Compassion
Moral Code of the Daa`iya
Shaykh Salmaan al-`Awdah
Translated by Muhammad Buneef
We are in need for a daai`ya who possesses a heart that is aflame with
concern for the Muslims and the Islamic reality. A heart that is aflame
with concern about the situation of the Ummah in both the east and the
west, a heart that has compassion on his brothers and realizes the Speech
of Allah Subhannahu, "...firm against the kufaar, and compassionate with
the believers..." (Surat al-Fath:29), not like the Khawarij who killed
the people of Iman and welcomed the idol worshipers. Surely the believer
should be stern with the kufaar and merciful with the believers and realize
within himself the statement of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,
"The example of the believers in their friendly relations, their mercy
and their compassion towards one another is like the whole body..." [Bukhari,
Muslim, Tirmidhi all from the hadeeth of Abu Musa al-Ash'ari] and his statement,
"The believer to the believer is like a building, some [parts of it] support
others." [Bukhari, Muslim both from the hadeeth of al-Nu'man bin Basheer.]
We are in need for the one who feels the pains of his Muslim brothers.
When he hears of calamity that
happens to his brother he will feel pain for them, even if they have
some shortcomings and innovations. Shaykh Muhammad Rasheed Ridha used to
feel pain for the Muslim's reality and the sorrow appeared in his face
when a calamity afflicted one of the Muslims. He used to cheer when the
matter was vice-versa to the point that his mother recognized this quality
of his. When she saw him sad she asked him, "What's the matter with you
my son, has someone passed away in China today?" She realized that the
sorrow and joy of her son is related to the condition of the Muslims; he
cheers to their cheerfulness and becomes sad with their sadness, and this
is the true walaa' [loyalty] to the Muslims.
Compassion is that one should posses a heart which becomes affected
by the Muslims' errors and deviations in the deen. He
becomes sad upon the spread of sin and disobedience among them, a sadness
that doesn't push him away from them but compels him to feel like a doctor
among them who struggles to save them and if he is unsuccessful he tries
to lessen the illness according to his capability. This compassion should
push him also to be zealous concerning himself, his wife and his children
so that he calls them to that which is good and forbids them from that
which is prohibited and stops them from committing that which is displeasing
to Allah `Azza wa fall. There are many duaat who speak about Islam but
those who posses this true lively compassion are few. If compassion lives
within the daa`iya's heart it will yield fruitful dawa, advice and participation
in the Muslims' pains everywhere. But when the person looses compassion
he becomes living for himself, his wife, his children, living to enjoy
that which is around him, and he forgets the worries of the Muslims. At
that time he abandons the truth of walaa' to the believers even if he speaks
about the hadeeths which warn the Muslims of calamities. He becomes like
a hired female mourner. There are many of those who are accustomed to a
speech that they repeat on occasions... and who memorize statements that
they hear and recite without feeling any zeal nor fervor towards the deen
and it's people... so woe to this ummah... how needy it is for burning
hearts!
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