"O Mankind, we created you from a single pair of a male and a female, and made you in to tribes and nations so that you may know each other (not that you despise each other). Verily, the most honoured of you in the sight of Allah is he who is most righteous of you." (Holy Quran 49:13)
How many of us would treat a person of higher social status differently from someone who was unknown to the community and did not enjoy the same academic or economic background? Many of us would say no, we would not treat anyone differently. However, what we say and what we do is another thing all together, especially when there are times we are not aware of what we do. For instance, all of us want to be seen as someone important and so often what happens is our behaviour changes when dealing with those people of power and influence, we become more humble and observant of proper etiquette. We do that because we want to be associated with them in that social rank as that is where people are admired and respected.
However, in Islam everyone is created as equals and if anyone was to be superior over the other, it would be for no other reason than because of their nearness to Allah. So all those factors like race, nationality and social status, do not in any way determine that one human being is better than the other. Such an approach to humanity makes Islam an inclusive religion for all people, where everyone should feel welcomed, where everyone should be treated with respect, where everyone should feel honoured to give their time irrespective of who the other person is, and finally, where everyone should be valued.
Our beloved Prophet (s) addressed this evolution in behaviour and outlook on people when he said:
“I have not been sent save to perfect noble manners”
Now one will find that when observing the behaviour of the Prophet (s) and Imams (as), they always treated everyone in the same manner, from the known to the unknown, from the powerful and strong to the weak, from the rich to the poor, everyone of them would be treated with great value for no other reason than because they were human beings.
Consider for instance the following story related to Imam Kadhim (as):
One day Imam Musa Kazim was passing by the tent of a Nomad who was a black man. He went up to him and said “Salam-Alaikum”, in a warm and friendly manner.
Upon leaving he said good-bye to him in a very kind manner with these words: “If there is anything I can do for you, I’m more than willing to do it”.
One of the followers of the Imam who saw this attitude said “Is it suitable for you, the son of the Messenger of Allah, to sit and talk with a man of no reputation and make such an offer as: ‘If you need me in any work, I’m more than willing to do it’? Is it right for a man of great dignity to talk to a man like that?”
The Imam replied, “This is one of Allah’s creatures. Allah has created all men equal. Besides, as a Muslim, he is our brother in faith. After all, life does not remain the same forever. One who needs help today may be the one who will able to help us tomorrow when we’ll need help! If we don’t pay any attention to him today, one day when we may need him we will be embarrassed to ask him for help”
Such accounts of our Imams (as) all have the same powerful messages. The first of those messages is simply that we should not feel superior to anyone, regardless of our social and religious status. This can best be illustrated by pondering over the following beautiful account of Prophet Musa (as):
God inspired Musa (as): Whenever you come to me supplicating, bring with you one from whom you are better. Musa (as) did not dare to say he was better than others. Therefore he stopped finding such a person among human beings and began to search among animals till he came across a mangy dog. He said to himself: I will take it with me. He put a rope around its neck and pulled it behind him. On the way he untied the rope and set the dog free. When Musa (as) reached the supplication site, God said to him: O Musa! Where is the man We had ordered you to bring? Musa (as) said: O God! I could not find it. God said: By My glory, even if you had brought one person, I would have erased your name from the book of Prophets.
Such humbleness is imperative because the result of being humble towards anyone we come to meet, is that they immediately become worthy of our time, worthy of our remembrance and worthy of our kindness because we now no longer see ourselves as being superior over any one.
There is however another imperative message that our beloved Prophets (s) and Imams (as) are teaching us. That message is to not choose what society values over what Allah (swt) values for the pleasure of Allah is more important than the pleasure of others.
To elaborate on this point, consider the example of a person demonstrating an extraordinary display of humbleness and kindness to those people of power and influence yet such benevolence diminishes or disappears entirely when dealing with those who have no social ranking. Such a turn in behaviour can only be described as an act of hypocrisy and cowardice. It is hypocrisy because our true ugly nature is revealed when there is no social gain or praise to be had. And it is cowardice because such kind behaviour is not to please Allah, rather such kind behaviour is solely aimed at feeling accepted and safe amongst those of power and influence. This pathetic condition is illustrated with the following account of a strangers encounter with Imam Ali’s (as) great friend and soldier, Malik-e- Ashtar (ra):
A tall and well built man with a face tanned with the sun and a healed cut on his eyebrow that tell the tale of warfare, walked with determined steps.
A merchant threw a handful of waste at him so that he may provide a moment’s entertainment in the market. But the man continued to walk as determined without a slight response.
Another merchant went to the offender and asked: “Do you know the man whom you just offended?”
“No. I don’t know him. He was one of the thousand who pass by us everyday. Who was he anyway?”
“Seriously, didn’t you recognise him? This passer by happened to be the general commander Malik-e Ashtar.”
“No, was this man Malik-e Ashtar, was this the man whose name startles people and shakes his enemies?”
“Yes, this was Malik”
“Woe unto me! What did I just do? He might just order now and I will be severely punished. I shall run after him and plea that he forgives me.”
He ran after Malik. He noted that he went towards a Masjid. He followed him to the Masjid. There, he saw him stand for prayer, He waited till Malik was done. The merchant went to him and introduced himself while crying and apologizing to Malik. He said: “I am the same person who offended you.”
Malik said: “By Allah I came to the Masjid for you. I understand that you are misguided and unwise, that you bother people without a reason. I felt sad for you. I came to the Masjid to pray for your guidance to the right path. I didn’t have an intention to hurt you as you thought I might have”.
We can see that submissiveness to people of power and influence, whether it be due to fear of punishment or hope of inclusion in higher social ranks is indeed an ugly trait, a trait that reflects a weak character. As we have seen, the consequence of such a weak character is that it limits our ability to behave in an equal manner to all people, ensuring that the rights of everyone are honoured.
Islam however seeks to strengthen the human being, a human being whose behaviour is not affected by the threats of people, nor whose behaviour is bribed by the cheap attractions of social recognition and praise. Rather, Islam seeks to evolve the human being to a character that is powerfully sublime, a character that has the ability to make everyone feel a genuine sense of humanistic worth.
said...
In the name of Allah, the All Merciful, the All Compassionate
Salam Alaykum,
SubhanAllah brother, I just love the way your mind works. This article you have written is another great example of your extraordinary ability to observe and recognize the (true) nature of people.
May Allah (swt) fill our hearts with love, understanding and acceptance for our brothers and sisters in Islam, regardless of their "race", nationality and social status.
Please keep writing:)
Your brother