In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
The one give away between decent and indecent people is that for decent people when things don't go as they expected, they make istighfar (Astaghfirullah) and tasbih (SubhanAllah) to overcome what they think is their shortcomings. Contrast this with indecent people -- they blame everything/everybody else: the people, the job, the weather, the times, the society...the last one they blame, if at all, is themselves.
You find in public office, the officers get blamed for the problems all the time. Do you see them take ownership of their mistakes? Not normally. You will not hear them say, "It's my mistake...I passed that bill!" The more public the person is the harder it is for the person to accept his mistakes.
When Allah created Adam and ordered Iblis and Angels to bow to Adam, the Angels bowed to Adam but Iblis didn't. Iblis made a mistake and he sinned. After that Allah put Adam in Paradise and said not to eat from a particular tree but Adam ate from the tree. He made a mistake. How did Adam and Iblis responded to their respective mistakes?
Adam sought forgiveness from Allah. He said to Allah "Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You forgive us not, and bestow not upon us Your Mercy, we shall certainly be of the losers." Iblis, on the other hand, blamed Allah for his disobedience. He said to Allah, "You (Allah) misled me."
Prophet Yunus (Jonah), peace be upon him, was sent to warn the people of a town in Iraq. He called his people to worship Allah but he was provoked by their animosity towards the religion of Allah. He left them in anger, discouraged at the apparent failure of his mission. He should have remained in the most discouraging circumstances, and relied on Allah. He went away to the sea and took a ship, but he was caught in a storm and thrown into the sea and was swallowed by a big fish or whale.
... وَإِنَّ يُونُسَ لَمِنَ ٱلْمُرْسَلِينَ ﴿١٣٩﴾ إِذْ أَبَقَ إِلَى ٱلْفُلْكِ ٱلْمَشْحُونِ ﴿١٤٠﴾ فَسَاهَمَ فَكَانَ مِنَ ٱلْمُدْحَضِينَ ﴿١٤١﴾ فَٱلْتَقَمَهُ ٱلْحُوتُ وَهُوَ مُلِيمٌ ﴿١٤٢
And indeed, Jonah was among the messengers. (139) [Mention] when he ran away to the laden ship. (140) And he drew lots and was among the losers. (141) Then the fish swallowed him, while he was blameworthy... [Qur'an, As-Saffat 37:142]
Instead of blaming his people for his mishap, Prophet Yunus called out to Allah and admitted his wrong.
[Qur'an, Anbiya 21:87-88]
فَنَادَىٰ فِى ٱلظُّلُمَـٰتِ أَن لَّآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّآ أَنتَ سُبْحَـٰنَكَ إِنِّى كُنتُ مِنَ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ ﴿٨٧﴾ فَٱسْتَجَبْنَا لَهُۥ وَنَجَّيْنَـٰهُ مِنَ ٱلْغَمِّ ۚ وَكَذَٰلِكَ نُـۨجِى ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ﴿٨٨ ...
...And he called out within the darknesses, "There is no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers." (87) So We responded to him and saved him from the distress. And thus do We save the believers. (88)
The highest level of decency belongs to those who take the most responsibility of mistakes for themselves. The beloved Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) sees mistakes when nobody else could see them and admits to it.
And it is true when Allah says to him,
وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ ﴿٤[Qur'an Al-Qalam 68:4]
And verily, you (O Muhammad) are on an exalted (standard of) character. (4)
Sayyidna Sa’ad (may Allah be pleased with him) reported:
Once I went to Aisha and her father (may Allah be pleased with them), and asked them about the character and conduct of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) to which Aisha replied: Don't you read the Qur'an? I said: Yes. She said: The character of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) is the Qur'an.
The beauty of the conduct of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) is not expressed in a person whose mind is not illumined with the light of Allah.
Decent people come with beautiful character. If we recite the Qur'an regularly and follow its teachings, we will have beautiful character and become decent people.
قُلْ هُوَ لِلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ هُدًى وَشِفَآءٌ ۖ وَٱلَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ فِىٓ ءَاذَانِهِمْ وَقْرٌ وَهُوَ عَلَيْهِمْ عَمًى ۚ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ يُنَادَوْنَ مِن مَّكَانٍۭ بَعِيدٍ ﴿٤٤ ...[Qur'an, Fussilat 41:44]
Say, "It (Qur'an) is, for those who believe, a guidance and cure." And those who do not believe - in their ears is deafness, and it is upon them blindness. Those are being called from a distant place. (44)
May Allah purify our hearts and grant us noble character traits and remove all our blameworthy traits. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Related Archives:
Why Allah Saved Prophet Yunus?
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