Using One’s Left Hand For Siwāk

Ibn Taymiyyah said:

“One should use his left hand when using the siwāk. This is Imām Ahmad’s view as reported by Mansūr Al-Kawsaj in his Masā’il. None of the Imāms held an opposite opinion – as far as I know – for using the siwāk is a way of cleaning oneself just like blowing the nose, cleaning oneself from najāsah and the like; all such acts must be done using one’s left hand.”

[Majmū’ Al-Fatāwā, 21/108]

Respecting The Scholars

NOTE: The reference to ‘scholars’ here refers to those who are upon the haqq, who do not fear the blame of the blamers, who speak the haqq even if it lands them in prison. Likewise the reference to ‘rulers’ refers to those who implement the Law of Allaah without ‘abrogating’ it for man made laws. Those rulers who worship the Kuffaar and do not implement the Shariah are not to be respected.

Ayyoob Ibn Al-Quryah said:

“The people that have the most right to be honored are three: (1) The scholars, (2) the brothers, (3) and the rulers. Therefore whoever has disdain and belittles the scholars has corrupted his manhood. Whoever has disdain and belittles the rulers has corrupted his present life, and the intelligent does not have disdain and belittle anyone.”

[Jaami Bayaan Al-‘Ilm Wa Fadhlihi, 1/46]

Taawoos Ibn Kaysaan said:

“It is from the sunnah to respect four types of people: (1) the scholar, (2) the elder, (3) the ruler, (4) and the father.”

[Musannaf of ‘Abdur-Razaaq, 11/137]

Ash-Sha’abee said:

“Once Zayd Ibn Thaabit led the prayer and then a camel was brought for him to ride. So Ibn ‘Abbaas came and took hold of the camel’s mount (for him to ascend). At this, Zayd told him, ‘Leave it alone, O son of the Messenger of Allaah’s uncle (i.e. cousin).‘

So Ibn ‘Abbaas replied, ‘This is how we treat the scholars and elders.‘ “

[Majma’ Az-Zawaa’id, 9/345]

‘Alee (ra) Said, “From The Rights Of The Scholar Over You Are…”

‘Alee Ibn Abee Taalib said:

“From the rights of the scholar over you are:

– Give the salaams to the generalpopulas and specifying them (i.e. the scholar) by greeting them particularly.
– Sit in front of him.
– Do not point at him with your hand.
– Do not cut your eyes at them.
– Do not say that so and so opposes your statement.
– Do not backbite anyone in front of him.
– Do not walk through his sitting.
– Do not grab him by his garment.
– Do not pester him if he is tired.
– And do not turn away from his companionship.

He is like the date palm and you are waiting for something to befall you. The believing scholar has a greater reward than the warrior in the Cause of Allaah. When the scholar dies, a void is created in Islaam that will not be filled until the Day of Resurrection.”

[Al-Jaami Li Akhlaaq Ar-Raawee Wa Aadaab As-Saami’, 1/199]

Having Good Manners When Forbidding The Evil

Shaykh ‘Abdullaah ‘Azzaam said:

“Commanding the good and forbidding the evil requires a person who loves the people; a person who looks at the bigger picture; a person with a gentle tongue. Do not come to one and say, ‘I hate you for the sake of Allaah because you do this or that.’

Are you not able to say, instead, ‘I love you for the sake of Allaah, my brother. Howevr, I saw a simple and small mistake from you.’”

[Fee Dhilaal Soorah At-Tawbah, p.75]

Being Harsh When Enjoining The Good And Forbidding The Evil

Some young people use harsh and cruel methods when trying to guide people, debate with them and call them to give up what is contrary to Sharia. They think that being harsh will give results and deter people, but they forget that being kind and gentle is the original principle that is not to be forsaken until after all gentle and kind means have been exhausted. Gentleness is what yields good results and has an impact on people’s hearts; harshness, on the other hand, puts people off in most cases and makes the transgressor persist in his ways.

It is very strange that these people did not differentiate between the one who transgresses the limit knowingly and the one who does so unknowingly; between the one who promotes innovation and the duped, misguided victim; and between mistakes concerning which there is a difference of scholarly opinion and mistakes on which there is consensus that they are wrong….

They forget that their harsh treatment and refraining from helping deepens the gap between them and people and causes people to go and join the ranks of the deviants who are the enemies of Islam…

Islam’s stance on violence and harshness when calling to Islam and interacting with people is very clear. Allah (swt) says, enjoining Moosa and his brother Haroon:

“Go, both of you, to Fir’aun [Pharaoh], verily, he has transgressed [all bounds in disbelief and disobedience and behaved as an arrogant and as a tyrant]. And speak to him mildly; perhaps he may accept admonition or fear [Allah].” [20: 43-44]

These were the instructions of our Lord (swt) to Moosa and Haroon (as) when calling the tyrant Pharaoh: to speak mildly or gently when explaining the truth because it is more beneficial and more likely to be accepted and to instil fear of Allah (swt).

[Taken from “The Life And Times Of ‘Alee Ibn Abee Taalib” by ‘Alee Muhammad As-Sallaabee, p. 309. See also, “Dhaahirat Al-Ghulw Fid-Deen”, Pp. 231-237]

Having Manners When Forbidding The Evil

Hasan Al-Bana, may Allaah forgive us and him, said:

“We used to follow this way of commanding the good and forbidding the evil. We had a shaykh who used to teach us and guide us, so one day, I saw him praying between the pillars of the Mosque. So I wanted to advise him that praying between the pillars of the Mosque is disliked (makrooh). So I wrote him a letter and addressed it on behalf of “A Doer of Good”, saying, ‘O Shaykh, I saw you praying between the pillars of the Mosque, and this is disliked, as the Prophet (saw) said.’ I then signed it ‘A Doer of Good’, and sent to him by mail.

He got the letter and read it, then he said, ‘O youth, I have received a letter from a man who advised me not to pray between the pillars of the Mosque, and I did not previously know that it is disliked, so don’t do it.’

I was amongst the youth that he was addressing. So we were able to fulfill a good action without causing any insult or offense to our teacher.”

[Quoted in “Fee Dhilaal Soorah At-Tawbah” by Shaykh ‘Abdullaah ‘Azzaam, p. 75]

Friendship

Shaykh ‘Abdullaah ‘Azzaam said:

“A group of friends are all like each other, and the longer the friendship lasts, the closer the character and manners of each person in the group will be to the others. Do not believe that a good person can live for long with a corrupt person, unless the corrupt person improves and follows the example of the good person.

This is why you should look for the good people, and a friend is like a chain: he will either drag you into Paradise, or drag you into Hell. He will either cause you problems or he will help you solve your problems.”

[At-Tarbiyyah Al-Jihaadiyyah Wal-Bina, 5/35]

Beware Of Raising Yourself Above Others

Shaykh ‘Abdullaah ‘Azzaam said:

“Pay attention to your heart, beware of raising yourself above others, and beware of belittling others. How many of these people have given for the sake of this religion – but have kept it secret between them and the Lord of the Worlds – from he whose statement is belittled and his appearance mocked, and he might even have given more for this religion than an earthful of people like you ever would?

So, pay attention to yourself, and may Allaah have Mercy on a man who knows his limits and stays inside those limits.”

[From a Khutbah entitled “An-Nas Asnaf” (People are of Various Types), given on September 26, 1986]

O Muslims Of The West, Behave! By Sh. Muqbil Ibn Haadee Al-Waadi’ee

If we are compelled to go to a land of disbelief, we should fear Allaah with regards to our Islaam for indeed many Muslims that travel to America, Britain, Germany or one of the other disbelieving countries serves as barriers for some Christians, atheists and Jews (to embrace Islaam). They serve as obstacles between them and Islaam.

This is due to the fact that these Muslims do not practise Islaam (as it should be practised). A Muslim is prohibited from selling alcohol, but yet he sells it. He is prohibited from selling pork, but yet he sells its meat and so on. He is forbidden from doing many things, such as stealing and treachery, but yet he doesn’t act upon Islaam.

In fact, he may even have worse conduct than the Jews and Christians. So these kinds of people give Islaam a bad reputation, even though Islaam is free from them. This is even the case with us, even though we fall short in acting upon Islaam, Islaam is still Islaam – it is a proof against us and we are not a proof against it.

The comportment of the Muslims in these times has become an evil type os comportment. It is based on treachery. You will find that when a Muslim is entrusted with an item or is put in charge of some organization, that most of the time, he displays nothing but treachery and deceit, contrary to the enemies of Islaam, for they display good conduct for the sake of worldly reasons, not to mention trustworthiness…

So it is upon the Muslims to fear Allaah. Many people in Indonesia accepted Islaam as a result of good conduct. This was die to the good conduct and behaviour that they saw from the Muslims. For example, a Muslim would go from Hadramaut (in Yemen) to Indonesia for business purposes and they would see his good manners and thus accept Islaam because of that. And yet this man only travelled there for the purpose of conducting business.However they saw is good manners and dealings and embraced Islaam because of that.

Not Being Quick To Criticize The Scholars

Regarding having etiquettes with the scholars, Shaykh ‘Umar Baazmool said:

“Deeming his knowledge, precision, and his opinion to be reliable. It is reached with reflection, pondering, the best opinion, and accusing oneself of misunderstanding.

He should not undertake refuting him or debating him before that. If he must do so, he does not precede until he has verified it, sought advice, and prayed istikhaarah.

Then he presents what he must to his shaykh with gentleness and manners without viewing himself to have any virtue since his shaykh has enough virtue in his knowledge and understanding to be able to realise what he has realised.”

Elsewhere he mentions:

“From their rights is reflecting upon their statements and ijtihaad without rushing to criticize it. How many statements of the scholars were criticized by some of the people and the criticizer had an incorrect understanding of their speech! How many have found fault with a correct statement, and his illness was a faulty understanding.”

[Taken from “Interaction With The Scholars” p. 77 & 84]

Seeking Forgiveness For The Misguided, By Ibn Taymiyyah

Ibn Taymiyyah said:

“He (Imaam Ahmad) did not make takfeer of the Murji’ah who say that faith is saying without action, nor did he make takfeer of those who considered ‘Alee more virtuous than ‘Uthmaan, rather the texts are clear from him that he prevented even takfeer of the Kawaarij, the Qadariyyah and others besides them. In fact, he only make takfeer of the Jahmiyyah for their denial of Allaah’s names and attributes, and this is because of their clear and apparent contradiction to what the Messenger (saw) came with, since the reality of their claim amount to denial of the Creator. But he suffered at their hands until he knew their reality very well, seeing that it was founded in ta’teel. Indeed takfeer of the Jahmiyyah is well known from among the Salaf Imaams.

Yet Imaam Ahmad did not make takfeer of the individuals among them, because the one who invites to an idea is worse than the one who simply utters it. And the one who punishes those who oppose such ideas is worse than the one who simply invites to them. And the one who makes takfeer of those who oppose him is worse than the one who punishes them.

So in this light, the people in authority were uttering the ideas of the Jahmiyyah, that the Quraan is created, and that Allaah would not be seen in the hereafter, etc., and they were also inviting people to accept these ideas, and inquisiting them over them, punishing them when they did not accept, and making takfeer of those who rejected them. They would keep the prisoners as captives until they uttered the Jahmiyyah belief that the Quraan was created etc., they would not give anyone a position of authority, nor give anyone any provision from the bayt al-maal unless he had these things.

With all these factors present, Imaam Ahmad, may Allaah have mercy upon him, had mercy with them, he sought forgiveness for them, because he knew that it was not clear to them that they were denying the Messenger (saw), nor that they were rejecting what he came with, but they were rather uttering mistaken interpretations, following those who brought such ideas to them.”

[Majmoo’ Al-Fataawaa, 23/342]