LEARNING FROM
THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD
Gems of Wisdom
SAYINGS of the Prophet Muhammad serve as gems of wisdom for humankind. This article presents certain sayings of the Prophet followed by elaboration by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. These can serve as a beacon of light for those seeking to develop intellectually and live a purposeful life.
A PRAYER
A prayer of the Prophet of Islam is as follows, “O God, show me the truth in the form of truth and help me to follow it, and show me the falsehood in the form of falsehood and help me to avoid it, and show me things as they are.” (Sharh al-Muntaha al-Iradat)
The most important thing in today’s world is to possess objective thinking. This lesson is imparted in this Hadith in the form of a prayer. In today’s world, man lives in such a situation that he often sees the truth in the form of falsehood and falsehood in the form of truth. In this prayer, one is asking his Lord to save him from this error. In response to his prayer, God may bless him with the insight that allows him to see things as they are. Right thinking leads to the right action, and the right action always leads to success.
According to this prophetic prayer, human beings are not capable of seeing the truth in the form of truth and falsehood in the form of falsehood. This problem is caused by conditioning. Every human being is brought up in a certain environment after birth. From childhood onwards, he continues to accept the effects of the environment due to his mental immaturity. This is called conditioning. After reaching the age of maturity, man has to activate his consciousness and engage in his mental deconditioning. Let him bring himself to the level of as-it-is- thinking. The greatest benefit of knowledge is that it makes a person conscious and prepares him for this self-deconditioning. This increases our conviction in the process of deconditioning. This helps us to see things as they are.
WHO IS POWERFUL?
The Prophet of Islam said, “A wrestler is not one who beats people in a wrestling match. Rather, a wrestler is one who controls his anger.” (Sahih al-Bukhari) This is undoubtedly the highest quality of a person’s strength. Beating someone in a physical competition is not a great feat; even an animal can perform such a feat. The greatest sign of a person being powerful is that when he gets angry with someone, he has complete control over himself. Despite anger, he should not go beyond the realm of humanity. Anger should not prevail over him, rather he should prevail over anger.
A COMPREHENSIVE ADVICE
The Prophet of Islam asked one of his Companions, “Shall I give you a compact piece of advice?” He said: “Yes, O Messenger of God”. The Prophet said, “Guard your tongue.” (At-Tirmidhi)
Guarding the tongue means that a person should refrain from saying something offensive to others. He should protect himself, in all circumstances, from the evil that spreads in society. It is a fact that most social evils are spread through people losing control of their tongues. Controlling the tongue closes the door to all kinds of social evils. It is a sign of seriousness that a person should always use his language carefully. Misuse of language appears when a person harms others, speaks harshly to others, finds fault in others, and spreads rumours about others.
EXTRAVAGANCE
The Quran forbids extravagance, which is spending without real need (7: 31). The Prophet of Islam said that it is also an extravagance to eat whatever you feel like eating. (Sunan ibn Majah)
It is man’s legitimate right to spend on real needs. One should not spend out of desire and pleasure. God gives someone surplus wealth, not for spending it only on himself. Wealth is God’s trust, and he should spend it only on the things God has ordained for him. Extravagant lifestyle is an indication that a person has not fulfilled God’s trust.
PEACEFUL CITIZEN
The Prophet of Islam said that a Muslim is one from whose hand and tongue people are safe. (Musnad Ahmad) This means the true servant of God is the one who lives as a nonviolent person in society. He should not utter such words as may hurt others. That is, no one should experience harm from him. This is the minimum standard of humanity. The highest level of humanity is for men and women to live in a society in such a way as they may benefit each other. And if they cannot benefit others, then at least they should not become problem persons for others in the society.
When a man harms others with his words or his hand, he falls from the level of humanity. The true standard of humanity is that man should be so sensitive that he cannot afford to be harmful to others.
A person who is sensitive in this matter will not find any happiness in harming others. If he ever harms anyone, he will think, “I have lowered myself below the level of humanity”, and will try to make up for the loss. He will not be content until he has apologized or made up for his inadequacy.
WHAT IS SIN?
The Prophet of Islam said, “Sin is that which pinches your heart, and while doing it, you fear lest people become aware of it.” (Sahih Muslim) This Hadith explains that this sign of sin can easily be understood by anyone. Every man has a conscience. This conscience is so sensitive that it warns a person immediately when an evil thought comes to the mind. If a person listens to the voice of his conscience, he will never transgress. In the same way, when someone does anything wrong, he does it in secret. He tries not to let anyone know. Whenever such thoughts come to him, he should understand that he is about to do something that he should not do.
Every observation and learning
can serve as point of reference
to establish contact with God
instantly and seek His blessings.
