The Prophet (a.s.) established wonderful methods of education, morals, and good manners. The Prophet’s maxims were a perfect method that could raise man to an exalted position and take his life high in the world of virtues, so that he really would be the deputy of Allah in the earth.
The Prophet’s maxims are an important part from the Islamic heritage that deals with all man’s issues and gives answers to all of his suffering in the different fields of life. Here are some examples of them:
Good morals
The Prophet (a.s.) very actively undertook the invitation to the good morals which was the most important task that he cared too much for. He said, “I have been sent but to complete the nobilities of character.” The following are some of the Prophet’s traditions concerning high morals:
1. He said, “The best of people in faith are the best of them in morals, and the best of you in morals is the kindest of you to his family (wife), and I am the kindest of you to my wife.”[1]
2. He said, “The most of that which takes people to the Paradise is the fear of Allah and good morals.”[2]
3. He said to his companions, “Shall I tell you about the most beloved of you to me and the nearest of you to me in seating on the Day of resurrection? They are the best of you in morals who is intimate and is intimated.”[3]
4. He said, “You shall not include people by your wealth, so include them by your morals.”[4]
5. He said, “Good morals are the half of religion.”[5]
6. He said, “The first thing that shall be put in the Scales (on the Day of Judgment) is the good morals.”[6]
7. He said, “There is no ancestry like good morals.”[7]
8. He said, “Good morals take their owner high to the degree of a fasting worshipper.” It is said to the Prophet (a.s.), “What is the best of that which is given to a servant?” He said, “Good morals.”[8]
9. He said, “Good morals fix love (among people).”[9]
10. He said, “The most perfect one of the believers in faith is the best of them in morals.”[10]
And about bad morals, the Prophet (a.s.) said, “Bad morals are evil omen.”[11]
Gaiety
From the aspects that the Prophet (a.s.) invited to, was gaiety and smiling at every one when meeting. He said, “From the morals of the prophets and the truthful is the gaiety when they visit each other and the shaking of hands when they meet.”[12] He also said, “Happy miens take grudge away.”[13]
Reason
The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Allah has not given to people anything better than reason; the sleeping of a reasonable person is better than the staying awake (at night) of an ignorant one, and the staying of a reasonable person in his country is better than the journey of an ignorant one (on a task). Allah did not sent a prophet or a messenger except after he had had perfect reason and that his reason would be better than the whole reasons of his nation. What a prophet hides inside himself is better than fatwas of mujtahids. A servant has not to perform the obligations of Allah until he would have sound reason. All worshippers do not reach with the virtue of their worshipping what a reasonable one can reach. The reasonable are the very men of understanding about whom Allah has said, (But none remember except men of understanding).[14]”[15]
The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Reason is a gift (from Allah).”[16]
He said, “The friend of every man is his reason and his enemy is his ignorance.”[17]
He said, “Allah has divided reason into three parts that whoever has had them his reason is perfect, and whoever has not had them has no reason; (they are) the well knowing of Allah, good obedience to Allah, and good patience with the decree of fate of Allah.”[18]
He said, “If you are informed about some man that he is good, then notice his good reason, because man is rewarded due to his reason.”[19]
He said, “If you see some man of much praying and fasting, do not be pride of him until you see how his reason is.”[20]
He said, “At the beginning when Allah created reason, He said to it: Come! And it came. Then He said to it: Go! And it went. Allah said: by My glory and honor, I have not created a creature more honored to me than you; by you I take, and by you I give, by you I reward and by you I punish.”[21]
He said, “A man does not obtain (anything) like a sound reason that guides him to guidance and holds him back from perishment. A servant’s faith is not completed and his religion is not straight until his reason is completed.”[22]
Aa’isha narrated, “I said to the messenger of Allah, ‘With what are people preferred to each other in this life?’ He said, ‘With reason.’ I said, ‘And in the afterlife?’ He said, ‘With reason.’ I said, ‘Shall they not be rewarded due to their deeds?’ He said, ‘O Aa’isha, do they work except inasmuch as the reason that Allah the Almighty has given to them? Therefore, as much as the reason they have been given their deeds are, and as much as their deeds they shall be rewarded.’”[23]
Foolishness
Foolishness is one of the worst qualities. The Prophet (a.s.) said, “A fool may ravage by his foolishness much more than the error of a disobedient.”[24]
Knowledge
Knowledge is the most important pillar on which the civilization of a nation is based, and it is the main basis of its development in all fields of life. It is impossible for any nation to have an important position under the sun while it is burdened with the ties of ignorance.
Islam insistingly invites its followers to seek knowledge, and it has made that obligatory on every Muslim man and every Muslim woman. The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Seeking knowledge is an obligation on every Muslim man and every Muslim woman. Surely Allah loves the seekers of knowledge.”[25]
The reward of scholars
Imam Abu Abdullah as-Sadiq (a.s.) narrated that his grandfather the messenger of Allah (a.s.) said, “Whoever walks in a way seeking in it knowledge, Allah will put him in a way towards the Paradise. The angels shall lower their wings for a seeker of knowledge as pleased with him. Whoever in the heaven and in the earth and even whales in the sea pray Allah to forgive the seekers of knowledge. The preference of a scholar to a worshipper is like the preference of the moon to the rest of stars in the night when the moon is full. Scholars are the heirs of the prophets. The prophets did not bequeath a dirham or a dinar, but they bequeathed knowledge, so whoever took from it (knowledge), took full fortune.”[26]
The punishment of scholars who quit their knowledge
Imam Ali (a.s.) narrated that the Prophet (a.s.) said, “Scholars are two men; one works due to his knowledge and he shall be saved, and the other one gives up his knowledge and he shall perish. The people of the Fire shall be disgusted with the smell of the scholar who has quitted his knowledge. The most one among the people of the Fire in regret and remorse is a man that invites someone to Allah, glory be to Him, and he responds and accepts from him, and so Allah takes him to the Paradise, while the inviter himself is taken to the Fire because he quits his knowledge, follows his desire, and keeps to long hope. As for the following of desire, it keeps one away from the truth, and as for long hope, it makes one forget the afterlife.”[27]
The nation’s rightness is by its scholars and leaders
The Prophet (a.s.) said, “There are two kinds of people that if they are right all other people become right, and if they are corrupted, all other people become corrupted; scholars and leaders.”[28]
Jurisprudents are trustees of the messengers
Imam Abu Abdullah as-Sadiq (a.s.) narrated that his grandfather the messenger of Allah (a.s.) said, “Jurisprudents are the trustees of the messengers as long as they do not involve in this life.” It was said, “O messenger of Allah, what is their involvement in this life?” He said, “Following the rulers; if they do that, then you have to beware of them as to your religion.”[29]
Learning knowledge
The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Learn knowledge, because learning it is a good deed, the studying of it (with others) is tasbih (glorification of Allah), searching for it is jihad, teaching it to those who do not know it is charity, and affording it to its people is as approaching to Allah, because it is the manifestation of halal (lawful things) and haram (unlawful things). It (knowledge) puts its seeker in the paths of the paradise. It is entertainment in loneliness, a friend in emigration, a guide to prosperity, a weapon against enemies, and beauty of companions. Allah the Almighty raises by it peoples and makes them imams in goodness to be imitated that their deeds are regarded, and their works are acquired, and the angels wish for their company, because knowledge is the life of hearts, the light of sights against blindness, and the strength of bodies against weakness, and that Allah puts its carrier (the people of knowledge) in the positions of lovers, and grants them the meeting with the pious in this life and the afterlife.
By knowledge Allah is obeyed and worshipped, and by knowledge Allah is known and professed as One and Only, and by it kinship is maintained and lawful and unlawful things are known. Knowledge is the leader of mind.”[30]
The death of a scholar
The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Knowledge does not die by pulling it out of people, but the knowledgeable die, until when there is no one of them, people take ignorant leaders who are asked and who give fatwas without knowledge, and so they go astray and make people go astray.”[31]
Surely, it is a great loss when a society is afflicted by the death of scholars whose place is occupied by ignorant persons who undertake people’s affairs with no knowledge.
Knowledge is a treasure
The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Knowledge is treasuries whose keys are questions. Therefore, ask, may Allah have mercy on you, because there are four persons who are rewarded; the asker, the speaker (answerer), the listener, and one who loves them.”[32]
He also said, “Often ask the knowledgeable, speak with the wise, and associate with the poor.”[33]
The fatwa with no knowledge
The Prophet (a.s.) warned against giving fatwas with no knowledge. He said, “Whoever gives a fatwa to people with no knowledge the angels of the heavens and the earth shall curse him.”[34]
The giving of a fatwa with no knowledge may make a lawful thing unlawful or an unlawful thing lawful, and thus it throws people into sins; therefore, Islam has prohibited the giving of fatwas with no knowledge.
Knowledge for pride
The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Let him, who learns knowledge to vie in glory with the fools or pride before scholars or attract the notables towards him to honor him, take his seat in the Fire, because authority is not fit except to Allah and to its deserving people. Whoever put himself in a position other than the position in which Allah has put him, Allah will hate him, and whoever calls for himself and says: ‘I am your leader’ while he is not so, Allah will not look at him until he shall refrain from what he says and repent of what he claims.”[35]
Teaching kindly
The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Teach and do not chide, because a knowledgeable teacher is better than a chiding one.”[36]
Dispraising of ignorance
The Prophet (a.s.) said, “…and the description of an ignorant is: that he wrongs those who associate with him, trespasses those who are lower than him, and is impudent to those who are higher than him. His speaking is without thinking; if he speaks, he errs, and if he keeps silent, he becomes inadvertent. If a sedition faces him, he hastens to it, and it makes him perish, and if he sees a virtue, he stays behind. He does not fear for his old sins, nor does he refrain from sins in what remains of his life. He lingers and delays before charity heedlessly to what he has missed or lost from that. These are (ten) features of an ignorant person who has been deprived of reason.”[37]
Thinking deeply on affairs
The Prophet (a.s.) often advised Muslims to think deeply on matters before trying to do them. One day, some man came to the Prophet (a.s.) and said to him, “Offer recommendations to me, O messenger of Allah!”
The Prophet (a.s.) said to him, “Will you follow my recommendations?” He repeated that three times.
The man said, “Yes I will, O messenger of Allah.”
The Prophet (a.s.) said, “I recommend you that when you intend to do something, you are to think deeply on its result; if it is good, you can do it, and if it is bad, you are to give it up.”[38]
Kinship and pardon
The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Maintain relationship with one who cuts his with you, give to one who deprives you, and pardon one who wrongs you.”[39]
Praising of benevolence
The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Allah the Almighty has made for benevolence some of His creatures that He has endeared to them benevolence and endeared to them its deeds, and He has guided to them the seekers (who are in need) of benevolence and made the giving of it easy to them as He has made easy the falling of rains to the barren land to enliven it and enliven its people. Allah the Almighty, as well, has made to benevolence enemies from among His creatures that He has made benevolence hateful to them and made its deeds hateful to them, and He has prevented the seekers of benevolence from asking them and prevented them (the enemies of benevolence) from giving it as He prevents rains from falling down on the barren land to destroy it and destroy its people with it, but what Allah pardons is much more. The doing of benevolence protects one from bad death.[40] The people of benevolence in this life are people of benevolence in the afterlife. The first people to enter into the Paradise shall be the people of benevolence. The charity in secret puts out the wrath of the Lord, and the maintaining of kinship increases one’s age.”[41]
Virtues
The Prophet (a.s.) said, “There is no property more profitable than reason. There is no loneliness lonelier than self-conceit. There is no reason like thinking deeply, no determination like piety, no companion like good morals, no scales like good manners, no benefit like successfulness, no trade like good deeds, no profit like the reward of Allah, no god-fearing like abstaining at ambiguity, no abstinence like the abstinence from unlawful things, no knowledge like pondering, no worship like performing the obligations, no faith like modesty and patience, no ancestry like humbleness, no honor like knowledge, and no assistance like consultation. So keep the head and what it contains, and the abdomen and what it includes, and remember death and long trials.”[42]
Generosity
The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Allah the Almighty has chosen this religion for Himself, and it is not fit for your religion except generosity and good manners; therefore, adorn your religion with them.”[43]
Generosity and open-handedness are from nobilities and perfection, and they are high qualities that every man is honored by them. The Prophet (a.s.) used to prefer the generous to others in giving. Once, a delegation from the Arabs came to him. He gave them (from the treasury) and preferred to them some man from among them. The Prophet (a.s.) was asked about that and he said, “All the people (of that tribe) are dependants on him.”[44]
Doing good
The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Do good throughout your life and be liable to the donations of Allah’s mercy, because Allah has donations from His mercy which He grants to whomever He likes from His servants; and ask Allah to cover your private parts (honors) and calm down your fears.”[45]
Surely the doing of good is one of the main concepts that Islam has emphasized on. Allah says, (therefore hasten to (do) good deeds).[46]
The Prophet (a.s.) said, “A word of goodness that a believer listens to, works due to it, and teaches it (to others) is better than the worship of a year.”[47]
Charity
The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Hearts have been created with the nature of loving whoever does good to them and hating whoever does wrong to them.”[48]
Bad and prohibited features
The Prophet (a.s.) warned strongly against bad qualities that would take man to woe, destruction, and the wrath of Allah, such as:
Hypocrisy
The Prophet (a.s.) said, “That which I fear most for my nation from is every hypocrite of cunning tongue.”[49]
Treason
The Prophet (a.s.) said, “A banner shall be installed for a traitor on the Day of Resurrection and it shall be said: this is the treason of so-and-so the son of so-and-so.”[50]
Betrayal of trust
The Prophet (a.s.) said, “A man, who has been entrusted with a trust, shall be brought on the Day of Judgment and it shall be said to him: Pay back your trust. He shall say: O my Lord, the worldly life has gone. It shall be said: take him to the Hell. He shall fall into it (Hell) until he shall reach to its bottom and he shall find it (the trust) there as it was. He shall carry it on his shoulder and come up with it. When he shall see that he shall have come out, it (the trust) shall slip and fall down, and he shall fall down after it (and so on) forever.”[51]
False testimony
The Prophet (a.s.) said, “On the day of Resurrection, birds shall beat with their beaks, eject what there shall be in their craws, and shake their tails because of the great terror of the Day of Resurrection, and (on that day) a giver of false testimony shall not be talked to, and his feet shall not fix on the ground until he shall be thrown into the Fire.”[52]
Oppression
The Prophet (a.s.) said, “The promptest thing in being punished for is oppression.”[53]
He also said, “There is no sin nearer to punishment that Allah hastens for its committer in this life, besides what shall be saved for him in the afterlife, than oppression and cutting off kinship.”[54]
Rejoicing at others’ distress
The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Do not show rejoicing at your brother’s distress that Allah may deliver him (from it) and afflict you.”[55]
Surely rejoicing at others’ distresses is a feature of villains whereas Islam has built its society on high morals, nobilities, the love of others, and honesty.
Haughtiness
The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Whoever draws his garment as a kind of arrogance Allah will not look at him.”[56]
He also said, “He, who has in his heart inasmuch as the weight of a grain of mustard seed of arrogance, shall not enter the Paradise.”[57]
He said, “He, who glorifies himself and struts in his walking, shall meet Allah while angry at him.”[58]
Talebearing
The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Cursed is a triad!” He was asked, “What is a triad, O messenger of Allah?” He said, “It is he who betrays his friend near his ruler, and thus he destroys himself, his friend, and his ruler.”[59]
He also said, “Let him, who believes in Allah and the Last Day, not convey to us a defect of his believing brother.”[60]
Envy
The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Envy eats good deeds as fire eats firewood.”[61]
Envy causes calamities and disasters to people and throws them into great evils. As a result of envy, the Prophet’s immaculate progeny were kept away from their right in the caliphate when some companions, after the Prophet’s death, announced: “The prophethood and the caliphate should not gather in one family!” Therefore, the caliphate was seized from its actual people who were kept away from the political life, and consequently the nation suffered and is still suffering the bitterest kinds of disasters.
Evil plotting
The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Beware of evil plotting, because Allah has determined that (the evil plotting shall not beset any except the authors of it) .[62]”
Lying
The Prophet (a.s.) said, “Beware of lying, because it leads to disobedience, and disobedience leads to the Fire. Speak truthfully, because truthfulness leads to piety, and piety leads to the Paradise.”[63]
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