The Correct Meaning of Good Character

The Shaykh: And good character here refers to the broad meaning; it is not intended here to mean only treating people as is required. For example, if someone left a trust with you and you fulfilled that trust, there is no doubt that this is part of good character, but this is an obligatory aspect of good character. If a person falls short in it, he will be held accountable on the Day of Reckoning and punished for it, because he contradicted the saying of Allah (Mighty and Majestic): "Fulfill" He contradicted a Prophetic command. But what is intended by good character is more than the good character that is obligatory upon a person: that he treats people with gentleness, that he forgives those who wronged him, and that he overlooks, as you heard in the previous hadith, those who fell short in repaying their debt to him. And there are other good moral traits that a person cannot perform all of them, because that is something Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) has singled out among all human beings, namely the Messenger (peace be upon him), whom Allah (Mighty and Majestic) described in the Qur'an by saying: However, a person should strive to adopt and cultivate good moral traits as much as he is able to do so. If he feels, for example, that he is naturally stingy and miserly, he should make an effort to be generous and to give freely, each according to his capacity. And if he is naturally somewhat harsh and severe, he should try to be gentle and humble with people, and so on. For this reason, it came in the authentic hadith, his saying (peace be upon him): , The reason for this is that the one who improves his character does so while struggling against his own self; therefore he said (peace and blessings be upon him): , And to confirm this meaning that we are discussing, which is that a Muslim must train himself and discipline himself in good character, he said (peace be upon him), confirming this meaning through a question-and-answer session with his companions one day: Do you know who the strong one is? Do you know who the strong one is? They said: The strong one is the one who wrestles people and throws them to the ground—overpowers them and defeats them. He said: لا ، ليس الشديد بالصرعة ، وإنما الشَّديد مَن يملِكُ نفسه عند الغضب No, the strong one is not the one who wrestles, but rather the strong one is the one who controls himself when angry The one who tries to control himself when angry, making that effort even if it is difficult, is the one who means that he improves himself. This is the one who implements the command of the Prophet (peace be upon him) when he said to Mu'adh: اتَّق الله حيثما كنت ، وخالق الناس بخلق حسن Fear Allah wherever you are, and treat people with good character Treat people with good character. Then he asked them: Who is the hero? They said: The one who overpowers people and throws them to the ground. He said to them: No, the hero is the one who controls himself when angry. And from here Ibn al-Wardi took his saying in his famous poem:
"Not he who cuts paths is a hero *** Rather, he who fears Allah is the hero"
In this manner of alerting people to the necessity of improving character and training the self in patience, he said (peace be upon him) to the people, specifically: أتدرون مَن الرَّقوب ؟ Do you know who the barren woman is? They said, or they said: The barren woman among us is the one who does not give birth. He answered them that the barren woman is the one who gives birth and her child dies, because if she gives birth and her child dies and she is patient with his death, she will have a great reward with Allah (Mighty and Majestic). This is in contrast to the woman who is infertile and lives without a child; she does not find the grief or the sensitivity, especially within herself, as if she were granted a child and raised him with that upbringing, and then Allah (Mighty and Majestic) took him to Himself. Here, the importance of patience and acceptance of divine decree and destiny becomes apparent.
In conclusion: This hadith shows us that most of the causes that lead their owner to Paradise are, first, the obligatory mindfulness of Allah, and then good character in its broadest doors.