Welcoming the New Year by Improving One’s Character with People
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Welcoming the New Year by Improving One’s Character with People
We must also welcome this new year by improving our character with people. We should greet people with a cheerful face and spread the greeting of peace among us, both in initiating it and responding to it. This is contrary to the behavior of some people today; you find them among the students of knowledge, yet they do not spread the greeting of peace. A person meets his companion or classmate, whether in the university or in the mosque, and does not greet him unless Allah wills it. He meets his brothers in the market and does not greet them unless Allah wills it. For this reason, it has become famous among some people, among the common folk—and the common folk are like flies—that students of knowledge are harsh and do not greet people. And when they are greeted, they respond with their noses, and the one who greeted them cannot hear them. All of this is from the arrogance of Satan. Therefore, what is required of us, indeed what is obligatory upon us, is to be loving and united with our Muslim brothers.
Spreading the greeting of peace is among the causes of entering Paradise.The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (By Myself, you will not enter Paradise until you believe, and you will not believe until you love one another. Shall I not inform you of something that, if you do it, you will love one another?Then he answered himself and said: Spread the greeting of peace among yourselves) Make it apparent, announce it. And what reward comes to the one who greets? A single greeting brings ten good deeds. Ten good deeds that remain for you on a day when you will need them, when you will not find an increase in your good deeds, and when you are in the greatest need of them. You will find them with Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He.If it were said to the people: If every person who greets is given a dirham, what would happen? Would they spread the greeting of peace or not? They would spread the greeting of peace. In fact, they would return to the seated person several times in order to obtain more dirhams. Yet the dirhams are either perishing or they are being separated from their owners. A person will not live forever, and the dirhams will not last forever. One must part with either the owners of the wealth or the wealth itself. For this reason, Allah, Mighty and Majestic, rebuked those who prefer the life of this world over the Hereafter, and He said: [Al-A'la: 16-17] .
So, we must, O brothers, welcome our year with good character with people. For good character is among the best of deeds, to the extent that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (The most complete of the believers in faith is the one who is best in character) It is essential that good character be present in the calling to Allah; because the calling to Allah is not merely for reform between you and others, or for bringing affection between you and others, but it is for establishing the religion of Allah. Therefore, it is not permissible for us to be harsh in the calling to Allah. Rather, we call with gentleness and softness, and we bear harm. Indeed, we bear the disagreement of those we call,Meaning: We should not expect or hope to achieve the desired result at the very first moment. How long did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) call people in Makkah? Thirteen years he called them to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, with that which is best, with good admonition, with everything he could do to achieve his desire, peace and blessings be upon him. And yet, his Lord, Exalted and Majestic, who is the most knowing and the most wise, revealed the rulings to him in stages. He did not find in Makkah of the pillars of Islam except only two pillars, which are: The testimony that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,And the second: and prayer. The rest all came in al-Madinah.Zakah, and if it were said: Its origin was made obligatory in Makkah, but the person was given a choice in it. In al-Madinah, the shares were made obligatory and clarified, and the amount was clarified, and the people of zakah were clarified. But this upbringing from Allah, Mighty and Majestic, must be taken into consideration, and we must not want people to reform overnight. This is impossible; the wisdom of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, forbids it.
So, we must be gentle with people in the calling to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and we must bear their harm, and we must bear their remaining in some sins, hoping for their improvement in the future.
There are among the callers those who have great zeal, but they do not know how to call people while restraining this zeal.Meaning: When he sees a person doing a wrong, he cannot control himself from his zeal and he rebukes him harshly with the prohibition. This is a mistake and is not correct. When you find a person smoking a cigarette, for example, do you shout at him and say to him: Woe to you! This is forbidden, this is forbidden. You are persisting in sin, so you are among the open sinners. You have deviated from justice. Is this appropriate? No. Leave him alone, let him be, and then speak to him with ease. My brother! What benefit does this bring you? Is there any benefit in it? Is there any harm in it? Until he accepts it out of conviction. And know that one who agrees with you out of coercion and authority will, in most cases, not benefit. If he turns away from you or you turn away from him, he returns to what he was. But if he agrees with you out of conviction, that is the intended goal, and that is what achieves the desired result.
So, you must, O brothers, be gentle in the calling to Allah, and meet people with a broad chest.
We must also welcome this new year by improving our character with people. We should greet people with a cheerful face and spread the greeting of peace among us, both in initiating it and responding to it. This is contrary to the behavior of some people today; you find them among the students of knowledge, yet they do not spread the greeting of peace. A person meets his companion or classmate, whether in the university or in the mosque, and does not greet him unless Allah wills it. He meets his brothers in the market and does not greet them unless Allah wills it. For this reason, it has become famous among some people, among the common folk—and the common folk are like flies—that students of knowledge are harsh and do not greet people. And when they are greeted, they respond with their noses, and the one who greeted them cannot hear them. All of this is from the arrogance of Satan. Therefore, what is required of us, indeed what is obligatory upon us, is to be loving and united with our Muslim brothers.
Spreading the greeting of peace is among the causes of entering Paradise.The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (By Myself, you will not enter Paradise until you believe, and you will not believe until you love one another. Shall I not inform you of something that, if you do it, you will love one another?Then he answered himself and said: Spread the greeting of peace among yourselves) Make it apparent, announce it. And what reward comes to the one who greets? A single greeting brings ten good deeds. Ten good deeds that remain for you on a day when you will need them, when you will not find an increase in your good deeds, and when you are in the greatest need of them. You will find them with Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He.If it were said to the people: If every person who greets is given a dirham, what would happen? Would they spread the greeting of peace or not? They would spread the greeting of peace. In fact, they would return to the seated person several times in order to obtain more dirhams. Yet the dirhams are either perishing or they are being separated from their owners. A person will not live forever, and the dirhams will not last forever. One must part with either the owners of the wealth or the wealth itself. For this reason, Allah, Mighty and Majestic, rebuked those who prefer the life of this world over the Hereafter, and He said:
(16) But you prefer the worldly life, (17) While the Hereafter is better and more enduring.
بَلْ تُؤْثِرُونَ الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا * وَالْآخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ وَأَبْقَىSo, we must, O brothers, welcome our year with good character with people. For good character is among the best of deeds, to the extent that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (The most complete of the believers in faith is the one who is best in character) It is essential that good character be present in the calling to Allah; because the calling to Allah is not merely for reform between you and others, or for bringing affection between you and others, but it is for establishing the religion of Allah. Therefore, it is not permissible for us to be harsh in the calling to Allah. Rather, we call with gentleness and softness, and we bear harm. Indeed, we bear the disagreement of those we call,Meaning: We should not expect or hope to achieve the desired result at the very first moment. How long did the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) call people in Makkah? Thirteen years he called them to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, with that which is best, with good admonition, with everything he could do to achieve his desire, peace and blessings be upon him. And yet, his Lord, Exalted and Majestic, who is the most knowing and the most wise, revealed the rulings to him in stages. He did not find in Makkah of the pillars of Islam except only two pillars, which are: The testimony that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,And the second: and prayer. The rest all came in al-Madinah.Zakah, and if it were said: Its origin was made obligatory in Makkah, but the person was given a choice in it. In al-Madinah, the shares were made obligatory and clarified, and the amount was clarified, and the people of zakah were clarified. But this upbringing from Allah, Mighty and Majestic, must be taken into consideration, and we must not want people to reform overnight. This is impossible; the wisdom of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, forbids it.
So, we must be gentle with people in the calling to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and we must bear their harm, and we must bear their remaining in some sins, hoping for their improvement in the future.
There are among the callers those who have great zeal, but they do not know how to call people while restraining this zeal.Meaning: When he sees a person doing a wrong, he cannot control himself from his zeal and he rebukes him harshly with the prohibition. This is a mistake and is not correct. When you find a person smoking a cigarette, for example, do you shout at him and say to him: Woe to you! This is forbidden, this is forbidden. You are persisting in sin, so you are among the open sinners. You have deviated from justice. Is this appropriate? No. Leave him alone, let him be, and then speak to him with ease. My brother! What benefit does this bring you? Is there any benefit in it? Is there any harm in it? Until he accepts it out of conviction. And know that one who agrees with you out of coercion and authority will, in most cases, not benefit. If he turns away from you or you turn away from him, he returns to what he was. But if he agrees with you out of conviction, that is the intended goal, and that is what achieves the desired result.
So, you must, O brothers, be gentle in the calling to Allah, and meet people with a broad chest.