On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:
"Part of the perfection of one's Islam is his leaving that which does not concern him."
Hadith 13
Love for Your Brother What You Love for Yourself
On the authority of Abu Hamzah Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) - the servant of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) - that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said :
"None of you will believe until you love for your brother what you love for yourself."
Key Takeaways
One : Non-beneficial pursuits can also compromise our good deeds
Two : Levels of Iman
Iman consists of its witnessing by tongue, affirmation through our hearts and the subsequent action manifesting faith itself. Tying back to hadith 12, it becomes pertinent for Muslims today to actually focus on the actions either through the performance of deeds that will further nurture one's relationship with his Creator or being of benefit to the society around him.
Three : The Pursuit of Complete Faith
This ties in perfectly well with hadith 13 on complete faith where the Muslims' preoccupation today must be for the spiritual and physical uplifting of the condition of the Muslim community in general. Eg providing Islamic education for the ignorant, attending to the material needs of the poor
Four : Two Permissible Envies
A Muslim is only allowed to envy his fellow Muslim on two matters: knowledge which is acted upon by a fellow Muslim and a fellow Muslim's wealth which is spent in the path of Allah.
Five : Imam Ghazali's guide
Imam Ghazali in Bidayatul Hidayah highlighted paths to ensure that our time can be beneficially spent:
a) Preserving the discipline of starting one's day with the recitation of the awrad (litanies) taken from the Qur'an, hadith and practices of the ulamas. (Note: it is best that this is done with the guidance of a Syaikh whose supervision will ensure that we remain responsible and disciplined in the performance of our awrad) b) Pursuit of sacred knowledge (egaqidah, fiqh, tasawwufetc) to attain closeness to Allah c) Acting upon knowledge through acts of worship (ibadah) d) Khidmah: Service to the ulama's and/or the community e) if one cannot perform a)-d), then the very list he can do is to steer himself and his family from matters which are forbidden in religion and causing harm onto society.
Apart from the performance of forbidden matters, one must also be wary of spending more time than necessary on pursuits of things which are not forbidden but compromises our faith if done excessively.
Abu Hurairah, radiyallahu 'anhu, reported that the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, said:
“Verily Allah the Exalted is pure. He does not accept but that which is pure. Allah commands the believers with what He commanded the Messengers. Allah the Almighty has said: "O you Messengers! Eat of the good things and act righteously" [23:51-53]. And Allah the Almighty also said: "O you who believe! Eat of the good things that We have provided you with" [2:167-172]. Then he (the Prophet) mentioned (the case of) the man who, having journeyed far, is dishevelled and dusty and who stretches out his hands to the sky (saying): "O Lord! O Lord!" (while) his food was unlawful, his drink was unlawful, his clothing was unlawful, and he is nourished with unlawful things, so how can he be answered?”
Hadith 11
Being Cautious of The Doubtful
On the authority of Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Abee Talib (may Allah be pleased with him), the grandson of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and the one much loved by him, who said: I memorized from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him):
“Leave what makes you doubtful for what does not.”
Key Takeaways
One: Wholesomeness & Yaqin
Wholesomeness (al tayyib) involves yaqin (immense believe) in Allah's provision for our wordly needs so that we can focus on our pursuits of the Hereafter.
Two: Being More Vigilant With Our Consumption
It is important therefore that we start looking more discriminately at our consumption: food, drink, clothing and ultimately, our source of income because we cannot afford to have our prayers to be rejected.
Three: Prohibition comes in two forms
a) Prohibition in all things forbidden by religion eg pork and liquor
b) Prohibition in things that will cause harm to ourselves eg the consumption of excessive sugar for a diabetic person
Four: The Importance of Scrupulousness
This ties in well with the hadith on scrupulousness as scrupulousness will make us more careful in our daily decisions eg performing work with amanah (trustworthiness) out of fear that our source of income becomes divorced from blessings.
Fifth: The importance of husnu-dzon (thinking well of one's ultimate condition)
Ultimately, one's prayers can still be accepted despite his shortcomings because it is possible that Allah accepts out of His generosity, kindness and nobleness.
Dan tidak ada orang yang rakus akan dunia melainkan orang yang buta hatinya There will be none who are greedy of worldly affairs except those whose hearts are blind
Maka beruntunglah dan sungguh beruntung bagi siapa yang berhati-hati daridunia Lucky are those who are careful with this world
وَطَلَّقَهَا وَفِي طَاعَةِ الرَّحْمنِ شَمَرْ
Wa tholaqaha wa fi tho'ahir rahmani tsamar
Dan menceraikannya (dunia), dan bersiap-siap menuju kepada ketaatan Allah And distinguish themselves from worldly matters to prepare themselves to face Allah
Kepada mereka dengan penuh perhatian maka semua permintaannya akan dipermudahkan To them with much concern. Truly their hopes would be granted with ease
