Adab of Islam

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, "When two vituperate each other, [the sin of] what they say is borne by the one who first began, as long as the one wronged does not transgress [the bounds of merely defending himself, by answering back with worse]" (Muslim, 4.2000: 2587. S). And when a group of Jews covertly cursed the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) by using a play on the words "as-Salamu 'alaykum," 'A'isha noticed it and gave them a rounding, and he said, "Enough, 'A'isha; for Allah does not like vulgarity or making a display of it" (ibid., 1707: 2165(4). S). And in another version, "O 'A'isha, always have gentleness, and always shun harsh words and vulgarity" (Bukhari, 8.15: 6030. S). This is the adab of Islam with hardened enemies, so how should it not apply to our fellow Muslims, let alone family and loved ones?

It is of the adab of the high path of Islam to be honest when one speaks. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, "Honesty certainly leads to goodness, and goodness leads to paradise. Truly, a man keeps speaking the truth until he is inscribed as being true through and through. And lying leads to going wrong, and going wrong leads to hell. Truly, a man lies and lies until he is inscribed as being a liar through and through" (Muslim, 4.2012-13: 2607. S).

It is of the adab of the high path of Islam to completely abandon and shun guile, deceit, scornfulness, or sarcasm because these are unlawful. Allah Most High says, "O you who believe, let no men scorn other men, for they might well be better than they are. And let no women scorn other women, for they might well be better than they. And do not find fault with one another, or give each other insulting nicknames" (Qur'an 49:11). And Allah Most High says, "Woe to whoever demeans others behind their back or to their face" (Qur'an 104:1). And the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, "Let there be no harming another, or harming him back. Whoever harms another Allah shall harm, and whoever gives trouble to another Allah shall give trouble to" (Hakim, 2.58. Hg).

It is of the adab of the high path of Islam to abandon lying, for it is unlawful. Allah Most High curses liars by saying, "May liars be slain" (Qur'an 51:10), in which slain means "cursed" according to the Arabic idiom likening the accursed, who loses every good and happiness, to the slain, who loses life and every blessing. The Qur'anic exegete al-Khazin notes that "May liars be cursed" originally referred to those who sat on the various roads outside Mecca warning people against the words of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) to keep them from becoming Muslim. The verse, however, like other Qur'anic verses, is not limited to the original circumstances in which it was revealed, but applies universally, to the end of time. Those who lie, except in circumstances in which Sacred Law permits it, are cursed by Allah.

It is unlawful to lie, except when making up between two people, or lying to an enemy in war, or to one's wife. It is also unlawful to praise or blame another with an untruth. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, "Lying is wrong, except in three things: the lie of a man to his wife to make her content with him; a lie in war, for war is deception; or a lie to settle trouble between people" (Ahmad, 6.459. H). Ibn Jawzi has said, "The criterion for it is that every praiseworthy objective in Sacred Law that cannot be brought about without lying is permissible to lie for if the objective is permissible, and obligatory to lie for if the objective is obligatory." When lying is the only way to attain one's right, one may lie about oneself or another, provided it does not harm the other. And it is obligatory to lie to if necessary to protect a Muslim from being murdered. But whenever one can accomplish the objective by words that merely give a misleading impression with actually being false, it is unlawful to tell an outright lie, because it is unnecessary.

If one needs to swear a false oath in order to save a person whose life is unlawful to take from being killed, then one must swear it, for saving such a person's life is obligatory, and if doing so depends on an oath, it is obligatory. Suwayd ibn Handhala (Allah be well pleased with him) said: "We set out to the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) and Wa'il ibn Hajar was with us, and he was captured by an enemy. The group was forced to swear an oath [that all were of the same clan, which was under a protection agreement], so I swore that he was my brother, and they released him. We reached the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) and I told him that the group had been forced to swear, and that I had sworn he was my brother, and he said, "You told the truth: the Muslim is the bother of the Muslim" (Abu Dawud, 3.224:3256. S).

'Ata' ibn Abi Rabah, Mufti of Mecca (d. 114/732), of the generation that followed that of the prophetic Companions (Sahaba) said of them, "They used to dislike talking more than necessary, and considered "more than necessary" to mean more than your reciting the Qur'an, enjoining the right, forbidding the wrong, or speaking about making a living, in the amount strictly necessary."

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, "Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should say something good or else be quiet" (Bukhari, 8.13: 6019. S). He also said (Allah bless him and give him peace) "Whoever is silent is saved" (Ahmad, 2.159. S). And the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, "Verily the slave will say a word he thinks nothing of that Allah loves, for which Allah raises him whole degrees. And verily the slave will say a word he thinks nothing of that Allah detests, for which he plummets into hell" (Bukhari, 8.125: 6478. S).

It is of the adab of Islam to know the value of one's word, not to give unless one intends to keep it, and to keep it once it has been given. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, "The signs of a hypocrite are three: when he speaks he lies, when he promises he breaks it, and when entrusted with something he betrays it" (Bukhari, 1.15: 33. S).

When Abu Bakr was dying, he sent for 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (Allah be well pleased with both of them), and told him, "O 'Umar, if you are given authority over the people, fear Allah and hold fast to what is right. For the balance of those whose scale pans are heavy on Resurrection Day [with good deeds] shall only be heavy for their having followed what is right and its heaviness upon them; and it befits the balance scale when what is right is placed in it tomorrow to be heavy. And the balance of those whose scale pans are light on Resurrection Day [because of few good deeds] shall only be light for their having followed what is wrong and its ease upon them; and it befits the balance scale when what is wrong is placed in it tomorrow to be light. And know that there are works for Allah at night that He does not accept during the day, and that there are works during the day that He does not accept at night. And that He does not accept a supererogatory work of worship until the obligatory has been done."

© Nuh Ha Mim Keller