The Loftiness of Humility
The Loftiness of Humility (Part One)
Ehsanul “Shifa” Sadequee
Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem
(The following is based on a Khutbah delivered at the Prison)
[Khutbah al-Haajah]
Allaah describes the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) in the Qur'aan, "And indeed you are on an exalted standard of character." [Al-Qalam, Ch.68, V.4]
The Prophet explained the entirety of his mission in a few words, "Indeed, I have only been sent (with the mission) of developing/perfecting the noble characteristics (into the people)." [Bukhari in al-Adab al-Mufrad; Saheeh al-Jaami', Vol.1,pg.464]
And 'A'ishah described the Prophet as, "His character was the Qur'aan."
Allaah directs the Prophet in the Qur'aan, "And lower thy wing to the faithful." [Al-Hijr:Ch.15, V.88]
Today we will briefly examine the noble character of Tawaadhu' (humility and humbleness; lit. lowering one's self, being modest), and its opposite- Kibr (arrogance; viewing one's self as being important, big); as indeed things become clear/clarified by comparing and contrasting them with their opposites.
The Prophet explained that kibr (arrogance) means "... to look down upon the people and rejecting the Haqq (the "truth"; also others' "rights"). [Narrated by Muslim]
The Prophet said, and highlighted that he was commanded by Allaah to teach us this lesson, "Indeed, Allaah has revealed to me that you all should humble yourselves with eachother, and no one should boast to anyone, nor should anyone transgress against anyone." [Muslim]
He also said, "No one humbles himself for the sake of Allaah, except that Allaah will elevate/honor him." [Muslim] (An example of this is when Allaah releases Prophet Yoosuf from prison, he humbles himself by saying "I do not declare my self to be blameless, indeed the soul always commands evil, except those (souls) upon whom Allaah has mercy upon." So Allaah elevates him and causes the king of Egypt to declare, "Indeed, you will, from this day onwards, have a strong and entrusted position with us." [Yoosuf Ch.12, V.53-54]. Likewise, when the Prophet 'Eesaa descends, and the Muslims are about to pray Salaat, the Imaam of the Muslims asks 'Eesaa to lead the Salaat, but 'Eesaa humbly insists on praying behind the Imaam, and says, "You are leaders of one another, as an honour from Allaah for this Ummah." Thereafter, Allaah honours 'Eesaa to slay the Dajjaal (Antichrist), thus putting an end to the greatest taaghoot in human history at his hands. Narrated by Imam Ahmad and Muslim.)
And he also informed us, "There is no human, except that there is wisdom in his head at the hand of an angel. If he is humble, it is said to the angel, "Raise his wisdom." If he is arrogant, it is said to the angel, "Lower his wisdom." [Saheeh al-Jaami' #5675]
The Prophet also said, "No one who has an atom's weight of kibr will enter Paradise." [Narrated by Muslim] And this is a frightening admonishment. It indicates that there are many levels of arrogance; some people have mountains' weight of arrogance, like the pharoahs and taaghoots. But Allaah will not allow even a person who has the slightest amount of arrogance to enter Paradise. May Allaah protect us from this disease of the heart. Aameen.
The Prophet also said, "The arrogant will be resurrected on the Day of Resurrection in the form of small ants; they will be humiliated everywhere, they will be driven to a prison in Hell known as Boolas, which the fire of all fires will be burning; they will drink the drippings from the inmates of Hell." [Narrated by Tirmithi].
Let us now look at the living example of our Imaam in Noble Character, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). The Prophet said, "Indeed the Imaam has been appointed so that he is followed... when he does Rukoo', you too should do Rukoo', and when he does Sujood, you too should do Sujood..." [Bukhari] We should observe him and follow his lead, follow his example. So let us look at some of the scenes from his life.
The Companions of the Prophet described that any of the little slave-girls of Madeenah would come take the hand of the Prophet and lead him wherever she wanted. [Narrated by Bukhari] He didn't say he was too busy, he is governing a state, sending out armies, settling disputes, teaching the Deen, guiding the people, taking care of his family, etc. He would go - in front of all his Companions- wherever this little slave-girl took him, until he took care of her issue. (It should be noted that this slave-girl was beneath the age of puberty, because the Prophet did not touch the hand of any woman above the age of puberty, besides his wives, daughters, mahrams etc.)
One of the Companions also described the Prophet, "I've never seen anyone smiling more than the Prophet." [Tirmithi in Ash-Shamaa'il] There are some people who think if they smile, they are belittling themselves, that people will think they are "soft". They have contradicted the way of the Prophet, who was, in fact, the most courageous of all people.
From the scenes of the Qur'aan [Aal 'Imraan Ch.3, V.35-41], we have the story of how the Prophet Zakariyya found Maryam being provided fruits miraculously, and he asks her where is she getting these fruits from. She responds, "It is from Allaah, He provides whomever He wants, whatever He wants, however He wants, beyond calculation and imagination."
So Zakariyya, hearing this from her, his hope in Allaah is strenghthened, and he is reminded of Allaah's Power and Generosity - things he already knows, since he is a Prophet; he is moved to call upon Allaah to bestow upon him a pure child. Keep in mind that Zakariyya is a Prophet, Maryam is not; he is an elder, she is a young girl; he is her caretaker and guardian over her- yet none of these factors make Zakariyya respond with any arrogance or disdain. Whereas we hear some people today quickly say things like "I already knew that... who are you to tell me anything...etc" and other arrogant responses.
Because Zakariyya's heart was free from arrogance, Allaah enabled him to benefit by the Sign of Allaah that was in front of him. Allaah says, "I will turn away from My Aayaat (signs, proofs, verses) those who are arrogant in the land without any right..." [Al-A'raaf, Ch.7, V.146]
So this is an example of humility, absense of kibr; Zakariyya did not look down upon Maryam, considering himself too big to be reminded of a fact he already knew of Allaah's Power and Generosity; he didn't say, "I already knew that..." But rather, he was moved by her simple reminder, to turn to Allaah and ask for a son, by Allaah's Kindness and Power to provide in unimaginable ways- despite his own old age and his wife being barren. May Allaah's peace and blessings be upon that pure family.
Humility is related to, and a brother of, shukr (gratitude), love, honoring fellow Muslims, truly caring and being concerned about the betterment of others- naseehah and rahmah; all these are intertwined and interconnected. Whereas arrogance is intertwined with hatred, spitefulness, hypocrisy, and to not care about anyone but one's own self, selfishness, and ingratitude.
An example of humility from recent times is Shaykh Yoosuf al-'Uyayree (may Allaah have mercy on him), who had memorized Saheeh Bukhari and and Saheeh Muslim. Is it said that when he used to teach brothers, he would teach in such a humble manner, that he would make the student feel as though the student was teaching the Shaykh.
There is a misconception that must be clarified. Humility does not mean you give in to oppressors, kuffaar, and the taaghoot, nor that you flatter the people in authority and give special treatment to the rich and famous. No, that's the way of the people of jaahilyyah, the kuffaar and the lost.
'Abdullaah ibn al-Mubaarak, the great mujaahid and 'aalim from the third generation of Islam- the Followers of the Taabi'een- he was asked, "What is humility?" He answered, "To be arrogant against the rich." When I first read this years ago (in his biography in the introduction to his Kitaab Az-Zuhd), it puzzled me. But I found the answer and clarification in a hadeeth of the Prophet, "Whoever would like to see the humility of 'Eesaa ibn Maryam, then he should look at the humility of Abu Tharr." [Saheeh al-Jaami'].
This is an amazing hadeeth, whoever studies the life of 'Eesaa and Abu Tharr, will see parallels in both their personalities. Both of them lived in zuhd, and called to it, not having any value for the materials of this world, denouncing the corrupt aristocratic, rich and powerful people and wreaking havoc on them through their tongues.
Whoever reads the Qur'aan will find that Allaah describes the majority of the rich and powerful upper-class people (mutrafoon, mala', kubaraa, etc.) were usually in opposition to the Prophets of Allaah [see al-Israa' Ch.17, V.16, Saba' Ch.34, V.34-35, al-Ahzaab Ch.33, 67], , whereas the majority of the Faithful were the weak and oppressed, the downtrodden people [see al-An'aam Ch.6, V.53, Hood Ch.11, V.27, Al-Shu'araa' Ch.26, V.111, Al-Kahf Ch.18, V.28]. But today there are people who have innovated a da'wah and manhaj completely opposite to this: they appease and flatter the corrupt, oppressive rulers, the taaghoot - but as for the oppressed, the poor, the refugees, the raped, the orphans, those who are tortured? (They say about them) "forget about them". And then they call this "the correct manhaj". Rather, they better correct their manhaj.
"And Allaah is sufficient as a Protector, and Allaah is sufficient as a Supporter." [An-Nisaa', Ch.4,V.]
--- End of 1st Khutbah
The Loftiness of Humility (Part Two)
Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem
We'll look at another shining example of humility and gratitude. We should observe what type of a spirit/mentality the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) inculcated into his Companions. 'Abdullaah ibn 'Abbaas, may Allaah be pleased with him, was a young cousin of the Prophet. Once the Prophet hugged him and made du'aa for him saying, "O Allaah! teach him the Book and the Wisdom, and make him understand the Deen." And ofcourse Allaah answered this Du'aa. So lets look at Ibn 'Abbaas's wisdom and what it means to truly understand the Deen. Let us see how high the Prophet elevated the hearts and souls of his Companions.
At-Tabaraanee narrated in his book Makaarim al-Akhlaaq (The Noble Characteristics), that Ibn 'Abbaas said the following statement. Keep in mind that Ibn 'Abbaas is saying this after he became one of the greatest teachers of his time, his status was such that countless people came to him from all over the Islaamic Empire to learn from him, it was an honour for them to be in his presence. Did fame get to his head and make him arrogant, considering himself someone big and important? Look at what type of people the Prophet raised. Ibn 'Abbaas said, "Three types of people I can never repay, and then there is a fourth type, no one can repay him at all, other than Allaah. As for the three I cannot repay: a man who made space for me to sit in his gathering, a man who quenched my thirst by giving me something to drink, and a man who took on the trouble of coming to visit me. As for the fourth whom no one can repay him on by behalf except Allaah: then it is a man who had some problem or hardship, and he spent the night restless, thinking of who could help him, he awoke in the morning with me in his mind, expecting that I would help him. So this man (for having such a good opinion of me and) seeking my help - no one can repay him on my behalf except Allaah."
Look at this lofty character of humility and gratitude, how to feel like we owe everyone so much for every single good they have done for us; and not the other way around, where we think everyone owes us everything. May Allaah rectify our affairs and purify our hearts. Aameen.
O Allaah! Send salutations upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, as you sent upon the family of Ibrahim. Indeed You are Praiseworthy, Majestic. O Allaah! bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, as you blessed the family of Ibrahim. Indeed You are Praiseworthy, Majestic.
And all praise and thanks belongs to Allaah.
