87 - Extending love to Muslims

 Islam establishes a strong bond between believers, so that they become brethren united by their mutual love. They share in their delights and when they experience adversity. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: ‘In their mutual love, compassion and sympathy, believers are like a single body: when any of its organs suffers a complaint, the rest of the body will share its sleeplessness and fever’. [1] 

 The Prophet (peace be upon him) makes clear that a person’s faith does not attain perfection until he wishes for his brother the same as he wishes for himself of good things. Therefore, when he realizes that certain things bring good results, he tells other believers about them, and if one of his brethren has a complaint, he is quick to remove its cause.

 The hadith does not mean that a Muslim should stifle his desire for good things. This is something that no one can do. What the hadith means is that he wishes what is good for others, without harming his own interests and chances. This is easy for a good person.

 This does not mean that a Muslim should not compete and aspire for high position. Abu Bakr and ‘Umar used to compete in doing good things. This did not signify any deficiency in their belief. What the hadith requires is that a Muslim should wish for goodness generally and should pray for the removal of evil generally. As for aspiring for better values and noble virtues, there is no harm in anyone wishing the best for himself.

 Scholars have attached great importance to this hadith, and some consider it as one of four hadiths that form the foundation of the entire religion of Islam. This means that this hadith represents one-quarter of Islam.

 1. To wish what is good for other Muslims is a quality that takes a person to the highest level of moral goodness. It purges his soul of envy, grudge and arrogance. May God give us all such goodness.

2. What is required of a Muslim is to wish what is good for his brethren. If he is eager to have a certain good quality, whether religious or material, he hopes that his friends and brethren have the same. Ibn ‘Abbās said: ‘I may recite a verse of the Qur’an and I gather its meaning. I wish that all people would have the same understanding of it’. [2] 

3. It behoves every Muslim to check whether he has this quality of wishing every good thing for his Muslim brethren. The one who does not have it should realize that he is short of the perfection of faith.

4. A believer puts himself in his Muslim brother’s position. If he loves something, he wishes it for his brother, and if hates something, he does not wish it for his brother. Al-Aḥnaf ibn Qays said: ‘When I disliked something done by someone else, I would never do it to anyone’. [3]

5. God praises the Anṣār in the Qur’an, because they gave their brethren, the Muhājirīn, the best they had and shared their own property with them. The Prophet established a bond of brotherhood between them, making one from each group a brother of one from the other. Thus, Sa‘d ibn al-Rabī‘, an Anṣārī, became a brother of ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn ‘Awf who was one of the Muhājirīn. Sa‘d offered ‘Abd al-Raḥmān half his wealth and that he would divorce one of his two wives so that ‘Abd al-Raḥmān could marry her. However, ‘Abd al-Raḥmān showed the same characteristic of nobility, appreciating Sa‘d’s generosity and declining the offer. Instead, he went to the marketplace where he showed some business acumen and was soon able to become self-sufficient. 

6. Advocates of Islam and educators should endeavour to strengthen social relations within the Muslim community.

7. Wishing what is good for people does not contradict competing with them for the best positions, in this world and in the next. It is sufficient to wish what is best for them.

  8. A student who is a good believer wishes success for all his colleagues in their examinations. However, this does not stop him from trying to be the head of his class. The same applies to a Muslim shopkeeper or businessman: he wishes good profit for all in the same profession, but this does not prevent him from wishing to be rich. Indeed, this applies in all professions and walks of life.

1. Related by al-Bukhari, 6011; Muslim, 2586.

2. Related by al-Ṭabarānī, 10621.

3. Ibn Baṭṭāl, Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhari, Vol. 1, p. 65.