Sadullah Khan – Hate the sin, not the sinner
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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.