The Honour of a Muslim

A Heartfelt Plea

The Honour of a Muslim

Head of Dawat-e-Islami’s Central Executive Committee, Mawlana Muhammad Imran Attari

The honour of a Muslim is even greater than the sacredness of the KaꜤbah. However, the situation is so dire today that instead of giving importance to one another, one Muslim brother searches for opportunities to dishonour and shame his brother before others. In one lecture, Mawlana Muhammad Imran Attari highlighted the status and honour of a Muslim. Below are some of the pearls of wisdom he mentioned.

(1) The beloved Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم taught us to honour others. One Muslim must honour another regardless of whether he is rich or poor, black or white, for Allah Almighty has granted them the treasure of faith only bestowed upon the fortunate.

(2) Every Muslim is honourable. It is forbidden to consider any section of the Muslims as lowly or ignoble.[1]

(3) A believer is respected on account of their righteous deeds, not their wealth.

(4) The honour of a believer is everlasting, so their body and grave must also be respected.

(5) Whoever thinks of believers as disgraced, is himself judged as disgraced by Allah Almighty.[2]

(6) Whether a person is rich or poor, if they are a Muslim, they are honourable.

(7) Once a miswak has been utilised by a Muslim, it must either be buried or placed in a safe place; it is not correct to throw it away. The wisdom behind this is that it was a tool used to fulfil a Sunnah, so it is no longer a normal piece of wood; it has become a special item that should be respected.

(8) Another reason for honouring a miswak is that a Muslim’s saliva is pure, and as the miswak has been used in a Muslim’s mouth, it must be respectfully buried or placed in a safe place to avoid his saliva being disrespected.

(9) The reason for it being prohibited to spit in the washroom is that a Muslim’s saliva is pure, and it is not appropriate to place something pure in a washroom.

(10) We must have love and affection in our hearts towards our Muslim brothers, as the noble Quran states:

اِنَّمَا الۡمُؤۡمِنُوۡنَ  اِخۡوَۃٌ

Only Muslims are brothers to each other,[3]

(11) We must keep our hearts free from any enmity towards Muslims, as having hatred and animosity for them is harmful, and it is to deprive oneself of divine mercy.

(12) The beloved Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم declared, “On the 15th night of ShaꜤbān, Allah Almighty reveals a Tajallī upon His servants (as befits His majesty). He forgives those who seek forgiveness, shows mercy to those who seek mercy, and leaves those who harbour animosity as they are.”[4]

(13) He also announces: “Avoid those who harbour malice, for malice places a cloth upon (i.e. destroys) the religion.”[5]

(14) A Hadith explains: “He who holds the stirrups of his Muslim brother’s horse not due to personal agenda or fear, is forgiven by Allah.”[6] (Their holding of the stirrups out of respect for their Muslim brother must have been done solely to please Allah Almighty)

(15) Our state is such that when a group of close friends who speak bad of one another decide they will not insult anybody again, they have nothing good to speak about and thus sit in silence. They were used to backbiting, tale-telling and speaking bad about one another. We must fill our gatherings with good speech and form a habit of speaking good about others.

(16) Just because somebody wears a kufi and has a mark of salah on their forehead, it does not necessarily mean that they avoid backbiting. There are many outwardly religious people engaged in this wrongdoing. It is Allah Almighty Who grants whoever He wills the ability to avoid this sin.

(17) Backbiting somebody is not generally done with the intention of rectifying them, but only to mention the faults of a Muslim.

(18) If a person possesses a certain shortcoming, then mentioning it is backbiting. If they do not have that fault, then this will be slander, and this includes the sin of lying also.

(19) We are Muslims and Islam has enjoined upon us the protection of a Muslim’s honour.

(20) We must honour other Muslims and defend their esteem. For example, if a person backbites or mocks another Muslim in our presence, we should stop and inform them of what the beloved Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم said about protecting the honour of a Muslim: “Whoever defends the honour of his Muslim brother in their absence, Allah Almighty guarantees to free him from the Fire of Hell.”[7]