Attaining Good Charactcer (Akhlaaq)

[Roohi]

Innalhamda lillahee, nahmaduhu wa nasta'eenuhu wa nastaghfiruhu, wa na'oodhu billaahi min shuroori anfusinaa wa min sayyiaati a'maalinaa. Mainyah dihillaahu falaa mudillilahu, wa mainyudlil falaa haadiya lah.
("Alhumdulillah. Indeed, all praise is due to Allah. We praise Him and seek His Help and forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from our souls' evils and our wrong doings. He whom Allah guides, no one can misguide; and he whom He misguides, no one can guide.")

Wa ashhadu anlaa ilaaha illalaahu, wahdahu laashareeka lahu, wa ash hadu anna muhammadan 'abduhu wa rasooluh.
("I bear witness that there is no god except Allah- alone without any partners. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His 'abd (servant) and Messenger.")

Brothers and sisters, many of times we meet people with knowledge and people that seem to be very pious. But a common problem amongst the practising people is the lack of good character. So Insha’Allah it only seems befitting to discuss this very important issue on good character. Before I begin, I want to make it clear that this article is going to give you an example of how to go about implementing such characteristics in your life, so that you may put these examples in to practice and take it upon yourself to study this subject in depth, Insha’Allah.

Good character is among the many subjects in Islam that must be addressed and learnt in order to improve you as a Muslim. Attaining good character does not come from just reading books or reading an article such as this one, rather it comes from studying the various characteristics of good character and implementing what you learn. Before I give you an example, whenever as a Muslim we strive to learn and implement something in this deen, it is important that we make sure we have ikhlas (sincerity) and understand what ikhlas (sincerity) is. Allah says in the Qur’an "And they have not been commanded except to worship Allaah alone, having ikhlaas (purity of intention) in their Religion and not setting-up partners with Allaah in the worship of Him." (Surah al-Bayyinah 38:5). Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned a beautiful point on obtaining ikhlas, he said “Ikhlaas cannot coexist in a heart which [embraces] the love of praise and commendation, [nor] the yearning [to obtain] that which is possessed amongst the people, save in the [manner] that fire and water, or a lizard and fish may coexist. If your soul informs you to quest for Ikhlaas, turn first towards your yearning and slaughter it with a knife [in a state] of desperation. Then turn [in a state of] asceticism upon praise and commendation, the asceticism of the [one] who loved the Dunya for the sake of the Hereafter. If your quest in the [act] of slaughtering the yearning, and [the acquisition of] asceticism [against] praise and commendation is successful, your [journey] shall be facilitated in your [quest] for Ikhlaas.”

EXAMPLE OF CHARACTERISTIC-TAQWA

Taqwa (Fear of Allah) my brothers and sisters Taqwa is one of the characteristics that must be learnt and implemented in our lives, Taqwa (Fear of Allah) is that characteristic that will take us to places in our deen that we thought we could never achieve. First of Allah what is Taqwa? In the bracket you have probably read the meaning to be fear of Allah, but rather the essence of the meaning is actually to cleanse and purify the soul, we learn this through the ayat of Surah al-Shams " By the sun and its brightness, by the moon as it follows it, by the day as it shows its brightness, by the night as it conceals it, by the heaven and its wondrous make, by the earth and all its expanse, and by the soul and He Who perfected it in proportion, then He showed it what is wrong for it and what is right for it - indeed he succeeds who purifies it, and he fails who corrupts it."

How does one obtain Taqwa? Taqwa is achieved through the acts of ‘ibadah, so you could say the two are linked to each other. To attain Taqwa you must first as stated previously, check your sincerity and understand what sincerity is. Once you understand the subject of Ikhlas then you must make sure every act of worship you do is in accordance to the Qur’an and Sunnah; and remember we stated before that Taqwa is to cleanse and purify one’s self. In order to do this, you must be able to recognize your diseases of the heart and strive hard to rid of these evils. For more information on the disease of the heart follow my HEART THERAPY SERIES which are posted on NoFrills Movement page or post a comment requesting the articles you missed of this series Insha’Allah.

My brothers and sisters this reminder goes for me first and foremost and I have intended nothing but to motivate my brothers and sisters in being dutiful to your lord, Insha’Allah may Allah make us of those who are obedient and make us of those of the highest level of jannah. Anything good I have said is from Allah, and anything bad I have said is from the whisperings of shaytaan and my shortcomings. JazakAllah Khair.

Subhaana rabbika rabbil'izzati 'ammaa yasifoon. Wasalaamul 'alal mursaleen. Walhamdu lillaahi rabbil 'aalameen.
("Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of Might above what they describe. And peace be upon those sent. And praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.") (Surah As-Saffat 37:180-182)

Subhanakallahumma wa bihamdika, ash hadu anlaa ilaaha illa anta, astaghfiruka wa atoobu ilaik.
("How perfect You are O Allaah, and I praise You. I bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped except You. I seek Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance")

[Parisienne]

Good Character n good Manners.