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(Adab)
2. "And do good to your parents. If either of them or both of them reach old age with thee, say not to them, fie: nor chide them: and speak to them a generous word. And make thyself submissively gentle to them with compassion, and say, My Lord! Have mercy on them as they brought me up when I was little" (17:23, 24).
3. "And do not kill your children for fear of poverty . We give them sustenance and yourselves too" (17:31).
4 "And when about the one buried alive it is asked, For what sin was she killed?" (81:8, 9).
5. "Righteousness is this that one should believe in Allāh . . . . and give away wealth out of love for Him to the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and the beggars and for the emancipation of the captives" (2:17).
6. "And they (the women) have rights similar to those (men have) over them in a just manner" (2:228).
7. "And keep them (your wives) in good fellowship" (2:229, 231).
8. "The believers are but brethren, so make peace between your brethren" (49:10).
9. "Muhammad is the Messenger of Allāh: and those with him are firm of heart against the disbelievers, merciful among themselves" (48:29).
10. "And the men who speak the truth and the women who speak the truth . . . Allāh has prepared for them forgiveness and a great reward" (33:35).
11. "Woe to every slanderer, defamer" (104:1). p. 372
12. "Let not a people deride another people nor let women deride women . . . . . Neither defame one another, nor call one another by nicknames . . . . Shun much suspicion. And spy not, nor backbite one another" (49:11, 12).
13. "And fulfil promise, for the promise shall be questioned about" (17: 34).
14. "And give full measure when you measure out, and weigh with a true balance" (17: 35).
15. "And do not kill any one whom Allāh has forbidden except for a just cause" (17: 33).
16. "And those who shun the great sins and indecencies, and whenever they are angry they forgive" (42:37).
17. "And the recompense of evil is punishment like it; but whoever forgives and amends, he shall have his reward from Allāh" (42:40).
18. "And the servants of the Beneficent are they who walk on earth in humbleness; and when the ignorant address them they say, Peace" (25:63).
19. "And go not nigh to fornication, for it is an indecency and evil is the way" (17:32).
20. "Say to the believing men that they cast down their looks and guard their private parts."
"Say to the believing women that they cast down their looks and guard their private parts, and not display their beauty except what appears thereof; and let them draw their head-coverings over their bosoms" (24:30, 31).
21. "And as for women advanced in years who do not hope for a marriage, it is no sin for them if they put off their cloaks, not displaying their beauty" (24:60).
22. "Do not enter houses other than your own houses without permission and saluting their inmates and if it is said to you, Go back. then go back" (24:27, 28).
The word adab signifies discipline of the mind, or every praiseworthy discipline by which a man is trained in any excellence. Good morals and good manners are the real test of a man's excellence (v. 1; hh. 1, 9). Goodness to one's parents occupies a very high place in the moral code of Islām, the mother coming first (v. 2: h. 2), so much so that paradise is said to be beneath the mother's feet.
3). Kindness and love for children is inculcated (vv. 3. 4 . hh. 4, 5), and suffering on account of them is called a screen from fire (h. 6). Doing good to relatives is a source of blessings in this life and the next (v. 4; hh. 7, 8). Wives have their rights over their husbands and they must be kept in good fellowship (vv. 6, 7). The best of men is said to be one who is kindest to his wife (h. 9). and it is recommended that one should help her in her work (h. 10). Muslims
are brethren--members of one body and parts of one structure-and they must help one another and he kind to one another (vv. 8. 9: hh. 11-14); their blood, property and honour being inviolable (h. 15). They are forbidden to hate and boycott one another (h. 16), to call one another kāfir or fāsiq (h. 17), and to fight with one another (h. 18). A neighbour, whether a Muslim or a non-Muslim, must be treated kindly (hh. 19. 20). One must be kind and generous to one's slaves or servants, who must in all other matters be treated on a basis of equality (hh. 21-23). Looking after widows and orphans is an act of highest merit (hh. 24. 25). Even an enemy must be treated generously (hh. 26, 27). Divine mercy is shown to him who is merciful to God's creatures (hh. 28, 29), even to dumb animals (h. 30). Man must cultivate the habit of being truthful, for truth is the basis from which virtue spring., while falsehood leads to vice (v. 10; h. 31). Special stress is laid that a man must be fair and forgiving in his dealings with other people, and must avoid everything which hurts them (vv. 11-19; h. 32) At the end are given a few verses and hadīth relating to good manners (vv. 20-22; hh. 33-41).
Many aspects of this subject have been. incidentally, dealt with in the foregoing chapters.
1 Abd Allāh ibn 'Amr said,
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, used to say:
"The best of you are those who have the most excellent morals."
(B. 61:23.)
2 Abu Hurairah said, A man came to the Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, and said, O Messenger of Allāh! Who has the greatest right that I should keep company with him with goodness? He
said, "Thy mother". He said, Who then? He said, "Thy mother." He said, Who then? He said, "Thy mother." He said, Who then? He said, "Then thy father."
(B. 78:2.)
3 Mu'āviyah Ibn Jāhimah reported,
Jāhimah came to the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, and said, O Messenger of Allāh! I intended that I should enlist in the fighting force and I have come to consult thee. He said: "Hast thou a mother?" He said, Yes. He said: "Then stick to her, for paradise is beneath her two feet."1
(Ns. 25:6.)
4 'Ā'ishah said,
A dweller of the desert came to the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, and said, You
1. This hadīth gives the highest place of honour to woman.
kiss children but we do not kiss them. The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said:
"Do I control aught for thee if Allāh has taken away mercy from thy heart?"
(B. 78:18.)
5 'Ā'ishah reported,
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, took a baby in his arms, rubbing its palate (with chewed date), and it urinated on him, so he sent for water and made it follow the urine.
(B. 78:21.)
6 'Ā'ishah said,
'A woman came, with her being her two daughters, asking for charity but she did not find with me anything except a date. I gave it to her and she divided it between her two daughters, and did not herself eat of it. Then she got up and went out, and
the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, entered on us and I informed him about it. So the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said:
"Whoever is thrown into a trial on account of these daughters, they are a screen for him from fire."
(B. 24:10.)
7 Anas said, I heard the Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, say:
"Whomsoever it pleases that his sustenance should be made ample to him or that his life should be lengthened, let him be kind to his relatives."
(B. 34:11)
8 Abū Hurairah reported,
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said:
"Rahim is an offshoot of Rahmān; so Allāh said, Whoever makes his ties close with thee I will make My ties close with him, and whoever severs his ties
with thee I will sever My ties with him."2
(B. 78:13.)
9 Abu Hurairah said, The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said:
"The most perfect of the believers in faith is the best of them in moral excellence, and the best of you are the kindest of you to their wives."
(Tr. 10:11)
10 Aswad said,
I asked 'Ā'ishah, What did the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, do when in his house? She said, he served his wife, meaning that he did work for his wife.
(B. 10:44.)
2. The word rahim means the womb, hence relationship by the female side; but it also carries the wider significance of relationship in general; and Rahmān means the God of mercy or the Beneficent God. The hadīth signifies that relationship is deeply connected with mercy in its very nature. So whoever makes close ties of relationship by kindness to relatives God is kind to him, and whoever severs the ties of relationship by ill-treatment towards relatives God is displeased with him. One must be kind to relatives though they be non-Muslims (B. 11:7).
11 Ibn 'Umar reported,
The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said
"A Muslim is the brother of a Muslim; he does him no injustice, nor does he leave him alone (to be the victim of another's injustice); and whoever does the needful for his brother, Allāh does the needful for him; and whoever removes the distress of a Muslim, Allāh removes from him a distress out of the distresses of the day of resurrection; and whoever covers (the fault of) a Muslim, Allāh will cover his sins on the day of resurrection."
(B. 46:3.)
12 Anas said,
The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said
"Help thy brother whether he is the doer of wrong or wrong is done to him."
They (his companions) said, O Messenger of Allāh! We can help a man to whom wrong is done, but
how could we help him when he is the doer of wrong? He said: "Take hold of his hands from doing wrong."
(B. 46:4)
13 Nu'mān said,
The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said:
Thou wilt see the faithful in their having mercy for one another and in their love for one another and in their kindness towards one another like the body; when one member of it ails, the entire body (ails), one part calling out the other with sleeplessness and fever."
(B. 78:27.)
14 Abū Mūsā reported,
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said:
"Believers are in relation to one another as (parts of) a structure, one part of which strengthens the other." And he inserted the fingers of one hand amid those of the other (so as to conjoin his two hands).
(B. 8:88.)
15 Ibn 'Umar reported,
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said, while at Minā: "Do you know what day is this?" They said, Allāh and His Messenger know best. He said . "This is a sacred day. Do you know what city is this?" They said, Allāh and His Messenger know best. He said, "Sacred city. Do you know what month is this?" They said, Allāh and His Messenger know best. He said: "Sacred month." Then he said: "Surely Allāh has made sacred to you your blood and your property and your honour as this day of yours is sacred in this month of yours in this city of yours."3
(B. 25: 132.)
10 These memorable words, making inviolable the blood, property and honour of one Muslim to another, wore uttered on the sacred day of Sacrifices, in the sacred month of Dhu-l-Hijjah, in the sacred city of Makkah.
16 Anas reported,
The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said:
"Do not hate one another and do not be jealous of one another and do not boycott one another, and be servants of Allāh (as) brethren; and it is not lawful for a Muslim that he should sever his relations with his brother for more than three days."
(B. 78:57.)
17 Abū Dharr reported,
He heard the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, say:
"A man does not accuse another of being a transgressor, nor does he accuse him of being a kāfir, but it ( the epithet ) comes back to him, if his companion is not such."4
(B. 78:44.)
4. The Holy Prophet thus emphasized that one member of the Muslim brotherhood should not call another fāsiq (transgressor), or kāfir (disbeliever). The man who did this deserved to have the very epithet applied to him by way of punishment.
18 Abū Bakrah said, I heard the Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, say:
"When two Muslims meet each other with their swords, both of them are in the fire."
I said, O Messenger of Allāh! This is for the murderer, but what about the one who is murdered? He said:
"He was desirous of murdering his companion."
(B. 2:21.)
19 Abū Hurairah said,
The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said:
"Whoever believes in Allāh and the latter day should not harm his neighbour, and whoever believes in Allāh and the latter day should honour his guest."5
(B. 78:31).
5. The sending of gifts to neighbours is recommended (H xxvi:1). Ihrām al dzaif (honouring the guest) is specially enjoined on Muslims In another hadīth, p. 383 it is stated that special food should be prepared for the guest for one day and night--this is called his ja'izah, while entertainment of the guest, his dziyāfah, lasts for three days. What is spent on the guest after that is termed sadaqah or charity.
20 'Ā'ishah reported,
'The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said:
"Gabriel continued to enjoin me with good treatment towards the neighbour until I thought that he would make him heir of the property (of the deceased neighbour.)"
(B. 78:28)
21 Abū Dharr said,
. . . . The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said to me:
". . . Your slaves are your brethren, Allāh has placed them under your control; so whoever has his brother under his control should feed him from what he eats and should give him clothes to wear from what he wears, and do not impose on them a task which should overpower them, and if you
impose on them such a task, then help them (in doing it)."6
(B. 2:21.)
22 Anas said,
I served the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, for ten years, and he never said to me, Fie. Nor, Why hast thou done (this)? Nor, Why hast thou not done (this)?
(B. 78: 39.)
23 Abū Hurairah said,
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said
"One who manages the affairs of the widow and the poor man is like the one who exerts himself hard in the way of Allāh, or the one who stands up for prayer in the night and fasts in the day."
(B. 69:1.)
24 Sahl ibn Sa'd reported,
The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, and the man who brings up an orphan will
6. The hadīth speaks of slaves, but the words are equally applicable to servants, specially the concluding portion.
be in paradise like this."
And he pointed with his two fingers, the forefinger and the middle finger.7
(B. 78:24.)
25 Abū Hurairah reported,
Tufail ibn 'Amr al-Dausī and his companions came to the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, and said, O Messenger of Allāh! Daus have disobeyed and refused, so pray to Allāh for their punishment. And it was said, Daus have perished. But he said: "O Allāh! Guide Daus and bring them."8 (B. 56: 100.)
26 'Ā'ishah reported,
The Jews came to the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, and said, Death overtake you! 'Ā'ishah said, And you, and may Allāh curse you and may Allāh's wrath descend
7. The Holy Prophet pointed with his two fingers which are close to each other, meaning that the man who brings up an orphan will be with him in paradise.
8. The Holy Prophet thus refused to pray for the punishment of even those who disobeyed and he prayed for their guidance.
on you. He (the Prophet) said:
"Gently, O 'Ā'ishah! Be courteous, and keep thyself away from roughness."9
(B. 78:38.)
27 Jarīr said:
The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said "Allāh has no mercy on him who is not merciful to men."10
(B.& M-Msh. 24:15)
28 Ibn 'Abbās said,
The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said:
"He is not of us who does not show mercy to our little ones and respect to our great ones."
(Tr-Msh. 24:15)
29 Sahl said,
The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, passed
9. The Muslim salutation al-salāmu 'alai kum means peace be to you. The Jews mischievously corrupted it into as-sāmu 'alai-kum which means death overtake you. The Holy Prophet did not allow discourtesy even to such enemies.
10. Thus a Muslim is required to be merciful to all men, whether they are Muslims or non-Muslims.
by a camel that had grown extremely lean. So he said: 'Be careful of your duty to Allāh regarding these dumb animals; ride them while they are in a fit condition, and eat them while they are in a fit condition."
(AD. 15:43)
30 'Abd Allāh reported,
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said:
"Surely truth leads to virtue, and virtue leads to paradise, and a man continues to speak the truth until he becomes thoroughly truthful; and surely falsehood leads to vice, and vice leads to the fire, and a man continues to tell lies until he is written down a great liar with Allāh"
(B. 78:60.)
31 'Anas said,
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, was not a reviler, nor foul in speech, nor a curser; to reprove one of us he would say: "What is the matter with him may his forehead abound with dust."11
(B. 78:38)
32 'Alī said,
The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said:
"A Muslim owes to a Muslim six (duties) to be bestowed liberally--he should offer him salutation when he meets him,12 and he should accept when he invites him, and he should pray for him when he sneezes, and he should visit him when he is sick, and he should follow his bier when he dies, and he should love for him what he loves for himself."
(Tr-Msh. 24:l.)
11. The meaning is, may he be frequent in prostrating himself.
12. The words of the Muslim salutation are al-salāmu 'alai-kum and the salutation is generally returned by saying wa 'alai-kum-us-salām (peace be with you). To this are sometimes added the words wa rahmat-ullāhi wa barakātuh (and the p. 389 mercy of Allāh and His blessings). Salutation is offered by men to women and vice versa (B. 79:16).
33 Abū Hurairah reported, The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said "The younger one should offer salutation to the older one, and the one who is going along to the one who is sitting, and the smaller group to the larger group."
(B. 79:4)
34 'Abd Allāh ibn 'Amr reported,
A man asked the Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, what Islām is the best one? He said:
"That thou feed (the poor) and offer salutation to whom thou knowest and whom thou dost not know."
(B. 2:5.)
35 Qatādah said,
I said to Anas, Did the companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, shake hands13 (when they met)?
He said, Yes.
(B. 79:27.)
13. This is called musāfahah ( from safh meaning side), the two men joining their hands as a mark of love.
36 'Ā'ishah said,
Zaid ibn Hārithah11 came to Madīnah, and the Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, stood up to receive him, and he embraced him15 and kissed him.
(Tr-Msh. 24:3.)
37 'Ubaid ibn 'Umair reported,
Abū Mūsā al-Ash'arī sought permission to see 'Umar and he was not permitted, as if he was engaged, and Abu Mūsā came back.
(B. 34:9.)
38 Sa'īd ibn Abu-l-Hasan said to Hasan,
Women, other than Arabs, keep their bosoms and their heads uncovered. He said, Turn thou away
14. 'Zaid was a slave whom the Holy Prophet had set free, and on account of his deep attachment to the Holy Prophet, he was called his son.
15. This is called mu'ānaqah (from 'unuq meaning neck). Some hadīth show that the Holy Prophet disallowed it, but he may have done this simply to show that it should not be generally resorted to.
thy eyes from them."
(B. 79:2.)
39 'Ā'ishah reported,
Saudah bint Zam'ah went out on a certain night. 'Umar saw her and recognised her and said, By Allāh, O Saudah, thou canst not hide thyself from us. So she returned to the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, and mentioned this to him while he was dining in my apartment . . . . . and he said: "It is permitted to you (women) that you go out for your needs."17
(B. 67:116.)
16. This incident relates to the time when the whole of Arabia had become Muslim. Arab women also kept their heads and bosoms uncovered before Islām. Hence the Holy Qur'ān ordered women to wear their head-coverings over their bosoms (24: 31).
17. We find women in the Holy Prophet's time repairing unveiled to mosques to join the congregational prayers (B. 10:162), carrying provisions for soldiers (B. 56:66), taking care of the sick and the wounded (B. 56:67), taking part in actual fighting when necessary (B. 56:62), helping their husbands in the labour of the field (B. 67:108), serving the male guests at a feast (B. 67:78), carrying on business (B. 1154) carrying on trade with men (B. 34:67), and so on.
40 'Ā'ishah reported,
Asmā', daughter of Abu Bakr, came to the Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, and she was wearing thin clothes. The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, turned away his face from her and said:
"O Asmā'! When the woman attains her majority, it is not proper that any part of her body should be seen except this and this."
And he pointed to his face and his hands."18
(AD. 31:30.)
18. A woman is not required to cover her face or wear a veil. In fact, in pilgrimage she is required to keep herself unveiled (B. 25:23), because the veil was worn as a mark of rank, and was not required by the law of Islām.