What is the standard of maru'ah and what is the path to it?
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The questioner : Shaykh, may Allah reward you with good: What is the standard of maru'ah that a Muslim should follow, and what are the means that facilitate for a person to follow this conduct?
The Shaykh : The standard, may Allah bless you: Maru'ah is doing what beautifies and adorns one, and everything that people consider good character is maru'ah, and avoiding everything that defiles and disgraces one. This is what the scholars said in defining it, and it is well-defined. This varies according to people; some people are noble, dignified, and of high rank, so if they do what someone of lower status does, they are criticized, whereas if someone of lower status does it, they are not criticized. So we say to the first: if you did it, you have contradicted maru'ah, and we say to the second: your doing it does not contradict maru'ah. This is the measure. Maru'ah is: "doing what beautifies and adorns one and leaving what defiles and disgraces one".
The Shaykh : The standard, may Allah bless you: Maru'ah is doing what beautifies and adorns one, and everything that people consider good character is maru'ah, and avoiding everything that defiles and disgraces one. This is what the scholars said in defining it, and it is well-defined. This varies according to people; some people are noble, dignified, and of high rank, so if they do what someone of lower status does, they are criticized, whereas if someone of lower status does it, they are not criticized. So we say to the first: if you did it, you have contradicted maru'ah, and we say to the second: your doing it does not contradict maru'ah. This is the measure. Maru'ah is: "doing what beautifies and adorns one and leaving what defiles and disgraces one".