A summary of the previous lecture:

 Dear brother, we have reached the chapter of On Halal and Haram (On the Lawful and Unlawful) in Al-Ghazali's the book Ihya' Uloom Ad-Deen, and today we will talk about the grades of piety "Wara'. Last lecture, we talked about Wara' Al-Udul (Devoutness of the Just, which, if breached, inevitably conduces to libertinism and disobedience and, hence, to Fire Chastisement). If there is a Fatwa which warns the Muslim from doing something, and yet he does it, then he is a sinner. Therefore, abstaining from doing something, avoiding it and being heedful towards it as long as it is forbidden in a Fatwa is Wara' Al-Udul. The Prophet PBUH said:

((A person who has the following characteristics has perfect chivalry and justice: one who does not oppress the people in his dealings with them; one who does not lie when he talks to the people; one who does not act opposite to what he promises. It is incumbent to act like a brother with him; support his justness; respect his manliness; and not gossip about him.))

[Musnad Shihab, on the authority of Ali bin Abi Talib]

 As for Wara' As-Saliheen, it is to abstain from doing something allowed by a Fatwa, yet this permission is mixed with doubts in the sense that this Fatwa might be or might not be applicable under a certain condition. This happens when someone says, "I divorced my wife, while I was angry" The Prophet PBUH said with this regard:

((It was narrated that Safiyyah bint Shaibah said: "Aishah told me that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: 'There is no divorce and no manumission at the time of coercion.'))

[Abu Dawod, on the authority of A'ishah]

 What kind of anger is this? How can a man make his wrath turn him into a person who does not know the sky from the land and the length from the width? Thus, if someone says, "I divorced my wife while I was angry", say to him, "The Prophet PBUH said, "There is no divorce and no manumission at the time of coercion."

 There is a Fatwa that this divorce is nullified, but the question is, "Does the state of anger (in all similar cases) is the same one described by the Prophet PBUH?" Indeed the Fatwa nullifies the divorce, but is it the same condition the Prophet PBUH referred to?" Therein where doubts come from, and this makes us say that avoiding something allowed in Fatwas reflects Wara' As-Saliheen (the piety of the righteous).

 As for Wara' Al-Atqiya' (the piety of the devoted), it is to avoid something even if it is allowed by a Fatwa without any doubts, simply because it might lead to longing to Haram or committing it, and this is exactly Wara' Al-Atqiya'. As for Wara' As-Siddiqeen (the piety of the people of the truth), it is to adopt the slogan "O Allah, You are my destiny and pleasing You is my quest." Those people are never distracted by any earthy concerns and their only purpose is to please Allah. A notable companion who had embraced Islam for a long time asked the Prophet PBUH, "What is Islam O Messenger of Allah?" The Prophet PBUH said, "It is to be entirely devoted to Allah." Allah the Almighty says:

﴾Successful indeed are the believers* Those who offer their Salat (prayers) with all solemnity and full submissiveness* And those who turn away from Al-Laghw (dirty, false, evil vain talk, falsehood, and all that Allah has forbidden).﴿

[Al-Mu'minun, 1-3]

 The Prophet PBUH was asked about the Laghw, and he answered, "Anything other than Allah is Laghw". Allah the Almighty says:

﴾ Then, if he (the dying person) be of the Muqarrabun (those brought near to Allah)* (There is for him) rest and provision, and a Garden of delights (Paradise)* And if he (the dying person) be of those on the Right Hand* Then there is safety and peace (from the Punishment of Allah) for (you as you are from) those on the Right Hand* But if he (the dying person) be of the denying (of the Resurrection), the erring (away from the Right Path of Islamic Monotheism)* Then for him is entertainment with boiling water* And burning in Hell-fire. ﴿

[Al-Waqi'ah, 88-94]

 There are the "foremost" (from the first generation who embraced Islam). Allah the Almighty says:

﴾ A multitude of those (foremost) will be from the first generations (who embraced Islam). And a few of those (foremost) will be from the later time (generations). ﴿

[Al-Waqi'ah, 34]

 There are those of the right hand who were so many amongst the first and the last generations of Muslims. Also, we have the people of the left hand who make the majority of the late generations in the worldly life:

((Islam began as a something strange and it will return to being strange, so blessed are the strangers.))

 This is the piety of As-Siddiqeen which is described by the Prophet PBUH as narrated in the following Hadith:

((It was narrated from 'Atiyyah As-Sa'di, who was one of the Companions of the Prophet (PBUH), that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: "A person will not reach the status of being one of those who have piety until he refrains from doing something in which there is no sin, for fear of falling into something in which there is sin."))

[At-Tirmizi and Ibn Majah, on the authority of 'Atiyyah As-Sa'di]

Doubts:

 Let us move to the issue of "doubts". You might notice that when I mentioned earlier the grades of Wara' (Wara' Al-Udul, Wara' As Saliheen, Wara' Al-Atqiya' and Wara' As-Siddiqeen) I mentioned the word "doubts" as well. "Doubts" (Shubuhat) were defined clearly by the Prophet in the following inclusive Hadith:

((Narrated An-Nu'man bin Bashir: I heard Allah's Messenger (PBUH) saying, 'Both legal and illegal things are evident but in between them there are doubtful (suspicious) things and most of the people have no knowledge about them…))

[Agreed upon, on the authority of An-Nu'man bin Bashir]

 This Hadith is very specific, but are people not really aware of it? No, they are not. Actually, the majority of them are not aware of it, but only few are, and in this case the Muslim should ask in order to know, right? Allah the Almighty says:

﴾And We sent not (as Our Messengers) before you (O Muhammad PBUH) any but men, whom We inspired, (to preach and invite mankind to believe in the Oneness of Allah). So ask of those who know the Scripture [learned men of the Taurat (Torah) and the Injeel (Gospel)], if you know not.﴿

[An-Nahl, 43]

((Narrated An-Nu'man bin Bashir: I heard Allah's Messenger (PBUH) saying, 'Both legal and illegal things are evident but in between them there are doubtful (suspicious) things and most of the people have no knowledge about them. So whoever saves himself from these suspicious things saves his religion and his honor. And whoever indulges in these suspicious things is like a shepherd who grazes (his animals) near the Hima (private pasture) of someone else and at any moment he is liable to get in it. (O people!) Beware! Every king has a Hima and the Hima of Allah on the earth is His illegal (forbidden) things. Beware! There is a piece of flesh in the body if it becomes good (reformed) the whole body becomes good but if it gets spoilt the whole body gets spoilt and that is the heart.))

[Agreed upon, on the authority of An-Nu'man bin Al-Bashir]

 The Hadith is very clear. There are explicit Halal and explicit Haram, and there are a lot of doubtful matters which the majority of people do not know. Wine, fornication (Zina) and stealing are explicit Haram, whereas drinking rainwater is explicit Halal. Allah the Almighty says:

﴾ And it is He Who sends the winds as heralds of glad tidings, going before His Mercy (rain), and We send down pure water from the sky, ﴿

[Al-Furqan, 48]

 To pay for your food from lawful money you earn or to feast your eyes on the beauty of your wife is but explicit Halal. Thus, we have explicit Halal and explicit Haram just like white and black, but between both colors (i.e. just like between explicit Halal and Haram) there are one million shades of gray color. Some textile companies give its customers close to 800.000 shades of the same color, and the human sound eye is able to distinguish between two shades of 800.000 shades of the same color, which means that the human sound eye is able to distinguish between 800.000 shades of gray.

 As there are 800.000 shades of each color, there are hundreds of thousands of doubtful matters between the explicit Halal and the explicit Haram. Bear in mind that most Fatwas are about doubtful matters, and I have never heard of anyone asking a scholar about drinking wine or about fornication, for example, because they are explicit Haram.

((Narrated Abu Umamah that once, a young man came to the Prophet PBUH, asking his permission to commit fornication. The companions told him to be quiet and scolded the young man, so the Prophet PBUH said: No, Do you like it for your mother? The man said: No, to which the Prophet PBUH commented. "So are people." And said: "Do you like it for your daughter?" he answered: No, to which the Prophet PBUH said "so are people" then the man said: "Be my witness, as I repent from fornication. And in another narration he said: I came to the Prophet PBUH and fornication is the dearest thing to me and went out and it is the most hatred thing to me))

[Ahmad, on the authority of Abi Umamah]

 This Bedouin could not imagine his sister being fornicated with, and so he said, "I came to the Prophet and fornication was the dearest thing to me, but when I went out, it became the most detested thing to me."

Having double standards is the worst thing in man:

 The young man sometimes falls a prey to contradiction; he gets outraged if he notices anyone hitting on his sister, and he might be close to tearing him into pieces, but he allows himself to hit on young women. The ugliest thing in man is to have double standards; one is used with people and a different one is used for himself.

((Narrated An-Nu'man bin Bashir: I heard Allah's Messenger (PBUH) saying, 'Both legal and illegal things are evident but in between them there are doubtful (suspicious) things and most of the people have no knowledge about them. So whoever saves himself from these suspicious things saves his religion and his honor. And whoever indulges in these suspicious things is like a shepherd who grazes (his animals) near the Hima (private pasture) of someone else and at any moment he is liable to get in it. (O people!) Beware! Every king has a Hima and the Hima of Allah on the earth is His illegal (forbidden) things. Beware! There is a piece of flesh in the body if it becomes good (reformed) the whole body becomes good but if it gets spoilt the whole body gets spoilt and that is the heart.))

[Agreed upon, on the authority of An-Nu'man bin Al-Bashir]

The explicit Halal:

 How Imam Al-Ghazali defined the explicit Halal? He said, "The explicit Halal is that which nothing in its entity entails prohibition, and nothing in the ways of obtaining it entails prohibition. Thus the explicit Halal is like drinking the rainwater, for nothing in water's entity is Haram, and nothing in obtaining it is Haram either."

 Some things are Haram in their entities and in the way they are obtained. For example, eating an apple is Halal, but if the apple is stolen, then it is Haram (due to the way it is obtained). On the other hand, swine is Haram in its entity unlike the apple I have just mentioned, but the apple might become Haram because of the way it is obtained not because of something Haram in its entity.

 Scholars found out that there are three things in the Quran, the first of which is the explicit Halal like the rainwater. Allah the Almighty says:

﴾ And it is He Who sends the winds as heralds of glad tidings, going before His Mercy (rain), and We send down pure water from the sky, ﴿

[Al-Furqan, 48]

 The second one is what a wife gives to her husband as a gift. Allah the Almighty says:

﴾ And give to the women (whom you marry) their Mahr (obligatory bridal money given by the husband to his wife at the time of marriage) with a good heart, but if they, of their own good pleasure, remit any part of it to you, take it, and enjoy it without fear of any harm (as Allah has made it lawful). ﴿

[Al-Nisa', 4]

 I forgot the third one, like the narrator of an anecdote who said, "Sufiyan bin Uyainah narrated that the Prophet PBUH said, 'Whoever has these two characteristics shall enter Paradise', but as for the first characteristic, the narrator forgot it, and as for the second one, I forgot it."

 I repeat again: rainwater is blessed, so if man collects rainwater and drinks it, this is explicit Halal. Similarly, if the wife gives something to her husband as a gift, it is explicit Halal too.

﴾Take it, and enjoy it without fear of any harm (as Allah has made it lawful). ﴿

[Al-Nisa', 4]

 The wife of a righteous man used to own money, and when he asked her to donate to him some, she did, so he said, "This is blessed money, for it is the gift of the wife to her husband." Islam does not allow the husband to give his Zakat money to his wife, because he is obliged to spend on her, and giving her his Zakat money is a kind of evading expending on her, and so it is deceit. In contrast, the rich wife should pay her Zakat money to her poor husband. Allah the Almighty says:

﴾ And give to the women (whom you marry) their Mahr (obligatory bridal money given by the husband to his wife at the time of marriage) with a good heart, but if they, of their own good pleasure, remit any part of it to you, take it, and enjoy it without fear of any harm (as Allah has made it lawful). ﴿

[Al-Nisa', 4]

 Al-Ghazali said, "An example of explicit Halal is the rainwater which is collected by man before it falls on someone else's property", but the Prophet PBUH said:

((It was narrated from Ibn 'Abbas that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said, "The Muslims are partners in three things: water, pasture and fire, and their price is unlawful."))

[Ibn Majah, on the authority of Ibn Abbas]

The explicit Haram:

 Al-Ghazali said, "The explicit Haram is what is originally Haram in its entity, like wine and Najasat (impurities of all sorts), or it is what becomes Haram due to the way it is obtained by", like being obtained by oppression or through Riba (usury)."

 I would like to repeat one more time: there are explicit Halal and explicit Haram. The explicit Halal is that which has nothing in its entity that entails prohibition, and it is obtained lawfully, whereas the explicit Haram is that which is Haram in its entity or in the means used to obtain it. I do not think there is any disagreement among all Muslims in the world about the explicit Halal matters and the explicit Haram matters. However, the disagreements are about the doubtful matters between the two.

 He said, "Also all the matters which are Halal only and might become Haram (but they do not have this possibility at the first place) are part of this explicit Halal and explicit Haram." This is a complicated sentence, so let me clarify it to you in this example: it is permissible to pursuit water-game or to hunt animals on land for the purpose of eating both, but if someone hunts a deer which might be hunted before by another hunter, and it escaped, or he fished out a fish which might be fished out by another fisherman, and it escaped back to water, the possibility is there, but nothing proves it. This case and the like of it belong to the fifth grade of Wara', so who among you can nominate it?

 Let me list again the first four grades of Wara': Wara' Al-Udul, Wara' As-Saliheen, Wara' Al-Atqiya' and Wara' As-Siddiqeen, so what kind of Wara' that makes man abstains from eating a fish that might be fished out by another person and escaped from him or a deer that might be hunted by another hunter and escaped from him (because in both cases this means that the deer and the fish might be owned previously by someone else)?

 This hunter's case is like the case of the man who once said to me, "I was given a sweater as a gift, but I am reluctant to wear it." I asked, "Why? What is wrong with it?" He replied, "It is made in England", to which I asked, "Where is the Haram thing about that?" This is actually OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder). This kind of Wara' is the Wara' of the paranoid, and it is more likely to be sickness than Wara'.

 We have studied different psychological disorders at the faculty, and there are more than 300 of them, but the most prevailing disorder among people is OCD. Some women suffer from it, so one of them might clean the stairs ten times and make her husband and children take off their shoes at the door of the building, and if a stranger steps on the stairs accidentally, she will clean the stairs all over again. Also, if a guest comes to the house, she will clean all the linens though he might only sit on the couch. This is but illness.

 The Prophet PBUH taught us that when man urinates, he sprays his underwear with water and if he feels dampness, it will be because of water not because of urine, and by doing this he avoids suspicion. Thus, he PBUH taught us to avoid paranoia. Some people keep wondering if they are in a state of Wudu or not? If you are sure that you offered Wudu, but you doubt that you nullified it, you are considered in a state of Wudu, because doubts (that he might nullify his Wudu) do not nullify certainty (he is sure that he offered Wudu). The Prophet PBUH taught us ways that if we follow, we will never err, so do not let devil have control over you.

 There are so many psychological illnesses and OCD is one of them, and it is very dangerous. Fishing out a fish then considering it a probable property of another fisherman who may have fished it out and it escaped from him and got back to the sea is but Wara' of the paranoid.

 Our Master Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, was walking with his companions when he saw a puddle of water. Some of his companions asked the owner of the puddle, "Do lions drink from this puddle?" Our Master Umar said to him, "Do not answer them." He said so because of the Islamic rule that "All things are originally licit (until there is a rule that prohibits them). If someone asks you, "Is your money Halal?", "What do you do for a living" or "How do you sell and buy?", these questions indicate OCD, and this kind of Wara' is the one of the paranoid. Allah the Almighty says:

﴾Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope. He gets reward for that (good) which he has earned, and he is punished for that (evil) which he has earned. "Our Lord! Punish us not if we forget or fall into error, our Lord! Lay not on us a burden like that which You did lay on those before us (Jews and Christians); our Lord! Put not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Pardon us and grant us Forgiveness. Have mercy on us. You are our Maula (Patron, Suppor-ter and Protector, etc.) and give us victory over the disbelieving people."﴿

[Al-Baqarah, 286]

 This is something beyond our scope.

The different kinds of doubts:

1- Halal that might turn into Haram without any confirming proof:

 He said, "Attached to the explicit Halal is that whatever is proven to be Halal, but it might turn into Haram, only there is not any confirming reason of this possibility." He said, "This possibility does not apply for rainwater." Accordingly, we have a difference between rainwater and the fish, for rainwater is explicit Halal that can never be turned into Haram, but the fish (hypothetically) might be fished out by another fisherman, but it escapes from him (so he owns it). Thus, we have explicit Halal (i.e. rainwater), and a kind of Halal that is attached to the explicit Halal (i.e. the case of the fish). This kind of Wara' is the Wara' of the paranoid (if there is no apparent proof which proves the assumption of the hunter), but if there is an evidence like finding a wound in the deer that cannot be done by you, this means that there is another hunter before you, and this is but an explicit evidence which confirms your doubts.

 He said, "Doubts are usually considered as doubts when there are equal beliefs of contrast matters." If you ask someone, "What do you want a car or a bicycle?" He will never hesitate, and he will take the car right away, so there is no doubt in this situation (because the car is not equal to the bicycle). Hence, doubts emerge only when the two things are parallel (in importance for example). The man who is asked to choose between his mother and his wife will be confused, because both are important to him. On the other hand, it is unreasonable to compare a valuable thing to a cheap one.

 Actually, doubts in Islam are troublesome, because on the one hand they are Halal and on the other hand they are Haram due to the proofs of both cases. When we have such a situation, this means there is doubt, and this is the specific definition of doubts (Shubuhah).

 Again Ash-Shubuhah is having a conflict between two things (equal in value). There are so many kinds of Shubuhat, the most important of which is to doubt the reason according to which it is allowed or prohibited. Doubting the reason has four cases: The first case is when the reason of permissibility is previously known, but then a doubt emerges to refute that reason. For instance, when you wound your prey, then the prey falls into the river and dies, so though it is Halal (because you hunt it), there is doubt here since it is not known whether it dies because of the wound or because of drowning. If it dies because of the wound, then it is Halal, but if it dies because of drowning, then it is Haram (i.e. it is Makhnooq [suffocated] which is explicit Haram).

 Though hunting animals is Halal, it is a very delicate issue. It was reported in the relic:

((If someone hunts a bird for purposes other than eating (for training only), this bird will come on the Day of Resurrection buzzing like bees and saying, "O Lord, ask him why he killed me"))

 Hence, when we say that hunting animals is Halal, this means you can hunt animals when you run out of food on a travel, and you are about to die of hunger. In this case you can hunt animals in order to live. Man is Divinely honored by Allah, and he is allowed to hunt birds to eat them, lest he dies of starvation, and this is the Halal hunting. There are so many Ayat and As7adeth concerning this issue, but there is no time to mention them in our lecture. On the other hand, hunting as a hobby (like when men go out to the desert to hunt animals and kill them for purposes other than eating them, such as for entertainment), this kind of hunting is Haram, because man kills lots of living creatures for no reason.

 There are so many Prophetic As7adeth which emphasize that hunting for purposes other than eating is Haram, and this is an enough reason to turn what is Halal into something Haram. I would like to repeat that the first case of doubting the Halal reason is that you hunt, a deer, for example, then it falls into the water, so you are confused whether it dies because of your wound or because of drowning. While the former makes it Halal to eat, the later makes it Haram, and there is doubt about it. Originally speaking it is Halal to hunt this dear (for the purpose of eating it), but the reason behind its permissibility is compromised by doubt which turns it into Haram. Al-Ghazali said, "This kind of doubt should be avoided, and it is Haram to take it."

2- Knowing the Halal thing, but then having doubts about Haram thing:

 The second case: It is to know the Halal, and then to doubt the Haram. When something is Halal, but for a certain reason it turns into Haram, this reason is not undoubted. For instance, when a bird flies, and someone says, "If this is a crow, my wife is divorced", and another man says, "If this is not a crow, then his wife is divorced", but the matter becomes a mystery to both men, because they cannot recognize what kind of bird it is, we say, "This woman is originally his wife, and this reason is not enough to divorce her, so the wife is Halal, but we doubt the species of this bird (whether it is a crow or not). Well, is this rational? Can a Muslim make his marital life shackled to something out of his control? If there is such a person, then he is silly. Because some men act like that, scholars gave Fatwa to such a situation. They said, "If the wife has nothing to do with this oath of divorce, and the husband hates to leave her the same way he hates to leave Islam, this divorce is nullified. Indeed this Fatwa is issued by scholars and the court of Shari'ah (Islamic Laws) used it.

 If the wife is a devoted Muslim woman, and she wears Hijab, offers her prayers, observes Ramadan, serves her husband and children sincerely, cleans her house and cooks food for her family, what fault does she make to deserve being divorced? Is it logical to be divorced because her husband argues with someone about something, and he takes the oath of divorce to break it afterwards? For this reason, some scholars said, "Since this wife is not a party in this whole fuss, she has nothing to do with the stupidity and recklessness of her husband who disputes with his friend, neighbor or customer and uses the oath of divorce then breaks it." Is it acceptable to ask her to leave her house and go to her family's house and become a divorced woman because of that? This is unacceptable, and it is the kind of prohibiting reason that is doubted.

3- When something is Haram originally, but something occurs making it Halal:

 The third case is when something is originally Haram, but something occurs and makes it Halal with a dominant probability. In this case the reason is doubted. For example, if a man hunted down a deer with an arrow, but this deer wandered away, then the hunter man finds it dead with the trace of his arrow, it most likely died because of his arrow. Since there is no second arrow on its body, it died because of his arrow. Therefore, we say that basically he found a dead deer which is Haram, but finding a trace of his arrow on its body makes it Halal, so it is a dominant probability.

4- When but there is a probable assumption that something Haram occurs:

 The fourth case is whatever probability indicated by someone without any evidence, and this case is mere paranoia. For example, a man enters his house and says, "May be somebody enters my house, while I was out." What is his proof? There is none. Has he seen any evidence to support his claims? Has he found a light on, given he turned off all the lights before he went out of the house? Has he found the refrigerator door open? Has his closet been ransacked? None of the above happened. Such a person belongs to a mental hospital. If there is no proof of a probable reason, this is mere paranoia.

 Thus, when Halal is known, but a probable reason occurs and turns it into Haram, it is Haram. For instance, when you have a bowl of water, and you are not sure if an impurity touched it, but you have proofs of such an assumption like a change in the water's color, odor or taste, you should not use this water.

 I would like to repeat these four cases. The first case: The Halal is known, and then something doubts its permissibility. The second case: Something is Halal, and then we doubt the Haram. The third case: Something is originally Haram, but another thing occurs, and turns it into Halal. The fourth case: The Halal is known, and then a dominant probability turns it into Haram. Next lecture insha' Allah (if Allah wills), we will move to another sorts of doubts (Shubuhat) which is about mixing Halal with Haram.

 To sum up, we have tackled so far the reasons of permitting or forbidding something; we have a reason to make something Halal and a reason to make something Haram, the previously Halal and the previously Haram, the previously Halal and the doubted Haram by a weak evidence and the previously Haram and doubted Halal by a weak evidence. These are the main points we have discussed today, and next lecture we will move to mixing Halal with Haram insha' Allah.

Some of the Prophet's noble traits:

1- His wisdom:

 Let us talk about some of the noble traits of the Prophet PBUH. We have reached the point where some companions described the Prophet's physical traits which were summarized in the following two lines of the poem of Hassan bin Thabit, may Allah be pleased with him:

Not one eye has seen someone more excellent than you
Not one woman has given birth to someone more beautiful than you
You were created flawless
As though you were created just the way you wanted

 Glory be to Allah! The Prophet PBUH acquired all excellent conducts and traits starting from his good looking, courage, boldness, forbearance, mercy, knowledge, experience, the art of leadership, the ideal fatherhood, the sincere brotherhood and the wise policies.

 When the Prophet PBUH attributed the booties of war by giving the ones whose faith was weak lager shares in order to sooth their hearts, those who received smaller shares were sad and angry, so their leader, Sa'd bin Ubadah came to the Prophet to convey their complaint in the following touching Hadith:

((When Allah's Apostle (PBUH) distributed some grants to [the people of] Quraish and [among some] other Arab tribes, Al-Ansar did not receive anything from it, so they [were disappointed] and felt saddened [because of this]. Some words started to go around about that, till one of them said, "By Allah, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) has met his people (i.e. he has reconciled with them and forgotten about us)." Saad ibn 'Ubada (may Allah be pleased with him) came to the Messenger of Allah and said, "O Allah's Apostle, this group from among Al-Ansar are [feeling] sad within themselves about what you have done with the spoils which you have acquired, where you divided for your people (i.e. the tribe of Quraish) and gave great grants to numerous Arab tribes, but did not give anything for this group of Al-Ansar." The Prophet (PBUH) said, "And how do you feel about this, O Saad?"))

  The Prophet PBUH asked him to know whether he took their side or he just conveyed their problem.

((He said, "O Allah's Apostle, I am just one of them." The Prophet (PBUH) said, "So gather for me your people in this place. So Saad left, and gathered Al-Ansar in that place." Some of the Muhajirun came and he allowed them to enter, and sh3er came after them but he did not allow them. When they were assembled, Saad went to the Messenger of Allah and said, "Those people of Al-Ansar have assembled for you." So Allah's Apostle (PBUH) came to them. He praised Allah and glorified Him duly, then he said, "O people of Al-Ansar, what have I heard about you, and about the sadness you felt among yourselves [for not receiving a share of the spoils]? Did not I come to you and you were astray then Allah guided you, and you were poor and Allah enriched you, and you were enemies to one another but Allah joined your hearts together?" They said, "Yes, and Allah and His Messenger are more in their favours and better." Then he said, "Do you not reply back to me, O people of Al-Ansar?" They said, "And by what can we answer you O Allah's Apostle, and truly the Allah and His Messenger and more in their bounties and better?" He (PBUH) said, "By Allah, if you wished you could have said, and you would have been truthful in it and would have been believed, that: You came to us accused of being a liar but we believed you, and you came to us forsaken and we supported you, and you came to us as a refugee and we sheltered you, and you came to us poor and we aided you. Did you feel saddened, O Ansar, for a trifle of this worldly life that I used to reconcile the hearts of some people [to Islam] and entrusted you to your faith? Would it not please you, O Ansar, that the people return back to their homes with sheep and camel, and you go back to your homes with the Messenger of Allah? By He whom Muhammad's soul is in His Hand, had it not been for the Hijra I would have been one of Al-Ansar, and if the people [altogether] take a way and Al-Ansar take another, I would take the way of Al-Ansar. O Allah have mercy on Al-Ansar, and sons of Al-Ansar, and the sons of the sons of Al-Ansar!" [Upon hearing this] the people wept bitterly till they wet their beards, and they said, "We are pleased with the Messenger of Allah as our share and fortune", then Allah's Apostle went back and we left.))

[Ad-Darami, on the authority of Abi Sa'eed Al-Khidri]

 This is the best diplomatic behavior to follow, for the Prophet PBUH absorbed their bitter feelings, soothed their hearts and put an end to an arising conflict by his nice words.

The wisdom of the Prophet's companions:

 Abdullah bin Az-Zubair sent a letter to Mu'awiyah bin Abu Sufian in which he wrote: "O Muawiyah", pay attention how he did not call him by the title Amir Al-Mu'mineen (the Commander of the Believers) or the Khalifah (Caliph) of the Messenger of Allah PBUH. He wrote, "Your men have entered my land. Stop them, or else I will have to deal with you." Mu'awiyah handed the letter to his son, Yazid, who was sitting next to him. "What do you think we should do?" He asked. "I see that you should send him an army whose head would be in Medinah, where he is, and its tail here in Syria, to get you his head," came Yazid's answer. "Otherwise is better," replied Mu'awiyah, and he dictated his reply, "I have received the letter of the son of a Companion of the Messenger of Allah PBUH. What upsets him upsets me indeed. The whole world is insignificant next to his contentment. I have given up to him the land with whom it carries."

 The letter in which Abdullah bin Az-Zubair wrote his reply to Mu'awiyah was as follows: "O Amir Al-Mu'mineen, may Allah prolong your life, and preserve your sense of judgment which has favored this decision of yours." Mu'awiyah handed the letter to his son Yazid who had formerly suggested his father sending an army, and then he said, "O son! He who pardons, prevails; and he who is indulgent, is magnified; and he who forgives, inclines hearts to himself."

2- His eloquence:

 This is one example of the Prophetic wisdom. As for the Prophet's eloquence PBUH, Al-Hasan, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "He PBUH was of continual sadness. He was always thoughtful." A son might be delighted nowadays while his mother is sad, because her other son (who is abroad) sent her a letter telling her that he is sick. The mother's heart embraces all her children, but this delighted son is acting like there is no concern at all, and even if his brother is sick, his attitude is like, "What can we do to cure him?" This is what the brother says, but as for the mother, she cannot say so, she will be saddened by the news.

 The Prophet PBUH was of continual sadness, because he was merciful to his Ummah, and he was afraid that she would be doomed. "He PBUH was of continual sadness. He was always thoughtful. He never got rest (of serving sh3er and meeting their needs)." The majority of people do not like to be bothered when they eat, go to sleep, stay up at night, enter their rooms or go for a picnic, because all they are concerned about is their own comfort, but this is not a trait of the believer. The Prophet PBUH said to Mu'adh bin Jabal when he sent him to Yemen:

((Beware of luxury. Verily, the servants of Allah do not live luxuriously))

[Ahmad, on the authority of Mu'adh bin Jabal]

 I do not want you to misunderstand the Hadith. Allah the Almighty might bestow money upon someone, but the point is that luxurious life should never be the main goal of man in the worldly life, because when man seeks it, he is oblivious to his mission in life. Thus, it is not forbidden to go for a picnic, for example, but man should not aim at luxurious life as the only purpose in his life, for this reflects that he does not know Allah the Almighty. Believers are described by Allah as follows:

﴾Their sides forsake their beds, to invoke their Lord in fear and hope, and they spend (charity in Allah's Cause) out of what We have bestowed on them.﴿

[As-Sajdah, 16]

 The meaning is not only forsaking beds, but there is a reference to the fact that the believer never strives for the worldly life, wealth, women, pleasures or other distractions, but rather he strives to please Allah (i.e. forsakes vanity).

 The crucial point that I would like to draw your attention to is your answer to this question: What really makes you sad? Are you sad when you are not rich or when you do not please Allah? Some people would never bother if they miss some acts of worship or religious sessions, or even if they sin, but they would be upset if they miss a good bargain, such as buying a house at a good price. Thus, tell me what makes you sad, and I will tell you what you are made of. The believer is saddened when he sins, whereas the people of the worldly life are saddened when they miss any worldly vanity.

((If there is no anger from you on me I will forever be content. However, your blessing is vastly important for me I seek refuge with the glory of your light, which the heavens and earth are lit form, your anger will not befall on me, nor your displeasure descends on me To you is the supplication until you are pleased, and there is no control or power except by you.))

 Our master Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "I wonder at the one who is full of hope although death will definitely come to him." While a man was finishing his new apartment, he bothered all people around him by his questions whether he had to do the central heating plumbing under-ground or above-ground", and he remained hesitant until he decided to do both. Well, if anything goes wrong with the under-ground plumbing, he can use the above-ground plumbing to avoid breaking the tiles. We are talking about 20 years to come, which is a long period of time for anyone to worry about. Let me continue the saying of our Master Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, "I wonder at the one who is full of hope although death will definitely come to him. I wonder at the one who is heedless of Allah although Allah the Almighty never neglects him. I wonder at the one who laughs loudly, yet he does not know whether Allah is pleased or displeased with him."

3- The Prophet PBUH used to keep silent for long periods of time:

 It was also reported, "The Messenger of Allah PBUH was always mindful. His silence was longer than his speech. He never spoke unnecessarily." "Talk when you tend to be silent, and keep silent when you tend to talk" is a very accurate standard. People might mention in front of you two or three depressing stories, and you might have one that is more depressing than theirs, so in this case keep silent even if you long to talk. If someone asks you about an Ayah, interpreting which cannot be done without going into lots of details, and you do not have time, you are tired and exhausted, you should oppose your tendencies, and though you incline to remain silent, you should talk.

 "He never spoke unnecessarily. He mentioned Allah's Name when started and finished talking. He told the truth when he spoke; he expressed several meanings concisely through a few words. He uttered neither more nor fewer words than necessary." This means he PBUH would never say any meaningless words. Unlike him the majority of people talk, but nine tenth of their words are meaningless, time consuming, backbiting, slandering, a description of their life or a description of their picnics.

 When a man asked another, "Have you met this guy?", and the other man answered, "I stood at his doorstep, I entered his office, he brought me coffee…etc.", all these are meaningless details, because what the listener is concerned about is what this man said to the speaker. It is a waste of time to spend 15 minutes talking about how he entered his office. On the other hand, the words of some people are right to the point without any redundancy. "He expressed several meanings concisely through a few words."

 Some wives would drag words out of their husbands' mouths. One of them would ask her husband after he got back home from a visit he had paid to one of his friends, "Did he invite you to dinner?", "What did he serve for dinner", "What did both of you talk about", and the husband answers by saying; "Nothing". She is dragging words out of his mouth, and this is a flaw in him.

 It is reported that As-Siddeeq, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "May Allah make radiant the face of the one whose words are right to the point and who describes only his need." A man might tell you stories none of which are of your concern, but they concern him only. He goes into ridiculous details which wastes your time without any need to any of them.

 A poet came once to a king, and said to him, "Verily…", and the king said to the poet, "As for…", and the meeting was over, so the attendants understood nothing of this conversation, and upon asking, the poet said, "I meant to say to him, "Verily! Kings, when they enter a town (country), they despoil it" [An-Naml, 34], and he meant to answer me, "As for the poets, the erring follow them." [Ash-Shu'ara', 224]. Exaggerated breviary sometimes is a flaw, and it may causes problems. Someone wrote in his will, "I leave 1000 Dirhams and a half for such and such person", so the judge had to send the will to a linguist to figure out the meaning, for the judge was confused whether the word "half" referred to 500 Dirhams or to half a Dirham? This is a confusing breviary. Eloquence is free of boring redundancy and flawed breviary.

4- The Prophet used to cherish all Allah's Bounties:

 "He showed respect to even the smallest bounty; he did not regard any bounty as ordinary." A man might own a house and a car, he eats the best of food and he buys the best clothes to his children who enjoy a perfect health. Yet, he complains to you when you visit him about poverty and the stagnant market. This man overlooked all the graces he owns, and this is but ungratefulness to Allah. He should say, "Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds." I repeat, "He showed respect to even the smallest bounty; he did not regard any bounty as ordinary." Once the Prophet PBUH was invited to bread and vinegar only so he said:

((Jabir reported the Prophet (PBUH) as saying: What good condiment vinegar is!))

[Abu Dawod, on the authority of Jabir]

 He PBUH also said:

((Narrated Abu Hurairah: The Prophet (PBUH) said, "If I am invited to a meal of trotters I will accept it; and if I am given a trotter as a present I will accept it."))

[Ahmad, on the authority of Abi Hurairah]

 Trotter is called in the slang language (Ma'aadim), and it is the stewed legs of the sheep. Thus, the Prophet PBUH would accept an invitation of this cheap meal even if it is outside the city. It is like going to a deprived area and taking two or three buses to get there in order to accept an invitation to eat Ma'aadim. This is the way the Prophet PBUH, who is the Master of mankind, was. How humble he was! Whoever invites you to a meal loves you, so you are accepting his love more than accepting his invitation or the kind of food he will serve you.

 "He did not praise or criticize a bounty because he liked or disliked it." If he offered a kind of food he liked, he would eat it, but if he did not like it, he would not eat it, and if he was asked, "Is it Haram?" He would answer, "No, it is not, but I do not like it."

5- The Prophet PBUH never got angry about earthy reason:

 "He did not get angry for worldly affairs. However, he got so angry when the right of someone was violated that nothing and nobody could prevent his fury and wrath before that violation was eliminated. On the other hand, he did not get angry with anybody regarding something that interested him only." A husband might not get angry if the wife gets out to the balcony in indecent clothes, but he will raise Hell if he is hungry, but the food is not ready. This person is angry for his own interests and not for the Haqq (the truth), whereas the believing husband is the one who raises Hell when something against Shari'ah happens, but he goes soft when some of his own needs are not met. I have read this very delicate Hadith the other day:

((A man is not considered the head of his household unless he does not care which of his two outfits wears or what he eats to overcome his hunger.))

[Kanz Al-Ummal, on the authority of Ali]

 When the husband raises Hell because his sugary shirt is not ironed, and it is the only one that goes with his suit, while he does not care if there are religious shortcomings in his household, this man gets angry about worldly reasons, and he never gets angry about violating Al-Haqq.

 "He did not get angry for worldly affairs. However, he got so angry when the right of someone was violated that nothing and nobody could prevent his fury and wrath before that violation was eliminated. On the other hand, he did not get angry with anybody regarding something that interested him only. If he gestured, he did so with his whole palm. If he was amazed, he overturned it, and if he spoke, he struck with his right palm the inside of his left thumb. When he got angry of something, he would turn his head away, and when he was happy, he used to lower his gaze out of humility to Allah the Almighty." Nowadays, the young man may have bad teeth, and he may have many fillings and two dental bridges. "When he was happy, he used to lower his gaze out of humility to Allah the Almighty. He would smile instead of laughing and when he smiled, his teeth looked like pearls."

 We will continue next lecture talking about the traits of the Prophet PBUH insha' Allah.