Just as people differ in nature and physique, they also differ in their views, persuasions and dealings. If you ever feel that someone has erred, then advise him and try to rectify his fault, but if he does not listen, do not then write him off as one of your enemies. Deal with situations optimistically, in accordance with your own ability.
If you were to attempt to rectify a fault in one of your friends, and he rejected your advice, do not turn friendship into enmity. Continue to be kind to him, in the hope that at least his fault would not increase.
It is said, “Have mercy! For some forms of evil are more bearable than others.” If you deal with people cheerfully, you would not become angry over every small or great fault of theirs and live happily forever.
‘A’ishah – may Allah be pleased with her – said, “The Messenger of Allah peace be upon him never sought revenge for himself. He never hit anyone with his hand, neither a woman nor a servant, unless while fighting in the cause of Allah. He was never harmed in regards to his person that he ever sought revenge from the one who harmed him, unless if one of God’s sanctities were violated, in which case,Allah would avenge him.” (Muslim)
Therefore, no doubt the Prophet peace be upon him would become angry, but his anger would be for Allah. He would not become angry for his own sake. In order to understand the difference between the two types of anger, suppose that your younger son came to you one morning and asked you for one or two Riyals to spend at school.You then look through your wallet only to find five hundred Riyal notes.You give it to him anyway, and say to him “This is a 500 riyal note. Only spend two riyals from it and bring the rest back.” You remind him repeatedly to ensure that he remembers.
By the time he returns home after Dhuhr, you find that all the money has been spent.What do you do? How angry would you be? You may hit him, be harsh with him and deprive him of his pocket money for days to come.Yet, if you were to return from ‘Asr one day, to find him playing games on the computer or watching television instead of praying in the mosque, would you then become as angry with him as you would in the former situation?
I think we would agree that the first instance of anger would be harsher, more prolonged and more effectual than the latter one.
However, the anger of the Messenger of Allah peace be upon himwas solely for Allah. Often he would advise people but it would not be accepted from him, and thereupon, he would relax, for guidance is only in the hands of Allah.
The Prophet peace be upon himapproached Tabuk, on the borders of Syria, and came close to the boundaries of the Roman Empire. He
sent Dahiya al-Kalbi – may Allah be pleased with him – to Heraclius, the Emperor of Rome. Dahiya upon arriving entered into the presence of Heraclius and handed over to him the letter from the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him.When Heraclius saw the letter he called the priests and the patrician and closed the doors on himself and them for privacy. He said,“As you know, this man has appeared,and he has sent to me a letter calling me to accept one of the three points:
1) That I follow his religion, or;
2) Give him what we own on this land, whilst the land re
mains ours, or;
3) We go to war with him.”
Heraclius then said,“By Allah, you already know from reading your books that he would surely take our lands.Why don’t we just follow his religion? Or, give him our wealth and keep our lands?”
When the priests heard this and realised that he was asking them to leave their religion, they became angry, raised their voices and removed their gowns. Meaning, their gowns dropped due to the severity of their anger and upheaval.
They said, “Are you calling us to leave Christianity, or that we should be slaves to a Bedouin who has come to us from Hijaz?” Heraclius stood aghast. He realised that he had surely got himself in trouble by making this suggestion.The priests used to enjoy great authority and popular support amongst the people, thus, Heraclius feared that if they left him now in this state, they would turn the entire empire of Rome against him. He began to calm them down and said,“I only asked you this to test your firmness on your religion.”
Heraclius knew that the Prophet peace be upon himwas the Messenger that Jesus had foretold.But he still wanted to confirm his supposition. Heraclius called a person from the Arab tribe called Tajib.They were Christian Arabs.
Heraclius said to him,“Call a person from amongst you, a fluent Arabic speaker who can memorise words. Send him to this man [Muhammad peace be upon him] with my response to his letter.”
The man from Tajib went and brought a person from Banu Tanukh, who were also Christian Arabs. Heraclius gave the letter to the man from Tanukh to deliver it to the Messenger of Allah peace be upon himand said,“Deliver my letter to this man, and as you speak to him, look out for three things:
1)Does he mention the letter he wrote to me?
2)When he reads my reply, does he mention the night?
3)Notice his back, is there anything particularly noticeable
or it?
Al-Tanukhi then set off, leaving Syria until he reached Tabuk, to find the Messenger of Allah peace be upon himsitting on the ground with his Companions.Al-Tanukhi came to them and said,“Where is your companion?”
Someone said,“There he is.”
Al-Tanukhi walked up to him, sat in front of him and handed over to him Heraclius’s letter.
The Prophet peace be upon himtook the letter and placed it on his lap. He then said,“Where are you from?”
The man replied,“I am the brother of Tanukh.”
The Prophet peace be upon himthen said,“Would you like to embrace Islam, the monotheistic religion, the religion of your father Ibrahim?” The Prophet peace be upon himwas very eager for this person to embrace Islam.
In actuality, there was nothing preventing the man from Tanukh from embracing the truth, except his zeal for his people’s religion!
Al-Tanukhi said quite frankly,“I am a messenger from a people, on the religion of my people. I would not leave my religion until I return to my people.”
When the Prophet peace be upon himnoticed his zeal,he did not become angry and cause problems for him. He only laughed and said,“You cannot guide those whom you love.Only Allah guides those who He wills, and He is surely most aware of the guided ones.”
The Prophet peace be upon himthen said very calmly,“O brother of Tanukh! I wrote a letter to Caesar, but he tore it up, and Allah is going to tear him up and his kingdom. I wrote a letter to the Negus, and he burnt it, and Allah is going to burn his kingdom. I also wrote a letter to the man you are coming from, and he held on to it. The people will continue to find him troublesome for so long as there is good in life.”
Al-Tanukhi remembered Heraclius’s request and said to himself, “This is one of the three things he asked me to take note of.” He feared that he may forget, so he took an arrow from his quiver and made a note of it on the side of his sword.
The Prophet peace be upon himthen gave the letter to a man sitting on his left. Al-Tanukhi said, “Who amongst you writes and reads letters?”
Some people said,“Mu‘awiyyah.”
Mu‘awiyyah began to read to find that Heraclius had written to the Prophet peace be upon him,“You call me to Paradise as wide as the heavens and the earth, which has been prepared for the pious ones. Where then is the hellfire?”
The Prophet peace be upon himsaid,“SubhanAllah! Where is the night when the morning has come?”
Al-Tanukhi realised that this was the second thing Heraclius asked to take note of. He took an arrow from his quiver and made a note of it on his sword.
When Mu‘awiyyah had finished reading the letter,the Prophet peace be upon himturned to al-Tanukhi, the man who did not take the Prophet’s advice by not embracing Islam, and said to him with all kindness, “You have rights,for you are a messenger.If you see anything you would like to take as a gift, we would grant it to you. But we happen to be travellers sitting on sand!” Meaning, I wish I could give you a gift, but as you see, we are travelling and sitting on sand!
‘Uthman – may Allah be pleased with him – said,“I will give him something, O Messenger of Allah!” ‘Uthman got up and unpacked the side of his saddle and returned with a robe and a garment and placed it in al-Tanukhi’s lap.
Then the noble Prophet peace be upon himsaid, “Which one of you would like to take this man?” meaning, which one of you would like to host him.
“I will,” a young man from the Ansaar replied.
The Ansaari got up to leave and al-Tanukhi followed him, whilst he was still thinking of the third thing Heraclius asked him to notice, i.e. the seal of Prophethood between the shoulders of the Prophet peace be upon him.Al-Tanukhi had only walked a few steps that suddenly he heard the Prophet peace be upon himcall out to him, “Come here, O brother of Tanukh!” Al-Tanukhi turned around and rushed back to the Prophet peace be upon him until he was standing in front of him.
The Prophet peace be upon himthen untied the knot and dropped his garment from his back to reveal his back to al-Tanukhi and said, “Here you go! Take note of what you were ordered to take note of.”
Al-Tanukhi said,“I looked at his back and noticed a seal between his shoulders, which looked quite large.” (Musnad Ahmad. Ibn Kathir commented that the chain of this narration is not bad.)
A thought…
The objective is to make the people realise their faults. It is not necessary that they should correct themselves in your presence, so do not be frustrated.
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