Who Could Be Better?- Day 7 (1444.h)
وَمَنۡ أَحۡسَنُ قَوۡلًا مِّمَّن دَعَآ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ وَعَمِلَ صَٰلِحًا وَقَالَ إِنَّنِى مِنَ ٱلۡمُسۡلِمِينَ
And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allâh (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands firm (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allâh’s (Islâmic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."
Sūrah Fuṣṣilat, Āyah 33
﷽
Who is better in speech than one who calls to the Tawḥīd of Allāh? Who is better than the one who invites and reminds their parents, relatives, friends and colleagues that none has the right to be worshipped in truth except Allāh, The Almighty? And who is better for us than those individuals who love us enough to advise us, and remind us of that which is correct? From the best of blessings of Allāh upon a servant is that He places around him those who keep him on track, reminding him with Qurʾān, with Sunnah and the narrations of the Salaf As-Ṣāliḥ (The Righteous Predecessors).
Indeed true love necessitates that you do not only want to be with a person in this world, but the next as well, for this reason, we should all make efforts to strive alongside our families, friends and communities to seek the pleasure of Allāh and His Paradise, so that we may all dwell there eternally.
One of our noble teachers Ustādh ʿAbdulilāh Laḥmāmī (حفظه الله) once mentioned:
"Nothing in the Dunyā will make you happier than the happiness of Tawḥīd (i.e. singling out all of your worship for Allāh alone) and Sunnah, and the happiness of keeping away from Bidʾah (religious innovations) and disobedience (to Allāh)"(1)
The Prophet (ﷺ) said:
Should I not inform you of the best of you? And they (The Companions) said indeed tell us o Messenger of Allāh, and he (ﷺ) said, the ones who when they are seen Allāh is remembered. (2)
That is one of the traits of the People of Barakah (blessing), that their presence alone reminds people of Allāh, and as Imām Ibn Al-Qayyim (رحمه الله) mentioned in his letter to his brother that such people benefit the people wherever they are. May Allāh make us blessed wherever we are.
What do we remind others of Ikhwah? What do people remember when they see us? A joke, a restaurant, perhaps a tv show or a car or a game? Do we remind people of the several ways to waste their time and waste their life? Or do we remind them of that which will grant them happiness and success in this world and the hereafter? We should strive to remind those around us of things that will be of benefit to them; for example reminding our families and friends to remember Allāh, to remember death, to learn the religion of Allāh and to strive to practice the Deen (religion) upon insight (i.e. knowledge).
Brothers and sisters, we should watch who we take as friends, and not just take anyone as a friend. A friend who is good for us is the one who reminds of to fear Allāh and reminds us to be sincere in our worship of Allāh. Indeed the bad friend is the one whom you cannot even mention Allāh’s name in their presence! Allāh commanded the best of us (ﷺ):
وَٱصْبِرْ نَفْسَكَ مَعَ ٱلَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُم بِٱلْغَدَوٰةِ وَٱلْعَشِىِّ يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَهُۥ ۖ وَلَا تَعْدُ عَيْنَاكَ عَنْهُمْ تُرِيدُ زِينَةَ ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا ۖ وَلَا تُطِعْ مَنْ أَغْفَلْنَا قَلْبَهُۥ عَن ذِكْرِنَا وَٱتَّبَعَ هَوَىٰهُ وَكَانَ أَمْرُهُۥ فُرُطًۭا
And keep yourself (O Muḥammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) patiently with those who call on their Lord (i.e. your companions who remember their Lord with glorification, praising in prayers, and other righteous deeds) morning and afternoon, seeking His Face; and let not your eyes overlook them, desiring the pomp and glitter of the life of the world; and obey not him whose heart We have made heedless of Our Remembrance, and who follows his own lusts, and whose affair (deeds) has been lost.
Sūrah Al-Kahf:28
In Imām Ibn Kathīr’s Tafsīr (exergises) of this Āyah (Sūrah Al-Fuṣṣilat:33):
In commentary on the part of the Āyah - وَعَمِلَ صَٰلِحًا وَقَالَ إِنَّنِى مِنَ ٱلۡمُسۡلِمِينَ - And does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."
Means, he himself follows that which he says, so it benefits him as well as others. He is not one of those who enjoin good but do not do it themselves, or who forbid evil yet they do it themselves. He does good and avoids doing evil, and he calls people to their Creator, may He be blessed and exalted.
That we do not show people the way out of darkness while remaining in the darkness ourselves and that we do not become candles that light the way for others while forgetting to save ourselves first from the fire, as Allāh mentioned:
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ قُوٓاْ أَنفُسَكُمۡ وَأَهۡلِيكُمۡ نَارًا
O you who believe! Ward off yourselves and your families against a Fire (Hell)
Sūrah At-Tahrim:6
So save yourself first, then call others. Just like when you are on an aeroplane, you are told to first wear your oxygen mask then after you can help others. So first mask yourself from the toxins of Shirk (polytheism), Kufr (disbelief), Ma’āsiy (wrongdoings) and Bidʾah (religious innovations), then after you can wear the same mask for others. Indeed no one can pour from an empty cup.
And how do you save yourself if you do not know what you’re saving yourself from? That is why we need to climb the ladder accordingly, first, we seek knowledge, then act upon it ourselves, and then we call others to it.
Imām Ibn Kathīr also mentioned, that ʿAbdur-Razzāq said, narrating from Ma’mar, from Al-Ḥassan Al-Baṣrī, who recited this Āyah:
وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ قَوْلاً مِّمَّن دَعَا إِلَى اللَّهِ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا وَقَالَ إِنَّنِي مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ
And who is better in speech than he who invites to Allah, and does righteous deeds, and says:"I am one of the Muslims." and said,
"This is the beloved of Allāh, this is the close friend of Allāh, this is the chosen one of Allah, this is the most beloved of all the people of earth to Allāh. He responded to the call of Allāh and called mankind to that to which he had responded. He did righteous deeds in response and said, ‘I am one of the Muslims.' This is Allāh's Khalifah."
Do we not want to be loved by Allāh? If we claim to want this then what measures are we taking? We want to attain the pleasure of Allāh while we surround ourselves with both actions and people that are pleasing to the Shayṭān.
You want success but you do not tread its path, indeed the ships do not sail on dry land.
May Allāh grant us success!
وصلّى الله وسلّم عل نبيّنا محمّد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين
(1) - Ustādh ʿAbdulilāh mentioned this in his class series titled: The conditions of La ilaha illa-Allāh.
(2) - Al Adab Al-Mufrad of Imām Al-Bukhārī, translated by Ustādh Nader Ibn Muḥammad.
