it takes character to...

Assalamualaikum wrb,

bismillahirrahmanirrahim,

alhamdulillah thumma alhamdulillah. all praises and thanks belong to Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate, the Most Forgiving. We ask Allah, Al-Ghafur, to forgive all of our sins, to delete them all and replace them with good deeds. complete greetings and salutations upon our Prophet Muhammad SAW, a great leader who proves to be timeless in his teachings which we profess to be his loyal followers.

i would like to share something that i have recently learnt a lesson from; albeit slightly painful nonetheless a great reminder. It is of the importance of good character. I feel like I haven't spent a lot of time developing my character consciously; as in I never gave it that much thought, character was something I left to be a natural process of my surroundings. but no. we are in control of how our character develops, in many ways.

character is actually a product of faith. iman is something on the inside, something that cannot be detected by the naked eye and very delicate we don't really know whether it's there or not in most cases. therefore it needs something of a proof, something of an evidence. and that is character that is derived from the state of one's iman. i never really thought about it, i almost thought these two things were separate, but now it makes the most sense. character is how we carry ourselves hence how other people tend to see us, and if it is good that we carry then most likely it will be highly infectious. good character allows us to treat people as how we would like ourselves to be treated. it protects us from selfishness and provides us with love for Allah and His creations. it improves our relationship with our families and friends; it softens hearts and enables us to avoid hate and conflict.

but if otherwise, it will leave a very bad stench not just on ourselves but on other people as well.

i guess what i'm trying to say is we need to start giving a lot of weight to this because we look at our society and what is wrong with it? why have we succumbed to our Muslim youth living just like the non Muslim youth? why are we not sensitive to our lack of understanding of our deen? why are we selling our souls for pleasure that lasts 5 minutes? where is our character, the God fearing character that shields us from these illnesses? it is time that we look at the mirror not for the sake of making sure we look great, but to look at who's really looking back at us and what do we really see underneath the facade of whatever it is that we hide in.

we wreck our brains analysing the causes of world wars, financial crisis, why there are newborn babies in the dustbins and so many other catastrophes. well sure, there is a long list of factors but come to think of it... if there was good character, people would not have allowed to satisfy their desires in the expense of others.

i am in not any place to determine good character for anyone, this piece of reminder is not supposed to target anyone but myself. when we think about improving character, stop ourselves from thinking about others, think about our own. think deeply about this and the impact of character can actually change a lot of things. Rasulullah SAW, was a man of the best character possible for a human being, and by the mercy of Allah first and foremost, this man is responsible for every good that we follow, in which he was a teacher to all mankind. the sahabah such as Umar al Khattab... subhanAllah... a character like his if possessed by some of today's world's leaders, today's problems would probably never have existed. Umar was an extra ordinary man: he was known as a very strict leader, because he didn't fear anyone but at the same time, he was gentle... because he feared Allah :') outstanding character, masyaAllah.

this is what we should strive for, my beloved sisters and respected brothers. let's build good character upon good character until we become such a formidable force. there is no greater recipe to fight against all evils and the likes, than the God-fearing character. and God fearing really means someone who fears to displease Allah. subhanAllah, may Allah protect me from ill intentions and may Allah forgive all of our sins and may Allah purify our hearts and strengthen our character for His sake, and His sake only, Allahumma ameen.

sometimes the reality is not as complicated as we make it to be. when we work to build a solid foundation, everything else will stand strong come what may, it will not waver. life is a promise of difficulty and struggle, we cannot escape any of it, but what we can do is to ask Allah for strength to stand above it all until we successfully meet Him in a state where He is pleased with us and we are also pleased Him, insyaAllah. and good character is not defined by words no matter how beautiful: good character is not someone who talks about goodness, it is someone who does goodness.

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying:

Verily Allah does not look to your faces and your wealth but He looks to your heart and to your deeds.

{Book 032, Chapter 8, Number 6221 : Sahih Muslim}

Sahih Bukhari volume 4, book 56, number 759:

narrated 'abdullah ibn 'amr:

The Prophet never used bad language neither a "Fahish nor a Mutafahish. He used to say "The best amongst you are those who have the best manners and character."

Malik Muwatta Book 47, Number 47.1.8:

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "I was sent to perfect good character."

all that is good is completely due to Allah's beauty and anything that is flawed is derived from my ego and inadequacies. greetings upon our beloved Rasulullah SAW.

wassalam.