- Islamic Biography / Prophetic Biography
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- The prophet's exemplary behaviour
The social environment crucial in human life:
Pay attention to the following Hadith, please:
(Abu Musa Al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard the Prophet (PBUH) saying, "The similitude of good company and that of bad company is that of the owner of musk and of the one blowing the bellows. The owner of musk would either offer you some free of charge, or you would buy it from him, or you smell its pleasant fragrance; and as for the one who blows the bellows (i.e., the blacksmith), he either burns your clothes or you smell a repugnant smell".)
The most crucial thing in your life after having faith in Allah and acquiring sound Aqeedah in your soul is the environment you live in, for it either draws you closer to Allah or it drags you to Hellfire. Hence, the environment is very important, given it includes your neighbors, colleagues, the people you befriend, the people you spend your time with, those you travel with and those you deal with. The importance of this environment comes from the fact that it helps you draw closer to Allah, and it increases your faith, or it causes you head towards Hellfire, go astray or turn away from Allah.
The prudent person is the one who is keen on choosing his friends, colleagues and the people around him. In a moment of heedlessness a word of evil might find its way to man's heart and due to it, he may incline to his desires, to the worldly life, to laziness and to comfort, or an evil thought might be said by a Kafir or a corrupted person which might put man at ease and make him go along with his desires, so he adopts it.
The Prophetic Sunnah is a Divine Revelation so it must be followed:
Let me highlight a very precise idea: The Prophet PBUH called to Allah, and we should follow his steps accurately and to the letter by following his Sunnah and his way in spreading the word of truth. Since his Sunnah is a Divine Revelation, it should be followed, but what is happening nowadays? Under the pretext of having a dialogue and a debate (between different cultures and religions), making use of media, in some channels two guests are invited, one of them is a Mulhid (an atheist) and the other is a Muslim, then a debate starts between the two. The concepts of the Muslim and the ones of the Kafir are spread all over the TV channels, so hundreds of millions watch and listen to them, and because most people have tendencies towards relaxing, lusts, shortcomings and the pleasures of the worldly life, they find the Kafir's ideas interesting, so they hold on to them. Accordingly, those who are attracted to the twisted concept do not listen to the opposite opinions of the Muslim which refute them, and this method is wrong, and it is very dangerous (because it spreads corrupted concepts).
I thought one day of this example: if an illiterate person is asked, "What do we do to a patient's blocked artery? Do we open it by blowing a balloon in it or do we replace it with an artery taken from his leg?", he will not be able to answer these questions, because he is illiterate, and he is ignorant about medicine. Such a case is very complicated, and only a PHD cardiologist can answer these questions.
Much in the same line, when we discuss controversial religious issues in front of people who are ignorant of religious knowledge, and they do not have the ground, the principle or the means to handle these sophisticated concepts, we are introducing them to the controversial religious issues, instead of teaching them the fundamentals of Islam to make them their reference in everything. Not to mention, we throw them into the middle of minor issues which are not basics in Islam.
We should follow the exact way of the Prophet's Da'wah:
According to this fact, we should follow the Prophetic Sunnah in calling to Allah, and avoid giving the floor to a Kafir to express his corrupted concepts, which is very dangerous. For example, one of the shows I have just referred to raises the issue of cutting the hand of the thief saying, "Cutting the hand of the thief is brutal, and we are in the era of civilization and science, so we can deter this thief in other ways." This means that they doubt the Lord's Orders, as if they were saying that Allah is wrong (Sublime be He from such assumption). Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ Cut off (from the wrist joint) the (right) hand of the thief, male or female,﴿
This is the Noble Quran, but enemies have gradually fought it, how? First they said, "Fiqh is old, so it needs rejuvenating", and in this quest they have gone two ways: in the first way, they suggest, "We do not want the Sunnah, and we want only the Quran as reference." In the second way, they suggest, "We do not want the Quran as a reference either".
When you reject Allah's Order in cutting the hand of the thief, you are actually rejecting the Quran. Had Allah said, "Deter the thief, male or female", we would have found ways to deter them, and every era would have had its own way to deter them. However, putting someone on a TV channel to express his opinion in front of millions of spectators about this subject by saying that cutting the hand of the thief is brutal, and it does not befit our era is a method of calling to Allah that was never followed by the Prophet PBUH.
It is very grave to give a chance to an atheist or a disbeliever on TV channels to spread his falsehood, so we should pay heed and never give this chance to a non-religious person, letting him poison millions of minds by his opinions and fabrications. Unfortunately, most of our brother in gulf area do that, and they have such shows, debates and symposiums which become the focus of interest to most people, and the interviewer is obviously biased to the other side (the non-Islamic person). Also, when he finds that the proofs of the Muslim guest are about to refute the falsehood of the atheist guest, he silences him and gives the microphone to the other person. Later on, and to our surprise we found out that the owner of the channel in which such shows are broadcasted is a Jew! What do you think? He is a Jewish millionaire!
Destruction from within:
There is a method called "Destruction from within" which is followed to destroy Islam, so we should not be naïve as long as we have the Quran and Sunnah in our hands. Moreover, the Prophet PBUH taught us practically how to call to Allah the Almighty, and as far as I know he never held a debate, and had it been a good method, he would have used it, and he would have brought a Kafir from Quraish and would have asked him to tell his opinion to Muslims, only he never did that.
The methods which were not followed by the Prophet PBUH in calling to Allah the Almighty should not be followed by us. We should call to Allah according to the Prophetic method which includes answering questions, but allowing someone to spread his falsehood right and left is very dangerous.
Actually, when the environment invites man to sin, sins will become easy to be committed, simply because they prevail in his environment which is full of desires, corruptions and deviations, and in such a society sinning becomes very normal. The Prophet PBUH said:
((The similitude of good company and that of bad company is that of the owner of musk and of the one blowing the bellows. …))
As a believer in Allah, the most important issue after having faith in Allah is your environment, s0 you should spend your time with believers, go for picnics with believers, sit with believers, befriend believers, invite believers, accept the invitations of believers and take a business partner from the believers, otherwise, you will be in trouble, because if the one you are close to is heedless, he may negatively affect you, given man is as the Prophet PBUH described in the following Du'a (supplication):
((O Allah do not let goodness comes to me from a Kafir or Munafiq))
Man might incline to him. The Prophet PBUH said:
((The similitude of good company and that of bad company is that of the owner of musk and of the one blowing the bellows. The owner of musk would either offer you some free of charge, or you would buy it from him, or you smell its pleasant fragrance; …))
This Hadith is very accurate, for the believer is like the one who sells roses or perfume, and the customers either smell the good smell of roses or the nice smell of fragrances, and one of them may also try one of the perfumes. Thus, in both cases it is beneficial to them, but if someone enters a working place of a blacksmith, and he is dressed in a new suit, he may get out having a hole in his suit, and he would wonder, "Where did that come from?" This hole probably comes from a spark which burns the suit, and this is the least one gets upon entering a blacksmith's working place.
Being lonely is better than having bad company:
It is said, "Being lonely is even better than having bad company", so stay alone if your friends are bad. Allah the Almighty says:
﴾Then seek refuge in the Cave, your Lord will open a way for you from His Mercy and will make easy for you your affair (i.e. will give you what you will need of provision, dwelling, etc.)."﴿
The cave which is mentioned in the Ayah refers to the cave they resort to, but it metaphorically refers to your house if the environment around you is bad and dissolute, men and women mingle together, dirty jokes are told and obscene movies are watched, and if it is an environment of artists. In such a case you should stay away from this environment, and it is better to stay alone. On the other hand, if there are religious sessions in your society, and chaste brother, believers and good people are around you, do not stay alone, because you might get estranged.
((…for unity is a mercy and disunity is a torment))
((It is narrated by Umar that the Prophet PBUH said: "Whosoever hopes for the affluence of Paradise has to adhere to the group of the Muslims. Satan can overcome the one alone, but it is harder to overcome the two."))
((One should be steadfast to the group of Muslims because the wolf eats the one sheep out of the herd that is grazing alone.))
The environment is an accurate scale (to evaluate someone), and so it is very crucial. How many believers led other believers to the Right Path? How many believers backslid, because they befriended non-believers? The friend affects his friend substantially. We studied in psychology that 60% of the factors that influence the child's behavior and manners in childhood is from his friends which is more than the influence of the child's parents. Hence, when man befriends a bad person, bad ideas will sneak into his mind subconsciously, given the good friend is like the perfume seller from whom you buy perfume and get out of his store with a nice smell, while the bad friend is like the blacksmith who either burns your clothes or you get a bad smell from his working place. Allah the Almighty says:
﴾You (O Muhammad PBUH) will not find any people who believe in Allah and the Last Day, making friendship with those who oppose Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad ),﴿
Renouncing and allying are the most crucial things in Islam:
Renouncing and allying are crucial concepts in Islam. The believer should ally with other believers and renounce disbelievers, but if man allies with non-believers, or if he does not renounce them, he will face the danger of backsliding. Keep in mind that your allegiance should be only to Allah, His Messenger PBUH, His Awliyah and believers, and you should renounce disbelievers, polytheists and sinners.
If someone lacks the sense of smelling with which he may distinguish bad smells, he will be in big trouble (and this is the likeness of the one who has no sense of distinguishing the good company from the bad one). Some people easily blend in parties where they may hear bad jocks and obscene indications, and one of them may laugh and rejoices hearing them, and this is but a very dangerous approach. If you are not pure enough to get annoyed by such bad jokes or the like of dirty indications, then you have a big problem.
You may accompany the believer for years without hearing him say any bad word, simply because his soul and behavior are exaltedly cultivated, so he is very descent in the way he talks, explains things or discusses matters. Furthermore, such a person never says one dirty word or indicates anything that might abuse modesty. The main point is that you should be careful in picking your friends.
Man reaches the peak of happiness when people around him are his peers:
The peak of happiness is achieved when the people around man are like him. This is but honoring to man, because it means that he will spend his time, his visits, his picnics and his leisure with people who have the same manners of his. The Prophet PBUH honored his companions by saying:
((Verily, Allah has chosen me, and He has chosen my companions for me))
If man is heedless, and he reconciles with Allah, the first thing he should do is changing the people he accompanies, and this does not mean taking the old ones as enemies, but he should withdraw from their environment gradually until he breaks up with them entirely. After he strengthens his faith, befriends believers and acquires a sound religious ground, his heroism will be manifested in going back to his old company in order to bring them to the Right Path one by one.
Trying to bring them back to Allah is like a rope pulling, so if you are able to pull your old company to Allah, then stay with them, but if they are able to pull you back to the old condition you were in, then you should stay away from them. Generally speaking, if you are able to affect someone and pull him to obey Allah then stay with him, but if he endears the worldly life to you, and he manages to plant hatred towards religion and Islamic knowledge in you, then stay away from him. Hence, the gravest thing that is lurking for man (after turning back to Allah) is his company, for the friend is a puller (who pulls you either to goodness or evil).
The good social environment is one of the reasons behind the believer's exaltedness:
Allah the Almighty says:
﴾O you who believe! Be afraid of Allah, and be with those who are true (in words and deeds).﴿
﴾And keep yourself (O Muhammad PBUH) patiently with those who call on their Lord (i.e. your companions who remember their Lord with glorification, praising in prayers, etc., and other righteous deeds, etc.) morning and afternoon, seeking His Face, and let not your eyes overlook them, desiring the pomp and glitter of the life of the world﴿
There are other Prophetic As7adeth like the following:
((Abu Sa'eed narrated that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: "Do not accompany except a believer, and do not serve your food except to one with Taqwa."))
If you watch two different persons in that regard, you will find the one who has bad company is in continuous complaining against the people around him, whereas the other person never complains, for he befriends believers, and he has no problem at all, since his friends are not deceivers, they are not mean and they are not cheaters. On the contrary, they are honest, innocent, good and pure people.
The one who complains a lot against the people around him most likely has bad company, and his environment is bad though he might be a good person, but he has chosen a bad environment and his suffering is substantial. On the other hand, when I meet someone who is very relaxed, I know that his peace comes from choosing a good environment, given the good environment brings about happiness to man.
If you meet someone accidentally in a meeting, and he throws dirty jokes and sexual indications, he shows evil looks and he says bad words, you will belittle him. Such a man will not be good enough to be your friend, and he befits to be a friend of someone else other than you.
Some people cause your exaltedness upon befriending them, whereas sh3er make you hit rock bottom. Accordingly, we should be very keen on who we befriend, who we sit with, who we travel with and who we study with, given the good environment is one of the most important reasons of the believer's exaltedness. Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ Be afraid of Allah, and be with those who are true (in words and deeds) ﴿
It seems that this Ayah tells you that you will not be able to fear Allah unless you befriend righteous people. Someone might be very zealous in religion, his face is radiant and his soul is exalted, but he changes after he befriends a bad person who alienates him from the Masjid and from the fundamentals of this religion, and who endears to his heart the worldly life. The bottom line, we should keenly choose our friends.
By the way, as a father, you should always check on your son's friends. This is a very important point, because the company of your son are very dangerous, so you should watch him all the time, and if they are good, then this will be a hopeful indication, and it will bring comfort to you, but if, Allah forbid, his company are corrupted, then this is a very bad sign. How many people deflect from the Right Path because of a corrupted friend? In some cases, sons go so far in their deviation as to make reforming them very difficult especially when one of them backslides and sins, and repentance at that point becomes very difficult. Thus, paying heed from the beginning is much easier, and as it is said, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
