Respect Our Elders and Be Like A Date Palm

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate

Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

There is a the tree to which Allah likens the believer because it is good in all aspects, it is lasting and it offers different kinds of benefit.

Abdullah ibn 'Umar was in the gathering of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, with some of the companions and Abu Bakr and his father were among them.

Ibn 'Umar reported that,

"The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: 'There is a kind of tree whose leaves do not fall and it is like the Muslim. Tell me what it is.’ The people mentioned different kinds of desert trees … and I said to myself, 'It is the date palm tree,’ but I felt too shy to speak up. Then the people said, 'Tell us what it is, O Messenger of Allah.’ He said: 'It is the date palm tree.'"

[Bukhari]

Ibn Umar told his father, as they were walking away, that he knew the answer, and 'Umar said: "It would have been more beloved to me than such and such had you said it was the date palm tree." What he intended was that the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, supplicates for his son and learns of his merit and understanding.

Ibn Umar did not speak out of deference and respect to his elders. Since he was the youngest, and seeing Abu Bakr and his father, 'Umar, silent, he shied away and said nothing. Had the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, asked him, the adab we would expect from ibn Umar would be deference to his elders, and if the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, insisted, proper manners would be to give the answer. This is indicative of humility and good character. Humility is the adab of slavehood to Allah. It is adab of mercy and respect to one's elders. It is the way of the beloved Messenger, Allah bless him and grant him peace.

The scholars stated that the Muslim was likened to the date palm due to the abundance of its goodness, the continuity of its shade, the goodness of its fruit and its presence throughout the year. From the time its fruit emerges, it could continue to be eaten until it dries, and after it dries a lot of benefits are gained from it. Likewise from its leaves, wood and branches, they are used for staffs, fire wood, rods, straw mats, ropes and utensils amongst other uses. The last thing is the date stone which is used as fodder for camels. The beauty of its growth and the pleasant shape of its fruit, all of it is beneficial, is goodness and beauty.

Just as the believer is all goodness, from the abundance of his obedience and the nobility of his manners. He constantly prays, fasts, reads, remembers, gives charity, enjoins the ties along with the rest of the forms of worship and other than this.

It was also said another aspect of resemblance to the Muslim is that if the top of it is chopped off the rest of it dies in contrast to the rest of the types of trees. It was also said that it is because it does not produce fruit until it is pollinated.

Our families, communities and societies revolve around the elders and the scholars. If we cut them off, we too will wither away and die.

قُلْ مَا كُنتُ بِدْعًا مِّنَ ٱلرُّسُلِ وَمَآ أَدْرِى مَا يُفْعَلُ بِى وَلَا بِكُمْ ۖ إِنْ أَتَّبِعُ إِلَّا مَا يُوحَىٰٓ إِلَىَّ وَمَآ أَنَا۠ إِلَّا نَذِيرٌ مُّبِينٌ ﴿٩

Say (O Muhammad SAW): "I am not something original among the Messengers, nor do I know what will be done with me or with you. I only follow that which is revealed to me, and I am not but a clear warner."

[Qur'an Al-Ahqaf 46:9]

May Allah shower us with His Light. Ameen.

Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam