Sadullah Khan – Hate the sin, not the sinner

As we continue our theme for this Ramadan,

profound lessons from the life of our beloved

Prophet Muhammad

We realize that tonight is the first odd

night of the last 10 nights of Ramadan.

And it is a potential little qadr.

Possible the night of power.

And we therefore beseech Allah to

pardon all of us.

To pardon all of us for all our

shortcomings.

Those shortcomings that others may know, and those

shortcomings that only Allah knows.

And we see the pardon of the Almighty,

and we ask for the forgiveness of all

those who have passed on, and the healing

for those who are sick.

I want us to reflect on an incident

documented in the shawabul imam, of Imam Al

Bayhaqqi.

When a companion of the Prophet

by the name of Abu Darda He

passed by a group of people who were

humiliating a man.

Insulting, beating him up.

And

the question was why were they beating him

up? And they said he committed a sin.

So Abu Darda said to

them,

If you find this person we are beating

up in a hole, would you rush to

go and help him and take him out

of the hole? They all said yes, for

sure.

They said, falatasubbuhu

even.

So therefore do not humiliate him.

Rather thank Allah that he has saved you

from the mistake that he had made.

So they asked Abu Darda, Allahu Bgidu,

should you not hate him for what he

has done?

He replied,

Hate the wrong that he has done. Dislike

the wrongful act that he has done. But

if he repents and turns away,

then he is your brother after all.

Now this does not mean that we tolerate

injustice.

It never means that we side with the

oppressor.

Nor does it mean that we overlook the

crime of the criminal.

Not at all.

But

we do tend to be very judgmental.

And

more so at a personal level.

We excuse

ourselves

for our own wrongdoings,

but are hyper

hypercritical

of the wrongs of others. We excuse ourselves

for our own wrongdoings,

but are hypercritical

of the wrongs of others.

Glad tidings to those who are more concerned

about their own faults than focusing on the

shortcomings and the faults and the sins of

others.

You see, I believe

when looking at faults,

try to use the proper instrument.

When looking at the faults of other people,

look from a distance and use a binoculars.

When you look at your own faults, then

use a microscope.

Let us reflect

on why Abu Darda

had this kind of pardoning and empathic attitude.

It comes from the sunnah of the Rasul

sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. We reflect on an

incident

documented in the Sahih al Bukhali

and in the Muslim of Abdul Razaq.

An incident

where, said Omar

Khattab

relates

that

Abdullah bin No Aiman was a companion of

the Prophet

And he says,

He was a very humorous person And often

he would make the Prophet laugh.

He was a very jovial person

and make the Prophet laugh.

And on one occasion,

he was brought for lashing.

He was lashed

because he was found drinking.

He was lashed because he was found drunk.

And

Rasul sallallahu alaihi wasallam

then had the command for him to be

lashed.

And among the people,

there were those who said, Allahum Al Anhu,

Ma Aqsa Ma Yasharab. It wasn't the first

time that he was being left for drinking.

He said,

curse me on you. May Allah curse you

for drinking, getting punished and drinking, and then

getting punished again.

So they cursed him. And then Rasulullahahu alaihi

wa sallam said,

Rasool said, Do not curse him.

I swear by Allah that he loves Allah

and his Prophet.

Now,

despite the person being guilty

of drunkenness,

and no one tolerates drunkenness.

Never can drunkenness be permissible. Never can alcohol

or drinking be halal or tolerate it in

any way.

But

despite the person being guilty,

being punished in the presence of the Rasulullah

still the Prophet

did not allow

the people to insult him. He prevented

them from humiliating him. And therefore we find

this an expression of the empathy and the

mercy of the prophet. That he punished the

wrong of the wrongdoer.

But he did not despise the wrongdoer.

Waquluqulihada.

Wa Astaghfirullah.

Wassalamu alaikum. Wa Rahmatullahi.