ISLAMIC VIRTUES

ISLAMIC VIRTUES F OR centuries the lives of the Prophet and his Companions have served as models of a truly God-fearing existence for all humankind, and will continue to do so until the end times. Anyone who is sincere about learning from their example can know, even today, every detail of how they lived and died. The following are a few selections from the deeds and saying which make up this model, giving an authentic picture of the Islamic way of life. Do not regard knowledge as a means to personal prestige Ubayy ibn Kaab said: “Acquire knowledge and use it. Do not acquire it in order thereby to enhance yourselves. Otherwise a time will come when learning will be used as an adornment in the manner of clothes. Lust for fame the worst single danger for man On his death bed Shaddad ibn Aus said to those around him: “What I fear most for this community is ostentation and the harbouring of secret desires.” The meaning of “secret desires” was explained by Sufyan Thauri: “It is the fondness of praise for one’s good deeds.” When the Prophet himself was questioned on this subject, he said that, “secret desires” were harboured, for example, by those who sought knowledge because the idea that people would then come and sit at their feet was pleasing to them. Acting ‘to be seen by men’ Abu Hurayrah records the Prophet as having exhorted his followers to seek refuge from the Pit of Grief. When asked what this Pit of Grief was, he said it was a gorge in Hell from which Hell itself sought refuge four hundred times a day. The Prophet was then asked who would enter that Pit. “Those scholars who act to be seen by men”, he replied. Hardness of heart comes from using religion for worldly ends “A learned man is punished by having his heart to die,” said Hasan alBasri. Asked what was meant by the dying of the heart, he replied that it came from seeking the world through actions whose sole direction should be towards eternity.