oh Abu Dharr! Beware of
Procrastination for you are (in) today and not (in) tomorrow. If there is a tomorrow for you, be tomorrow as
you are today. If there isn’t a tomorrow for
you, you will grievously regret the opportunity you missed today.”
Whether it be
an upcoming exam or a looming work deadline, we all know the danger of
procrastination. The Prophet is clearly a now person, as the
following tradition also suggests:
“Oh Abu Dharr! When you wake up
in the morning don’t talk to yourself about tonight and when night has come don’t worry of the morning for surely you
don’t know what your state will be tomorrow.”
3. Don’t waste your time
“And know that in you are two
(dangerous) qualities; laughing at something not amusing and laziness when not
tired.”
In a day
where social media
has become the biggest procrastinator to affect us (you might have encountered
this article by doing exactly this!), the Prophet warns of two potential
dangers this presents. Whereas social media initially allowed friends and
family to keep in touch, it is now inundated with
viral videos and
entertaining forwards – we are all guilty of lazing around for hours on end
scrolling down and refreshing our feeds with no real purpose.
4. Admit your ignorance
“Oh Abu Dharr! When you are asked
of some knowledge you know not of say, “I do not know!” You will be saved of
its consequences. Don’t make judgment of that which you haven’t knowledge.”
In an age
where information is available at the fingertips, from the trusted Sheikh Google, it is easy to fall into the trap of
regarding ourselves as scholars in every field, even if all our knowledge is
only from a few Wikipedia searches! This quote advises us to save ourselves
from embarrassment by admitting ignorance in such situations.
5. Practice what you preach
“Oh Abu Dharr! There will be a
day when a group of people of Paradise will be over a group of people of Hell
and they will say, “What has made you enter hell-fire? For surely we entered
paradise by you teaching us and your disciplining (educating) us!” They will
say: We used to bid others to do good while we ourselves didn’t do it.”
This is a
chilling message. Educating others but then not acting on that advice – a trap
I hope not to fall into by writing this article! The Prophet here warns very
clearly about avoiding hypocrisy: practise what you preach.
6. Don’t belittle your sins
“Surely the believer sees his sin
as if it is a boulder, he fears that it will fall on him and surely the
unbeliever sees his sin as if it is a fly passing on his nose. Oh Abu Dharr!
Surely Allah (s), when He wills good for a servant he puts his sins before his
two eyes. When he wills bad for a servant he makes him forget his sins.”
Every action
against the command of God should be significant for a true believer. It is
dangerous when we start to disregard our sins, because either our belief is
waning, or it shows a disconnection with God. The Prophet goes on to explain
why each sin is significant with a quite remarkable quote:
“Oh Abu Dharr! Don’t look at the
smallness of the sin but look at the one you disobeyed.”
7. Prioritise your prayers
“Oh Abu Dharr! Allah…has made me
to love Salat like food is made loveable to the hungry and water to the
thirsty. And surely the hungry one, when he eats, he is satiated and the
thirsty one, when he drinks he is quenched but I am not satiated from Salat.”
The Prophet’s
love for prayer is outstanding – whereas we often regard Salat as an obligation
or a chore, the Prophet yearns for it and this desire never subsides. He
explains the importance of Salat as a medium to ask for desires:
“Oh Abu Dharr! Surely, so long as
you are in Salat, you are knocking on the door of the Great King, and whoever
knocks much on the door of the King it will be opened for him”
8. Don’t become attached to this world
“Oh Abu Dharr! This world is the
prison of the believer and the paradise of the unbeliever.”
Quality of
life is now defined by our material assets and our ability to live it to the
fullest, but the Prophet sees things differently. He warns of the risks where
he says:
“Oh Abu Dharr! Love of wealth and
honour are stronger in stripping a man of his religion than two ferocious
wolves in a cattle pen of sheep; so they attack in it until morning. So what
will remain of it? So I said, “Oh Messenger of Allah (S), the fearful humble
lowly people who remember Allah much, will they be the first among mankind to
go to heaven?” So he said, “No. But it will be the poor among the Muslims. They
will come outstripping the necks of mankind. The Keepers of Heaven will say to
them, “Like that you are until you are accounted of!” So they will say, “About
what shall we be accounted for, for by Allah we didn’t own anything by which we
could oppress or do justice and we weren’t given (wealth) so we could withhold
or give (to others) but we worshipped our Lord until He called us so we
answered.”
9. Be your own accountant for your deeds
“Oh Abu Dharr! Take account of
yourself before you’re taken account of so your accounting will be easier tomorrow. And weigh yourself before you are weighed and prepare for the great
staging; the day you will be presented, not the least of a hidden thing of you
will be hidden from Allah.”
We already
know the criteria that will be used to determine our outcome on Judgement Day,
so it makes sense to evaluate our progress in this life by reflecting regularly
on our actions. The Prophet shows that this is a prerequisite to piety, and
that an honest livelihood is key to this:
“Oh Abu Dharr! A man cannot be
among the pious until his accounting of himself is stronger than the accounting
a (business) partner takes of his partner. So he knows from where his food
comes from and from where his drink comes from and from where his cloths come
from; from a lawful means or from a prohibited one. Oh Abu Dharr! Whoever
doesn’t care from where he earns his money, Allah doesn’t care from where He
will enter him into Hell.”
10. Quality is better than quantity
“Oh Abu Dharr! The Virtue of
knowledge is greater than that of worship. And know you that if you prayed
until your back becomes bent and you fasted until you became thin as strings
that would not benefit you unless it is done with piety.”
We often see
Islam as a list of rituals, and class the most devout in worship as the most
pious, whereas this narration suggests otherwise. In another similar narration,
the Prophet says:
“Oh Abu Dharr! Two moderate
cycles of prayer (rak’at) with pondering is better than standing all night in
prayer with a neglectful heart”
11. Remember God in times of ease
“Shall I not teach you words
which may benefit you by Allah’s help? I said: Yes, Oh Messenger of Allah. He
(SA) said: Get to know Allah (SWT) in your time of leisure and comfort and
Allah (SWT) will remember you in your hard times.”
This hadith
gives me goosebumps! We often fall into the trap of remembering God before an
exam or a job interview, but when things are going smoothly, He is stored
somewhere in the distance until we need Him again.
12. Stay away from gossip
“Oh Abu Dharr! Beward of
backbiting, for backbiting is worse than adultery! So I asked, “Oh Messenger of
Allah, and why is that? He (SA) said: Because a man can commit adultery and
then repent to Allah (SWT) and Allah (SWT) can forgive him. But the backbiting
cannot be forgiven until those who were backbit forgive first.”
Whereas most
sins can be forgiven by asking God for forgiveness, the Prophet highlights that
if you speak ill of somebody else, they need to forgive
you – and we all know how embarrassing that conversation would be. The safest
option, as he advises Abu Dharr, is to keep ourselves well away from gossip in
the first place:
“Oh Abu Dharr! Leave that which
you have nothing to do with. Do not speak of that which does.
