Sadullah Khan – Developing a Qur’anic Personality To be and What not to be. #4
AI: Summary ©
The speaker discusses the concept of the Quran and its use in the context of prophets. They explain that the title is not about advice, but rather about the people at large. The speaker emphasizes the importance of avoiding deflections and avoiding harms in giving advice.
AI: Summary ©
We continue our theme for Ramadan
developing the Quranic personality,
how to be and what not to be.
And we focus on the concept Quran
amongst the many ways that it is used
used in the Quran amongst the many ways
that it is used in the hadith and
Quran. Among the ways it's used is to
imply the notion of sincerity. For example,
Turn to Allah in repentance
with a sincere repentance. In this,
sphere,
implies the notion of purity of intention and
sincerity.
The great historian,
was a professor. Ibn Athir was a biographer
and a historian. He said,
Nasihah is a comprehensive
term, a comprehensive word, referring to those
actions that are done with sincere intention.
So naseeh may actually embody every type of
virtue which is reflected in genuine
and beneficial actions.
In fact, the notion of naseeh in Islam
is an overarching
interconnected
concept.
And the most famous hadith about naseeh
is not necessarily about naseeh in the form
of advice as we know it. And though
I'll deal with that, it is about how
you connect in your relationship with particular people.
For example,
or with the creator or with the prophet.
For example, the most famous hadith about Nasihah
is that Rasool said, Hadith
in Sahih Muslim.
Someone said, towards whom you Allah? Who You
said deen
is nasiha. Towards whom do you make the
nasiha?
Rasool
said,
To Allah, to the prophet, to the leaders,
and to the general public.
Now when you say to Allah, it doesn't
mean you're advising Allah. In this case, it
implies
your intimate relations with Allah and your interconnectedness.
Which implies
your belief in Allah,
worshiping
Allah, obeying Allah. And you obey Allah by
following His revelation,
and that revelation is the Quran, and we
obey and follow the revelation
by believing it, the Quran, understanding it to
the best of our ability, by reciting it
correctly if we can, by reflecting upon its
meaning, and implementing
its guidelines. That's towards Allah. Then towards the
prophet, it is affirming the mission of prophets,
all of them. And Rasulullah is the final
of them, and we follow the example,
as models of excellence.
Then towards leadership,
you elect appropriate leaders,
obey them if they're right,
challenge them if they're wrong, and replace them
if it's necessary. That's towards
the rulers. When it comes to the people
at large, it's protecting the honor, the life,
the property,
doing what is beneficial,
guiding people towards what is right, removing harm,
being just, being honest, and being compassionate.
So this is
But to see how when you speak in
daily language and in general, in the Quran,
it refers
in the Quran 13 times it comes up,
it refers primarily to the purpose and function
of prophets.
And it's linked directly in the Quran to
prophets like, Nur,
Salih,
Hud, Shu'aib alaihi wa sallam, to all of
these prophets.
And all of them in the Quran you
find, they inform the people that the nature
of the mission was
These words are used. In other words, we
caution you, we guide you
as sincere advisors.
Now, in our situation,
giving good advice is a great thing.
Yet,
some people, in fact most people sometimes,
run into trouble
because the way they offer
the The way they
offer the Few people are born with the
gift of advice.
Very few people are born with the gift
of advice or the ability
to give advice
tactfully.
Or to offer constructive
criticism effectively.
Very often when we do it, we actually
hurt or harm the people.
Most people neglect
propriety or appropriateness
when advising
And tend to forget that the main point
of of giving advice
is to help the other to become a
better person or to do better. Not to
demean them. Not to belittle them. Not to
make them feel unworthy.
The ability therefore to give advice
is a positive thing. Is a constructive
thing. And if you can do it positively
and constructively,
then you've mastered the art of naseeh.
If one intends to offer advice,
may I advise you, it is useful to
consider the following things. One,
examine your motives. Why you tell people when
you give the nasiya,
why are you giving the nasiya?
Always check your intentions.
2nd, ask yourself
if the advice you're about to give will
really help the pursuit, the person, and will
it improve the situation?
Will it worsen the situation?
Or will it damage the person? Will it
help the person? If it is so and
improve the situation, then give
them And thirdly, most importantly for us,
avoid deflections.
Do this. And that's why some of the,
people of the
In other words, there are people who are
so ingrained, so preoccupied
with telling other people what to do, they
don't find time to be good themselves.
So be a source of
Nasihah. And Nasihah was just good and positive
and uplifting.
Let us not be of those
who
demean
or belittle
under the guise of Nasihah.