"People, We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you might come to know one another. The noblest of you in God's sight are those who are most deeply conscious of Him" (Al-Hujurat 49:13)ISLAM stands in a long line of Middle Eastern prophetic religious traditions that share uncompromising monotheism, belief in God's revelation, prophets, ethical responsibility, accountability, and the notion of a Day of Judgement. Jews, Christians and Muslims are all considered children of Abraham (Ibrahim), although they belong to different branches of the same family. Jews and Christians are spiritual descendants of Abraham and his wife, Sarah, through their son, Isaac (Ishaq). Muslims trace their lineage back to Ishmael (Ismail), Abraham's firstborn son by his Egyptian servant, Hagar. Ishmael became the father of Arabs in northern Arabia. Muslims believe that Islam was the original monotheistic faith, making it the oldest of the Abrahamic faiths with Judaism and Christianity as tolerated offshoot.
ONE OF THE ESTABLISHED ASPECTS of Muslim social behaviour is the deference and respect shown by the younger towards the senior, or elder, members of the community. Complementary to that, younger members are treated with sympathy and kindness. Prophet Muhammad was reported to have said:
He who does not respect our elders or show compassion towards our young ones or does not venerate our learned people, does not belong to us.
The Prophet, as God's spokesman, should have been accorded special deference, approached with humility, and addressed with utmost courtesy. As it was, he received more than his fair share of abuse and insults from his detractors.
Muslims are urged to verify the truth and accuracy of what they hear; rumour and fabricated reports could cause irreparable damage to the fabric of society. Islam teaches that Satan is capable of insinuating antipathetic ideas into people's minds. Within a Muslim community, any such hostile scheming must be pre-empted and such antagonistic situations must not be allowed to arise. Instead, the community must promote harmony and concord and stand united against those who persist in aggression and threaten the unity and cohesion of Muslim society.
Throughout history, Muslims have faced wars in which they sustained heavy setbacks and the reason has invariably been their lack of courage to defend the truth and stand up to oppression. The result has been humiliation for Muslim everywhere and yet more daring aggression on the part of their enemies.
The weakening of the ties of brotherhood among Muslims is a bad omen and provides non-Muslim enemies with a pretext to interfere and exploit the situation to their advantage. In all cases, Islam shall be the prime loser!
Attention is drawn to a number of vile aspects of behaviour that we must avoid. It is vulgar and foolish to mock or ridicule other people or be condescending towards them. Only God Almighty knows the true worth of every individual. A person's status is determined by several factors, some of which are inherited characteristics and others that are attributable to the environment in which he or she grows up. You may deride someone, yet he may prove more worthy and successful than yourself:
Believers, let no man mock another man, who may perhaps be better than himself. And let no woman mock another woman, who may perhaps be better than herself....(11)
Islam condemns slandering others or scoffing at them. It denounces snooping, maligned suspicion, backbiting, and defamation. Regrettably, these are widespread in human, (we "hamba Allah" - God's servants), and if people were to avoid these negative traits in their dealings with one another, they would spend half their lives in silence!
Muslims must understand that they have no right to look down upon other people. Muslims have a duty to convey their beliefs and morals judiciously, courteously, and in a spirit of kindness and love. One fears that the failure to spread the word of Islam more widely is largely attributable to a failure in approach and communication.
"ISLAM ITU INDAH - ISLAM IS BEAUTIFUL" by: Hamba Allah - God's Servant
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