5. Would you like to meet him outside the institution? (cont.)

He only wanted us to hurry.” They prayed ‘Asr and continued with their journey, while others delayed the prayer until they reached Banu Quraydhah. When this was mentioned to the Prophet  he did not chastise any of the two groups. The Prophet  then besieged Banu Quraydhah until Allah gave him victory over them. Consider how they used to differ amongst each other as brothers, such that their differences would not lead to discord, argumentation and people turning against each other. Believe me, if you deal with the people with ease and gentleness, and with an open mind, they will love you and you would thereby enter into their hearts. And before all of this, Allah would love you, for discord is something always negative. A point of view… The objective is not that we should agree. Rather, the objective is not to conflict. We can disagree and still be brothers! (53) Gentleness only beautifies We often comment in amazement at a person, “He is clam, he is unflustered, he is composed.” When we would like to criticise a person, we would say, “He is hasty… he is weak…” As for the Messenger of Allah , then he would say, “Gentleness beautifies everything. Harshness disfigures.” (Muslim) Are you able to move a ton of metal with your finger? Yes! If you bring a crane, gently and properly tie it to the metal, and activate the crane, you would see the metal hanging in midair. You can move it with your little finger. Two friends once agreed to approach a man to propose marriage to two of his daughters. One of the daughters was older than the other. One of the two men said to the other, “I will take the younger and you take the older.” “No! You take the older and I will take the younger!” said the other man. The first man replied,“OK.You take the younger and I will take the one younger than her.” “Agreed!” The man didn’t realise that his friend didn’t actually change his mind. He only changed his tactics by being gentle. It has come in a Hadith, “If Allah decides well for a family, he blesses them with gentleness. If Allah decides evil for a family, he deprives them of gentleness.” (Ahmad, Sahih) Another Hadith states, “Allah is gentle and loves gentleness, and gives due to gentleness what He does not give to harshness or anything else.” (Muslim) A gentle person who is easy going and soft is beloved to all people. People feel comfortable with such a person and trust him, especially if gentleness is accompanied with beautiful speech and the skill of dealing with people correctly. Al-Imam Abu Yusuf, the judge, was from the most famous Hanafischolars. He was the most prominent student of Abu Hanifah. Abu Yusuf was very poor during his childhood and his father would forbid him from attending Abu Hanifah’s lessons and instead order him to go to the marketplace to earn a living. Abu Hanifah was very keen for him, and would reprimand him if he missed his lessons. One day, Abu Yusuf complained to Abu Hanifah about his father. Abu Hanifah called his father and asked him, “How much does your son earn in one day?” He replied, “Two dirhams.” Abu Hanifah said, “I will give you two dirhams if you allow him to study.” Thus, Abu Yusuf studied with his teacher for years. When Abu Yusuf grew into a young man and became distinguished amongst Gentleness only beautifies his colleagues, he became afflicted with an illness that left him bedridden. When Abu Hanifah visited him he noticed that his illness was very severe, he became sad and feared that he may die. He left Abu Yusuf saying to himself, “Alas, Abu Yusuf! How I wished that you would serve the people after me!” Abu Hanifah went along dragging his feet to his study circle where his students were waiting. After a couple of days, Abu Yusuf recovered. He took a bath, wore his clothes and went off to attend his teacher’s lessons. Those around him asked, “Where are you going?” “To the Shaykh’s lesson”, he replied. They said, “Even now you are studying? You don’t need to. Haven’t you heard what the Shaykh has said about you?” “What did he say?” he enquired. They said, “He has said: ‘I wished that you would serve the people after me’, meaning, you have acquired all the knowledge of Abu Hanifah, and if the teacher were to die today, you would have sat in his place.” Abu Yusuf felt amazed at himself, and went to the Masjid where he saw Abu Hanifah’s study circle in a corner, so he went to another corner and began to teach and pass verdicts! Abu Hanifah noticed the new study circle and asked, “Whose study circle is this?” They said, “Abu Yusuf’s.” “Has he recovered?” he asked. Gentleness only beautifies “Yes”, they said.