TRAINING IN WISDOM

being in his company. For this second purpose, Ali and Aisha were chosen, at a young age. Consider, for instance, this saying of Ali: 'The value of a person lies in what he excels in.' This point is not found in these same words in any Hadith of the Prophet. This is a piece of wisdom that Ali derived as a result of being in the company of the Prophet. This wisdom can be expressed as follows: ‘The value of a person lies in his excellence.’ The same thing was true of Aisha. Aisha’s inferences from the life of the Prophet are very famous. All her inferences offer great wisdom. She extracted these principles of wisdom by being in the company of the Prophet. Consider, for instance, this wise saying of Aisha: ‘Whenever the Prophet had to choose between two options, he always opted for the easier of the two.’ (Sahih al-Bukhari). Words of the Prophet that others heard him say are called Hadith. The distinction of Ali and Aisha is that they not only related sayings of the Prophet, rather they observed the Prophet closely and then deduced principles through this observation. By living in the company of the Prophet they grasped his wisdom and insight, and then expressed them in their own language. This company greatly boosted their capacity to grasp matters. At a young age, the two of them benefitted a great deal from the Prophet’s company. And they were able to share this wisdom with others for many years after the Prophet. o Ego Versus Conscience Psychological studies show that every human being is born with an ego and a conscience. If you follow the tit-for-tat policy, it arouses the ego of the other person, whereas if you follow the policy of forgiveness, it will activate the other person's conscience. And it is a fact that, in controversial matters, the conscience always plays a positive role.