The Holy Qur’an, chapter 8, verse 30 states:-
O ye who believe, if you fear Allah, He will grant you a distinction, and remove your evils from you and will forgive you; and Allah is Lord of great bounty
This verse informs the believers to be mindful of our duty to Allah, the One God; if we are, then Allah will bestow upon us a mark of distinction and overlook our weakness and forgive us.
But what is this duty to God? Obviously, the main duty is the worship of Allah and striving to please Him. But as a believer, a representative of Allah’s religion, there is also a duty to demonstrate to others, what a true believer is.
At this time with this pandemic and recession, it is important that we not only develop our own relationship with Allah, seeking His Help and Protection, but also helping others to find Allah and turn to Him. Mankind needs to turn to Allah and seek His Help and Protection.
The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was sent to a people who had moved far away from God, and he needed to help them find and develop their relationship with God. The main way he achieved that was through his excellent example. He practised what he preached.
He was the most excellent exemplar, a model for all mankind, and as a follower of the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, we too should ensure that we are demonstrating the good qualities of a believer.
That means that as a believer we should be having an intense love for our fellow human beings. When you love Allah then you should also love His creation which is a reflection of His Works. Therefore, a true believer should always be concerned about the environment and strive to serve humanity, as best as he can.
A true believer constantly strives to please Allah and seek the reward and blessings of Allah. The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, always strove to help mankind and we too should follow his wonderful example. He said:
One who does not show mercy (to people) will not be shown mercy (by Allah)(Muslim)
One of the main attributes of Allah is Ar-Raheem (The All-Merciful) and we should imbibe this in ourselves and be as merciful as possible to all of Allah’s wonderful creation. This is why the motto of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is ‘Love for All, Hatred for none’. When we show mercy to others, we are striving to win Allah’s mercy on us.
The Holy Qur’an states:
Worship Allah and associate naught with Him and be kind towards parents, and kindred, and orphans, and the needy and the neighbour who is a kinsman, and the neighbour who is not related to you, and your associates and the wayfarer, and those who are under your control (Chapter 4, verse 37)
The Holy Qur’an and the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, have laid great emphasis on looking after the orphans, the wayfarer, the neighbour and the poor. Muslims are enjoined to look after the orphan and the property of an orphan as a trust and when they reach the age of maturity, then hand that trust back to them. Likewise, Muslims are also enjoined to look after the needs of the wayfarer, as they are travelling and sometimes find themselves in difficulty due to their travels. A believer should try to help the wayfarer as best as they can. Furthermore, a believer has been told to take care of their neighbour, not make unnecessary noise or create difficulties for them.
Islam encourages a true believer to create a good society and help others, especially those in need. Islam lays great stress on honouring agreements and trust. It is very important to fulfil all the covenants that we make, whether they are with Allah or our fellow man.
Likewise, we are taught to respect and abide by the law, both religious and social.
Verily, Allah commands you to render back the trusts to those entitled to them and that when you judge between men, you judge with justice….O ye who believe, obey Allah and obey His Messenger and those who are in authority among you. (Holy Qur’an, Chapter 4, verses 59-60)
The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, and his companions, always held fast to any agreement or treaty they made, even under the most trying conditions. There was not a single instance when they broke their pacts with any other nation or group. Trusts and agreements can take a variety of different forms. They may include when there are treaties or pacts between nations, or when an employer places his trust on his employee to look after the business. Likewise, the trust that is implicit in all marriage contracts, or business transactions that may be carried out between two parties, or even the trust which voters will place on the person elected for office. A believer must ensure that every trust must be discharged honestly.
Another quality of a believer is to always be truthful. The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was given the titles of As-Sadiq (The Truthful One) and Al-Amin (The Trustworthy One) by the Arabs, as they knew that he never lied and was always honest and trustworthy and they recognised his high moral character. As a believer, we too should follow his example and always be truthful and honest.
Truth guides to virtue and virtue guides to Paradise. A person persists in telling the truth till in the sight of Allah he is named Truthful. Lying leads to vice and vice leads to the Fire; and a person goes on lying till in the sight of Allah he is named a liar (Bukhari)
The Holy Qur’an stresses on the importance of always telling the truth, so much so, that a believer has been told that he must always speaks the truth even if it goes against his own interests or the interests of his relatives or friends.
Likewise, as the Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has also mentioned, that lying can lead a person to the hellfire. It doesn’t matter how small you think the lie is or whether you heard it from someone else, you will still be answerable for it.
It is enough to make a man a liar that he should go on repeating all that he might hear. (Muslim)
Another beautiful teaching that Islam teaches us is equality. We must treat everyone the same, whether they are rich or poor, strong or weak, men or women, they all have equal rights. Islam enjoined all believers that they must carry out justice to everyone, no matter who they are, we must treat them with kindness and respect, and it strongly forbids any violation of people’s rights. It did away with slavery and the mistreatment of the weak, poor and women and ensured that when discharging justice, it must be done fairly and there should be no special favours on account of friendship or kinship etc.
The Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has said:
I call Allah to witness that were Fatimah, the daughter of Muhammad, to steal, I would cut off her hand. (Bukhari and Muslim)
Again, Islam teaches us to always show kindness to our parents. We must show complete obedience to our parents as long as this does not conflict with your duty to Allah, i.e., if your parents told you not to worship Allah, then as Allah is more important, you should disobey them with such a command. Likewise, the parents and elders should show mercy to the young and children.
He is not one of us who does not show mercy to our young ones and respect to our elders (Abu Dau’d)
It is the duty of the parents and elders to ensure that the children get a good education and proper upbringing and instil in them Taqwa (righteousness)
There are many qualities of a true believer, but the main thing is to always be thinking that is Allah pleased with what you are doing and saying and strive for the pleasure of Allah.