. I.ii . <': / f·g< "1// (cont.)

"I have created not jinn and mankind except for them to worship and serve Me" (al-Dhaariyaat 56). When a person realizes this fact, this should give him "self-respect for the sake of Allah". A person with such self-respect would find many deeds to be beneath him and unbecoming of his status as a servant of Allah. He would not be willing to lie or cheat. He could not look down upon others or violate their rights as all of those deeds are not worthy of a person who is a true servant of Allah. The second aspect, then, is to realize that all the Muslims around him are also servants of Allah and his brothers for the sake of Allah. If they are his brothers for the sake of Allah, how could he then cheat them, lie to them, be prejudiced against them and so forth. This one phrase in the middle of this hadith, "And be, [O] servants of Allah, brethren" could have far-reaching implications­ indeed, it could change the entire nature of the Muslim societies of today­ if it were simply understood properly and applied properly. And Allah knows best. • Brotherhood is not simply a matter of putting twenty dollars in a box for some Muslims in a far away place. Brotherhood has much more to do with the day to day activities between individual Muslims. To be a true brother to someone one sees everyday may be a much more difficult task than simply helping far away Muslims with a once-in-a-while financial contribution. How one deals with his brothers who are close to him may be the true test of brotherhood. • A Muslim should never want to take advantage of his brother. He should not intentionally do wrong to his brother and then say, "He is my brother, he won't mind." He should not do this because this is not a brotherly way to act. A brother does not take advantage of his brother's kindness. Instead, he will do his best never to put his brother in a position where the latter will have to overlook or forgive his actions. • A Muslim should not lie in general but especially not to his Muslim brother. In modem times, many of the Muslims who are active in the area of dawah and Islamic work have become very lax on this point. They are very quick to lie on behalf of their Islamic organization or movement. They justify their actions by claiming that this is best for the "bigger picture" of Islam. Unfortunately, though, when a person gets into a lying mode, it becomes easy for him to lie on a regular basis and in cases where there was no need to lie. Furthermore, lies have a tendency to get bigger and bigger, as a person has to cover up his earlier smaller lies with bigger lies. The end Hadith #35: "Do not be envious of one another. . . " result is usually disastrous. After some time, the lies begin to be exposed and become clear to everyone. When the people see that these lies were all perpetrated in the name of the "bigger picture" of Islam, it is the Islamic movement itself that is sometimes hurt the worst. Hence, in the long-run, it is very damaging for Islam as a whole. Instead of resorting to such practices and allowing them to get out of hand, the Muslims should remember these words of the Prophet (peace be upon him) in this hadith: a Muslim does not lie to his brother. A Muslim may deceive the enemy in a battlefield. But his brother Muslim who is not part of his organization or movement, for example, is not the same as his enemy in the battlefield. In general, there is no Islamic justification for lying to such a Muslim and, in the long run, those lies usually end up having disastrous results when they are finally exposed. • A man said to Umar ibn Abdul Aziz, "Consider the elderly Muslims like a father, their young like [your] children and those in the middle like [your] brethren. Which of those would you like to harm?"1 • Yahya ibn Muaadh al-Raazi once said, "Let the believer get one of three things from you: If you do not benefit him, at least do not harm him; if you do not make him joyful, at least do not make him grieve; and if you do not praise him, at least do not criticize him."2 • This hadith discusses many of the diseases of the heart. These diseases can be very damaging. Indeed, they can lead a person to leaving the fold of Islam. Abdul Maalik al-Qaasim points out that the "pillars" or roots of kufr (disbelief) are four: kibr (pride and arrogance), hasad (envy), baghdhaa (hatred) and shahwah (desires, passions). The Prophet (peace be upon him), directly or indirectly, touched upon three of these in this hadith. Kibr keeps one from submitting to the truth, even if the person recognizes it as true.