Watch The Manners

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Narrated by Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that Allah's Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said:

Do you know the things which most commonly brings people into Paradise? It is fear of Allah and good character. Do you know what most commonly brings people into Hell? It is the two hollow things: the mouth and the private parts.

[Al-Tirmidhi]

Narrated by Abu Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said:

There is nothing heavier than good character put in the Scale of a believer on the Day of Resurrection.

[Abu Dawood]

Good character comes from good manners. Some of the scholars have mentioned that all of the good manners can be derived from four Hadiths, and they mentioned amongst them this Hadith:

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said:

Let him who believes in Allah and the Last Day speak good, or keep silent; and let him who believes in Allah and the Last Day be generous to his neighbor; and let him who believes in Allah and the Last Day be generous to his guest.

[Bukhari & Muslim]

The focus of this Hadith is actions; actions of controlling one’s speech, actions of being good to your neighbor and actions of being generous to your guests. All these actions lead to good character.

It is not enough that we say that we believe in Allah and in the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) but also this belief should manifest one’s actions. That is why the scholars said, “Belief is what settles in the heart and manifest itself on one’s limbs.” It is part of Islam to act on what you believe in and act upon the teachings of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) and the teachings of the Qur'an.

The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) put emphasis on the importance of each action by repeating the statement “Whoever believes in Allah and the Day of Judgment,” with every single action. It is a constant repetition and reminder that these actions should come out of one's belief.

Speak Good, or Keep Silent

To control our speech is a very important aspect in manifesting our belief. Also it is very important for our own spiritual development.

Much can be said of a person’s character by the way he uses his tongue. The tongue is one of the smallest organs of one's body yet it possesses great capacity to be used for evil that plunge one into the Hellfire. Once the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, held his tongue and said that people are thrown into Hell on their faces because of the sins of their tongues.

We should only speak what is good and true and must not under any circumstances speak evil or use filthy language. If a person wishes to say something, then if that speech is good, and will surely be rewarded for, then let him say it. And if not, then let him keep silent - whether it is apparent that the speech is Haram (forbidden) or Makruh (disliked) or even Mubah (permissible). In such situations, even permissible speech, it is preferred to keep silent out of fear that it may turn into something which is Haram or Makruh.

Be Generous to your Neighbors; Be Generous to your Guests

Generosity and hospitality is from Islam, and from the character of the Prophets and the righteous. The Prophet’s statement "let him be generous to his neighbor" and "let him be generous to his guest" contains instruction on the rights of the neighbors and on doing good to them and encouragement upon protecting the limbs from doing harm to them.

May Allah grant us noble character and enable us to be good to our neighbors and guests. Ameen.

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

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam

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