Manners in Society

How Muslims bring calamity upon themselves One night, the Prophet went out, and, entering an Ansari settlement called Banu Muawiyah, he offered two rakats in the mosque there and followed this with an exceptionally long prayer. Khabbab, who was present at the time, said, “I have never seen you utter such a prayer as you did tonight” The Prophet concurred. “It was a prayer of hope and fear,” he explained. “I asked the Lord for three things. Two He granted, one He denied. I asked Him not to destroy us as He destroyed the nations of old. This He granted. Then asked Him to prevent any external enemy from gaining ascendancy over us, and this too He granted. But when, finally, I asked God to let us not be split up in groups, with some suffering at the hand of others, the Almighty denied me this.” (AL-TIRMIDHI, SHAMA’IL)