Bukhari, Muslim and Ahmad ibn Hanbal record that God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, said:

The upper hand is better than the lower one.

In another hadith, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, explains that ‘the upper hand’ is the hand which gives to the poor and needy, while ‘the lower hand’ is the one which takes. So, besides expressing the merits of charity, this hadith encourages people to work and earn their living without recourse to begging.

There is, however, a point in the hadith worth mentioning that, although the giving hand is, in general terms, better than the receiving hand, God’s Messenger did not use the expressions, ‘the one who gives’ and ‘the one who receives’; instead, he used the terms ‘the upper hand’ and ‘the lower hand’, which make the act, not the person, generally preferable so that, in some cases, the one who receives may be ‘better’ than the one who gives. Also, as stated in another hadith, God has some servants who, although despicable in appearance, are so beloved in the sight of God that when they predict something by swearing by God, God makes their predictions come true. Bara’ ibn Malik was among them. In addition, they ask nothing of people and are extraordinarily independent. For example, God’s Messenger had advised Thawban not to beg from people; therefore, Thawban would not even ask someone to pick up the whip he dropped while riding his camel; he dismounted and picked it up himself. So, when poor believers of this quality have to receive from people, it cannot be said of them that they are inferior to those who give to them.

Islam does not approve of begging

But to be sure, Islam does not approve of begging. As it is not becoming for a Muslim to beg, a Muslim country should also not fall into the condition of having to beg from other countries. It should never be forgotten that honour, dignity and superiority always belong to God, His Messenger and the believers. Therefore, Muslims should not, either individually or collectively, come under the control of unbelievers, and should always preserve their dignity and superiority.

People to whom God will not talk on the Judgement Day

Imam Muslim relates from God’s Messenger, who said:

The hadith begins with thalathatun (three), meaning any three, unnamed, unworthy of being named. In this way, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, signifies that such people may be met with anywhere, and that themselves and what they do are so despicable that Muslims should refrain from what they do.

Second, as their punishment, God will not address Himself to them in the next world. This is a most severe punishment, because ‘speech’ is, as stated in sura al-Rahman, one of the foremost and greatest favours of God to man. Besides, man will be in dire need of speaking on the Day of Judgement, when he will hurry to and fro trying to escape God’s chastisement. Those three sorts of people will, however, be told that day: Be you driven into it (the Fire)! And speak you not to Me! (al-Mu’minun, 23. 108)

The Day of Judgement is a day when everyone will be completely occupied with his own troubles, and there will be no refuge except God. Everyone will hope that God may give some attention to him, to look with mercy upon him and purify him of all his sins. But those three sorts of people will have no hope of being purified and forgiven, since God Almighty will not acknowledge them.

In the hadith, the account of the punishment for those three sorts of people precedes the account of their sins. In this way, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, emphasizes the gravity of their sins and warns everybody to refrain from them. The first and most grievous of these sins is ‘trailing one’s robe’, which signifies in the idiom of Arabic, arrogance.

What does arrogance really mean?

Arrogance means to contest with God for the rule of the earth. Man, though a weak and poor creature – so vulnerable as to be destroyed by a micro-organism, so powerless as to be incapable of giving life even to a blade of grass – is usually charmed by his own abilities and skills or position or wealth or apparent accomplishments and, is, in consequence, overcome by feelings of conceit and pride. Though created from a drop of contemptible ‘water’ and having no choice in the time and place of his birth, family, colour or race, and no power over the operative needs of his body – he is unable to, for example, overcome the commands of hunger, thirst and sleep – though man is, on account of his weakness, endowed by God with various talents and faculties, he attributes his accomplishments to himself and begins to contest with God for the ownership of the creation. His arrogance eventually blinds him to innumerable signs pointing to God’s Existence, Unity and Absolute Sovereignty. Concerning this, the Qur’an says:

Reminding someone of the favor one has done to him

After arrogance, to remind someone of the favour one has done to him is mentioned as a grave sin. It is no doubt closely related to arrogance, for the one who appropriates as his own the things – wealth, ability and the like – that God has bestowed on him, tends to commit it. If, by contrast, one sincerely regards all that he has as a gift from God, one becomes grateful to God, who enables him to do someone a favour, and, what is more, he comes to feel indebted to the one he has done a favour to, because he has gained spiritual reward due to him. The hadith thus encourages people to disinterested generosity and altruism, concerning which God’s Messenger also declares:

Deception in trade

Islam decisively prohibits deception in trade. According to the laws of Islam, the seller is obliged to disclose any defect in his goods for sale. Swearing by God is also prohibited, especially in transactions. If a seller tries to sell his goods by telling lies or making false oaths, or to stir up demand for them by swearing by God, this is also a great sin deserving severe punishment. This sin is, again, closely linked to the two mentioned before it, for it usually originates in miserliness and one’s lack of recognition of God. Also, these three sins are, besides being interconnected with unbelief in, and distrust of, God, poisonous for social life, and indicative of weak character. Hence, the severity of their punishment.

Guarding one’s chastity and holding one’s tongue

Imam Bukhari records in his Sahih that God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, said:

As everybody knows, speech is one of the greatest favours of God. So, a man should use his tongue in good and useful acts. He should recite the Qur’an; he should pray; he should always tell the truth and enjoin the good and forbid the evil. He should always be modest and well-mannered in the words he uses. Also, he should restrain his tongue from uttering bad things – telling lies, bad language, slander, and backbiting, etc. One should be very careful about the tongue, for, as ‘Ali said: ‘Your word is dependent on you until you utter it, but once you utter it, you will be dependent on it.’

Like holding one’s tongue, controlling one’s lust is also very important in attaining human perfection and deserving Paradise. God Almighty has endowed man with many faculties and impulses so that he might evolve spiritually by restraining them and channelling them into good deeds and virtues, and thereby rising to ‘the highest of the high’. By struggling against carnal desires and striving to satisfy them in lawful ways, a man may attain the rank of sainthood and gain superiority over angels, since angels have no carnal desires and therefore no struggle against temptations, they do not evolve spiritually. However, because of his essential duality, man travels between ‘the lowest of the low’ — to become even more wretched than Satan — and ‘the highest of the high’, to surpass even angels.

Since Islam bans or blocks up the ways leading to forbidden acts, one should refrain from such acts as displaying one’s beauties and staring at the opposite sex, and also being alone with someone of the opposite sex in a private place such as may encourage illicit relationships. Like holding one’s tongue, this also requires strong will-power, self-discipline and continuous struggle against the carnal self. Even though it seems, at first sight, too difficult, it will give one great spiritual pleasure as the pleasure of labour and struggle lies in labour and struggle themselves, and consequently make one deserving of Paradise.

Actions through which God forgives sins

Muslim records God’s Messenger to have said:

The hadith begins with ‘Listen!’ to draw attention to the importance of what is going to be said. What the Prophet attaches so much importance to in this hadith is the five daily prayers.

Importance of the daily prescribed prayers

The prescribed prayer is the pillar of the religion, without which religion cannot be maintained. When it is performed correctly, it prevents a believer from all kinds of immoralities and indecencies. It is also a sacred ladder, through which a Muslim can rise high to the Presence of God. So, in order to begin to climb this ladder, a believer should do wudu, ritual ablution, in the best way possible. From the first step towards wudu, a believer begins to gain reward. While washing the parts of his body that he must wash in wudu, he is relieved of the stress of daily life and cleansed of his sins. The wudu performed in difficult circumstances, for example, in severe cold, gives greater exhilaration.

The call to prayer, adhan, is, in essence, the call for believers to enter the Presence or Court of God, and a call to prosperity in both worlds. Wudu is the preparation which a believer must make before entering this Presence. By performing the supererogatory prayer before the prescribed one, the believer completes his preparations and through it gets the permission from the aide-de-camp of the Owner of the Court, that is, the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings. When the muazzin (caller to prayer) announces the beginning of the prayer with almost the same words as adhan, he enters the Presence with utmost respect and reverence and converses with the Unique Owner of the whole universe and petitions Him for his needs and desires. This is the prayer which a believer performs five times a day. Through the prayer, his sins are blotted out and his potential to commit sins is changed into the ‘seeds’ of ‘blessed trees of good and virtues’. There is, however, a condition for obtaining this result. The prayer must be performed with utmost sincerity, with pure intention of gaining God’s good pleasure, and in awareness of being in the Presence of the Creator and Owner of the whole universe, who is the All-Powerful, the All-Knowing, the All-Seeing, the All-Hearing, and the All-Overwhelming.

What does ribat mean ?

God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, describes the prescribed prayer as ribat. Ribat means one’s dedication to something, as well as watching guards at the frontier. It is mentioned in the holy Qur’an as, for example, in the following verses:

In the first of the verses, ribat is used in the meaning of being alert and prepared; in the second, dedicated. By describing the prayer as ribat, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, draws attention to the value and importance of struggling in the way of God and also to the place the prescribed prayer holds in the religion and in the life of a believer. In another hadith, he calls the latter ‘the greater jihad’, and the former ‘the lesser jihad’. In order to be successful in the former, a believer must be very attentive in performing the latter. Besides, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, also emphasizes, by describing the prescribed prayer as ribat, that one should dedicate one’s life to Divine worship and organize it according to the prayer; he should arrange his schedule around the five daily prayers. He should always be alert to perform his prayers without any neglect and with full attention; after he prays, he should be in the expectation of the next one. When performed in this way, the prescribed prayers will purify him of all his sins and, more than that, prevent him from committing any sins. They will then be, as another hadith says, like a miraj, the ascension to the Presence of God.

The invaluable awards to be given to the righteous

As related by Bukhari, God’s Messenger said:

Paradise and being righteous

Paradise is the place of surprises. The Qur’an tells us of the bounties of Paradise using names familiar to us, so as to make them comprehensible to us. Whereas, as Ibn ‘Abbas pointed out to interpret the Qur’anic verse, They are given things in similitude (al-Baqara, 2.25), the bounties of Paradise are particular to Paradise in nature and taste, although they are, in appearance, like their counterparts in the world. The believers will be rewarded in Paradise with ever-renewed bounties and, above all, they will observe God free from any qualitative and quantitative dimensions. An instant of this observation will surpass, in delight and blessing, thousands of years of life in Paradise. And, being the greatest of the bounties of Paradise, God will be pleased with believers for ever and never be angry with them.

In order to deserve Paradise, one should be righteous. Righteousness means being upright in all one’s deeds and doing everything intact, without any defect or fault. A righteous believer never tells lies, never deceives anybody, and is completely reliable. God is confident that he performs his religious duties as carefully as possible, and refrains from all His prohibitions. All the creatures, including human beings, animals and plants, are also confident that he never does them any harm; whatever he does, he does it in full awareness that God Almighty is overseeing him. Since he has gained the good pleasure of his Lord, he is included in those for whom God says in the hadith in question, ‘My righteous servants’. That is, he is among those servants whom God loves and, because He loves them, ‘He is their eyes with which they see, their ears with which they hear, their hands with which they hold, and their feet on which they walk’.

God multiplies the good deeds of His servants and gives, in certain circumstances, as many as millions of rewards for each one of them. So, they will meet in Paradise such bounties as they never imagined while in the world.

Paradise and Hell

In a hadith related by Bukhari and Muslim, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, says:

Paradise and Hell are, in essence, each a blessing for man, for man refrains from the prohibitions of God for fear of Hell, and performs His commands in the hope of Paradise. However, it requires self-discipline and a strict intellectual and spiritual training to be saved from the punishment of Hell and to deserve the bounties of Paradise.

The Qur’an says that human beings are tempted by love of the opposite sex, of children, of hoarded treasures of gold and silver, of splendid mounts, cattle and plantations (Al ‘Imran, 3.14). Man has a natural attachment to life and all its pleasures. Hell is an abode of torments in the attractive setting of all those enticing lures and pleasures. If man is captivated by these pleasures and lives to satisfy them in any way possible, he is lured towards Hell. Man easily reaches Hell as its path goes through worldly attractions of every kind.

As for Paradise, it is surrounded by, or the route to it goes through, troubles and tribulations. In order to reach it, man, first of all, must struggle with his carnal self so that he won’t be distracted by worldly attractions. It should be known that the way to Hell is part of the way to Paradise. Man must travel all the way to Hell without allowing any of its attractions to seduce him. This requires self-discipline and continuous struggle against the temptations of the world combined with the desires of his carnal self. Whenever he is invited by the enjoyments and luxuries of the world like fame, wealth and positions and posts, he must struggle to restrict himself to the boundaries set by Divine Commandments. He must continue to carry out his duties like praying, fasting, alms-giving, and (if possible) pilgrimage to the Ka‘ba, and fair-dealing, honesty, truthfulness, kindness to the poor, the needy and orphans, and enjoining the good and forbidding the evil. He must also refrain from deception, usury, gambling, drinking alcohol, backbiting, hypocrisy and every form of injustice. He should not think that he will be left without being tested. God will test him with afflictions and something of fear and hunger, and loss in goods or lives or in the fruits of his toil and earnings (the Qur’an, 2.155). In order to reach Paradise, he should equip himself with both perseverance in bearing the afflictions, performing the obligations, and refraining from sins, and thanking God for all His bounties and blessings. All of these virtuous acts are detestable to man’s carnal self. In sum, all the arguments summarized above are expressed in this concise saying of God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings:

Paradise is surrounded by troubles and tribulations, and Hell is folded in pleasures.

Fearing God and refraining from destructive acts

Imam Tirmidhi relates that God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, said:

The Arabic word translated here as ‘fear of God’ is taqwa. Derived from wiqaya, meaning protection, taqwa means to be in the safe-keeping or protection of God. This has two aspects. The first is that a man fears God and obeys Him by performing His commands and refraining from His prohibitions. The second aspect of taqwa is that, by studying nature and life and discovering God’s laws controlling them, people find scientific knowledge and order their lives. The establishment of sciences depends upon the discovery of these laws. In order to be under the safe-keeping of God, the true religion and sciences should be combined, for they are two faces or two expressions of a single truth. According to Muslim sages and scholars, the universe where God’s laws issuing from His Attributes of Will, Destiny and Power are operative, is ‘the created Qur’an’, and the Qur’an, which is the collection of the Divine laws issuing from God’s Attribute of Speech, is ‘the composed universe’ or ‘the universe in words’.

The second point which the hadith emphasizes is that believers should refrain from disobedience to their government unless it is absolutely necessary. Without a leader, a community is like the beads of a rosary scattered everywhere, and social and political conflicts usually result in anarchy and destruction. In addition to this, the hadith points to a truth which even modern democracies cannot grasp. Islam does not permit racial discrimination, and therefore an emancipated black slave could be the leader of the Muslim umma. Islamic history is filled with examples of this: many great saints, administrators and scholars have appeared among black people and been respected and obeyed by Muslims.

God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, draws attention, as a third point, to his Sunna. He is the most excellent example to be followed in all aspects of life, until the Last Day. Following his example guarantees that Islam retains its original purity. Any deviation from the Prophet’s way will certainly result in social and doctrinal splits and new importations to Islam, which God declared He had perfected (the Qur’an, 5.3). Adherence to the way of the first four Caliphs, may God be pleased with them, is another guarantee of the unity of Muslims and the maintenance of Islam. This hadith also contains a prediction, that the first four of his successors would be ‘rightly-guided’; that disobedience to them would cause internal splits, as later proved to be true by the uprisings during the caliphate of ‘Uthman and ‘Ali.

A believer is one with insight and prudence

Bukhari and Muslim relate God’s Messenger to have said:

A believer is not bitten twice from the same hole.

A believer has insight, perceptiveness and intelligence. He is a man of sound reasoning as well as a man of spiritual insight. The community of believers have, and should have, the same perceptiveness and they should always be aware of the dangers which might befall them. They may be deceived once, but through insight and awareness which belief provides, they cannot, and should not, be deceived twice. This hadith contains a significant warning for the Muslims of today, who have been deceived for centuries by the unbelievers of the West and the hypocrites (Communists) of the East. It is time for them to take control of their own affairs and to review the quality of their belief once more.

Human beings are like mineral ores to be wrought

The following hadith, which is recorded by Bukhari and Muslim, calls educationalists to re-evaluate their methods:

This hadith is very significant, especially, with respect to education. A good education demands, on the part of educators, insight and perceptiveness, as the Qur’an quotes God’s Messenger to have said:

Insight implies knowing the character, potential and shortcomings of each individual. Human beings are not all alike in character, capacity, ambitions and tastes. Among them are those who contain, so to speak, coal or copper or silver, or gold or diamond. So, the first step in providing good education is to recognize individual potentialities, and then comes the stage of developing them. Just as you cannot obtain gold from a coal-mine, neither can you develop a man with the potentiality of ‘copper’, to become ‘gold’. Conversely, if you apply to ‘gold ore’ the process for extracting ‘copper’, you will waste a talent.

We should also note that a man with great potentialities distinguishes himself wherever he is. Because of this, those who are, as ‘Umar was, in the forefront of unbelief, usually come into leading positions after they convert to Islam, provided their potential for virtue is refined and developed fully in the ‘crucible’ of Islam.

God never neglects to chastise oppressors

In another hadith, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, said:

Then, he recited this verse:

God gives some respite to wrongdoers, a chance to repent and amend. If they persist in wrongdoing and do not improve themselves, then God’s punishment is severe.

Wrongdoers are sometimes a ‘sword of God’, with which God punishes the sinful. Often Muslims become the target of wrongdoing powers, when they deviate from the truth and fail to perform Divine Commandments. In order not to defer the trial of Muslims for their sins to the Day of Judgement, God usually punishes them in this world. For example, when they were split into many factions struggling with each other, nine centuries ago, they were exposed to the Mongol invasion and massacre. Likewise, they tasted the bitterness of an overall defeat and subjugation during and after the First World War as a result of their failure to practice Islam in their lives and of their surrender, intellectual, spiritual and material, to the West. However, every misfortune befalling Muslims is, on account of being a result of sinfulness, an occasion and means for self-purification and Divine forgiveness, and the beginning of a new, more splendid revival. So, the near future will witness, by God’s Will, the collapse of wrongdoing powers and a magnificent revival of Islam and the Muslim world.

In an authentic Tradition, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, says:

People will be drowned in sweat up to their necks under the heat of the Day of Judgement. Those who wish for His shade, must strive and this hadith explains how.

Justice is the foundation of social life and a just ruler is a rare occurrence. Holy and blessed indeed is a young man who restrains his carnal desires and devotes himself to the worship of God. Designing one’s life to fit the times of the daily prayers is a laudable virtue pleasing to God Almighty. Another important quality is that, especially in a world of individualism and selfishness, people love each other for God’s sake and regard the earth as a ‘cradle of brotherhood’. Chastity, refraining from illicit intercourse, needs self-discipline and is so meritorious as to elevate one to ‘the highest of the high’. Alms-giving purely for God’s sake and without showing off is a good deed to which Islam gives almost as much encouragement as belief and the prescribed prayer. Meditation and continuous supervision of one’s deeds, accompanied by tears shed for the fear of God, prevent one from committing sins and make him worthy of Paradise.

God is kind to, and has favours for, everyone; whatever people have, it is from God. Nevertheless, He bestowed some special favours on each Prophet and community according to the dictates of the time. For example, Adam was favoured with knowledge of the ‘names’, that is, the keys to all branches of knowledge. Noah was endowed with steadfastness and perseverance. Abraham was honoured with intimate friendship with God and being the father of numerous Prophets. Moses was given the capability of administration and exalted through being the direct addressee of God, and Jesus was distinguished with patience, tolerance and compassion. All the Prophets have, however, some share in the praiseworthy qualities mentioned, but each of them surpasses, on account of his mission, the others in one or more than one of those qualities.

As for the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, he has all the qualities mentioned above, except being the father of Prophets, and in addition, he has, because of the universality of his mission, a distinction in the following five ways.

As related by Bukhari, he says:

It is possible to deduce the following things from this hadith:

a. Prophethood is absolutely a Divine favour, which God bestows on whomever He wishes.

b. The five things mentioned in the hadith are particular to the Muslim Ummah exclusively.

c. To implant fear in the hearts of enemies at a great distance depends on the maintenance of the utmost sincerity and strict devotion to the cause of God, as was witnessed in the Happy Time of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, and his true successors in later times.

d. Islam does not recognize any intermediaries in worship between God and the servant, and therefore there has not been in Islam a church, an organized, professional clergy. However, besides saintly persons who may be given the right of intercession for certain Muslims by God on the Day of Judgement, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, will enjoy the right of all-inclusive intercession for believing members of every ummah.

e. The spoils of war, forbidden to the previous communities as a means of trial, are lawful for the Muslims, because they are charged with struggling in the way of God until the Last Day, and conveying the Message to the remotest corners of the world.

f. While the mission of the previous Prophets had been restricted to a certain people and time, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, was sent as a mercy for all the worlds.