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In the name of All°h, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful

Topic of Discussion: The Characteristics of the

True Believer : Øad¢th ##13
13 [ Discussion #1
#19 ] – Part VI
Lectures on Akhl°q given by His Eminence
Ayatull°h al-`U®m° al-Ø°jj ash-Shaykh N°•ir Mak°rim ash-Sh¢r°z¢ (may All°h protect him)
Translated by Saleem Bhimji – www.al-mubin.org – al-mubin@al-mubin.org

Topic: The Characteristics of

The True Believer – Part VI

I
n our previous ethical discussions, we had narrated a ¦¡d¢th related from the Noble Prophet (blessings of
All¡h be upon him and his family) which he spoke to {Al¢ (peace be upon him) in which the Prophet (blessings
of All¡h be upon him and his family) listed 103 characteristics of the true believer. In our previous
discussions, we covered twenty-six of these characteristics and today in this discussion, we cover another five
characteristics.

Text of the °ad¢th:

...+* ) %( ' & %#$ "! ...

English Translation: “(the true believer is one whose) movements are with grace and elegance, seeing him is
something that is sweet (pleasing), he performs a great amount of worship, he is one of dignity and honour, and is
gentle and loving.”

Commentary of Øad¢th:

The twenty-seventh characteristic of the true believer is that he is [ ] or that “his movement is with grace
and elegance” and when he deals or interacts with the creations of All¡h (Glory and Greatness be to Him), he does
so with love, grace and eloquence.

The twenty-eighth characteristic of the true believer is that he is [ ] or that “seeing and meeting with him is
something sweet and pleasing” and he is never harsh or bitter with others.

The twenty-ninth characteristic of the true believer is that he is [ ] or that “he performs a lot of worship (of
All¡h).” Is the meaning of this worship of All¡h (Glory and Greatness be to Him) simply related to his 4al¡t and
4awm or is it something else?

As we know, {Ib¡dah (Worship) is of two types:

1. {Ib¡dah in the specific meaning: Those forms of worship which if not performed with the intention of
seeking closeness to All¡h (Glory and Greatness be to Him) are rendered null and void.

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 2. {Ib¡dah in the general meaning: Any action, which if done with the intention of seeking nearness to All¡h
(Glory and Greatness be to Him) earns the person a reward however the intention is not one of the
conditions for the correctness of the act. Thus we can include all actions that we perform in this section
and thus when the a¦¡d¢th speak of {Ib¡dah, they refer to this meaning of the term.

The thirtieth characteristic of the true believer is that he is [ ] or that “he is one of dignity and honour” (the
word and both come from the root word of which is in the meaning of a weighty object.)

The thirty-first characteristic of the true believer is that he is [ ! " # ] meaning that “he is gentle and has love and
affection (for others).”

Amongst these five characteristics which we just mentioned, there are four characteristics which are related to a
person and his interaction with other people. We see that a pleasant interaction and good dealings with other
people is so important and has such an affect on people whom we are speaking to – whether they be people of the
faith or people who are engrossed in this materialistic world.

Our enemies (the enemies of Isl¡m) are unyielding on placing the label of violence and aggression on the Muslims
and we must show them that whereas we are:

† <… :…🠅

“Harsh against the disbelievers.”

However at the same time, we are also:

¬ !" Š :† š

“Merciful amongst one another”

Looking at the lives of the A’immah (peace be upon all of them) we see that they showed love and affection even
with those who were not Muslims and who were not at war with the Muslims.

For example, in the books of history it is mentioned that {Al¢ (peace be upon him) was once traveling with a Jew
and when they reached to a place where they were both to split and go their own separate routes (to their own
city), we see that the Im¡m (peace be with him) still went a partial way on the road with the Jew. Upon
experiencing this, the Jew told him that he had taken the wrong road to which the Im¡m (peace be with him)
replied, “In order to follow the commandments of my d¢n and to observe the rights of the person I am traveling
with, I came a short distance on the path with you.” By seeing the conduct of the Im¡m, the Jew was very
surprised and after a short period, he accepted Isl¡m.

Acting according to such a simple injunction in the religion of Isl¡m resulted in a great number of people becoming
Muslims:

(2) †_–…*< 3… ð/… -.ÿ/ , ()* +!Ÿ ÿ '† … Œ! ÿ… &

“And you see people entering into the d¢n of All¡h in group after group.”

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With great regret though, some people who think themselves to be holy, pious people - who are in reality just
shallow minded individuals - act in such a way that give an excuse to the enemies (to insult Isl¡m) where as the
principles of our d¢n are not based on aggression or hatred.

In the Qur}¡n, we have 114 chapters of which 113 of them start with the words:

8"š=> … -.: ;<=> … (ð/… 89 Š)

“(In the name of All¡h) the Most Me

Merciful
rciful to all people in
general, the Most Compassionate to the believers in specific.”

Thus, 1/114 of Isl¡m deals with anger and harshness whereas 113 parts of Isl¡m deal with mercy and
compassion.

In addition, we have two different types of interaction with people:

1. Acts of showing off which are done to gain some material benefit of this world.
2. Acts which are done with sincerity which come straight from the heart.

The first type of act is quite common in the West – for example in order to gain the pleasure and satisfaction and
attract more customers, the people show more care and love to the clientele since it is through this that they can
gain wealth because they know that if they have a good interaction with their customers, they will be able to
attract more people to their airline (for example).

The second type is one of the characteristics of the true believer and when we say that the true believer is one who
is pleasant to interact with we do not say this to gain some profit from this material world, rather, we do this so
that we can unite our hearts and get spiritually closer to one another.

In the story of Luqm¡n, The Wise, and the advice that he gave, it has been narrated in the Qur}¡n:

†[ š>I -F! ‚G… , -E! C ‚@& -'† DŸ+ > A±

= C ‚@&

“And swell not thy cheek (for pride) at men nor walk in insolence through the earth.”1

The word in this verse [ $%] comes from the root word of [ &] and its original meaning is that of a sickness that a
camel becomes plagued with and because of this disease, his neck is contorted to the right or left side. This verse
speaks to people that they must not develop the same sickness that such a camel would develop which would
make his neck contorted which would lead him to turn away from the people. Through the use of this phrase, it is
clear that people who have bad etiquette actually possess a sickness. In the continuation of this verse we are told
that we must not walk the road of pride.

…and all praise belongs to All¡h, Lord of the Worlds, only the mistakes are mine. (Tr.)

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S£rah Luqm¡n, Verse 18
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