GOOD CHARACTER

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And by the Mercy of Allah, you dealt with them gently. And had you been severe and harsh -hearted, they would have broken away from about you On the authority of Anas who said that the Messenger of Allaah - met Abu Dharr, and said to him: O Abu Dharr Shall I not inform you of two characteristics which are lighter on your back and heavier on the scales than other than them? He answered: Of course O Messenger of Allaah. He said: You should have good manners and remain silent for a long time. I swear by He in whose Hand is my soul no-one has acted upon better than the likes of these two characteristics. The Messenger of Allah said : 'If you love that Allah and His Messenger will love you, then continue to have three characteristics: truthful speech, fulfilling trusts and being good to your neighbor; if the neighbor is harmed, your good deeds are erased just like the sun melts an ice-berg.' The Messenger - Islaam is modesty.

said: 'Indeed every religion has a characteristic and the characteristic of

On the authority of 'Alee who said: when I held onto the weapon of Messenger of Allaah - I found a slip of paper in the sheath of the sword (scabbard) of Allaahs Messenger which had on it: 'Keep good relations with the one who breaks away from you. Be good to the one who is bad to you and say the truth even if it is against yourself.' On the authority of Abu Huraira on the authority of the Prophet - said: The son of Adam never performed anything better than the prayer, reconciling between people and having good manners. On the authority of Aeysha - RadhiAllaahu anha - who said: There was no behavior more hated to the Messenger of Allaah - than lying. If he came across it from one of his Companions, then he would keep away from him until he knew that he had repented. On the authority of Abul Darda in a narration ascribed to the Prophet : There are no two people who love each other for Allaahs sake behind each others backs, except that the one who is more beloved to Allaah is the one who is stronger in his love for his companion. On the authority of Anas in a narration ascribed to the Prophet : There is no slave of Allaah who goes to visit his brother for the sake of Allaah, except that a voice ca lls out from the sky, You have been good so Paradise has been made pleasurable for you. Also Allaah says in His Dominion of the Arsh: He is My slave and was visiting for My sake, so his hospitality is upon Me and I am not pleased with any hospitality other than Paradise. On the authority of Sufyan bin Uayainah, on the authority of Ibn al -Munkadir in a narration ascribed to the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) From the best of actions is to make a believer happy, to pay his debt off for him, to take care of his need and to relieve him from distress. . Mu`adh (bin Jabal) (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger of Allah said, "Allah, the Exalted, has said: `For those who love one another for the sake of My Glory, there will be seats of

light (on the Day of Resurrection), and they will be envied by the Prophets and martyrs". [At-Tirmidhi]. Humility comes from knowing about Allah and His names and attributes, and His greatness, venerating Him, loving Him and being in awe of Him; and also from knowing about oneself and ones faults, and weaknesses. From that may develop the attitude of humility, which means feeling helpless before Allah, and being humble and compassionate towards His slaves, so that the person does not feel superior towards anyone, or think that he has any rights over anyone else; rather he thinks that others are better than him, and that their rights come before his. This is a characteristic that Allaah gives to those whom He loves, honors and draws close to Him. It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: Wealth does not decrease because of charity, and Allah increases His slave in honor when he forgives others. And no one humbles himself before Allah but Allah will raise him (in status). Abd-Allaah ibn Masood (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah said: You must be truthful, for truthfulness leads to righteousness and righteousness leads to Paradise. A man will keep speaking the truth and striving to speak the truth until he will be recorded with Allaah as a siddeeq (speaker of the truth). Beware of telling lies, for lying leads to immorality and immorality leads to Hellfire. A man will keep telling lies and striving to tell lies until he is recorded with Allaah as a liar. (Reported by Muslim, 4721) Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: A person can have nothing more beneficial than sincerity towards his Lord in all his affairs, along with sincerity of resolve, so he should be sincere towards Him in his resolve and in his actions. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): And when the matter (preparation for Jihaad) is resolved on, then if they had been true to Allaah, it would have been better for them [Muhammad 47:21]. So his happiness lies in sincerity of resolve and sincerity of action. Sincerity of resolve means certain desire to do an action and not hesitating to do it. If his resolve is sincere, all that is left is sincerity of action, which is doing ones best and striving ones utmost when doing it , and not letting anything, outward or inward, hold him back from it. Resolve of purpose prevents him from becoming weak-willed and sincerity of action prevents him from becoming lazy or lethargic. If a person is sincere towards Allah in all his affairs, Allah will give him more than He gives to others, and this sincerity results from true love of Allah and true trust in Him. So the most sincere of people is the one who is loves Allah most and puts most trust in Him. Attitude reflects how a person thinks and the way he is inside. Just as, in general, a persons outward form cannot be beautiful if only the eyes are beautiful and not the nose, mouth and cheek, and everything must be beautiful in order for the entire outward form to be beautiful, so too there are four requirements of inward beauty which must all be met in order for ones attitude to be good or beautiful. If all four requirements are met and balanced then a good attitude is acquired, the characteristics of which are: strong knowledge, control of anger, control of desire, and a proper balance between these three aspects. With regard to strong knowledge, good and sound knowledge means understanding in such a way that one can see the difference between telling the truth and telling lies in speech, between truth and falsehood in beliefs, between beauty and ugliness in actions. If this strength becomes sound, there will result from it wisdom, and wisdom is the head of a good attitude. With regard to strength of anger, its beauty is that it is used in accordance with what is dictated by wisdom. The same applies to desire; its beauty and strength should be controlled by wisdom, meaning under the control of reason and shareeah. With regard to balance, it means proper control of desires and anger, under the control of wisdom and shareeah.