Virtues of the Believer
Ahadith from the chapter called Kitab al-Iman, of a forthcoming book – Miftah al-Ma`ani– by Syed Iqbal Zaheer.
Kitab al-Iman
1. On the authority of Ibn `Umar, the Prophet said, “A believer who interacts with the people and bears their irritations with patience is better than he who does not interact with them nor does he bear their irritations with patience.” (Ibn Majah – Sahih)
Commentary
Not surprisingly, `Ali (ra) is reported to have said, “Hold on the company of your brothers. They are your comrades in this world and in the Hereafter. Have you not heard Allah’s words, ‘We have no intercessors now; nor a close to heart friend.’?” (Qur’an, As-Shu`arah: 100-101). – Mirqah
Prohibited is an interaction of those whose company causes a loss to one’s religion, or who lead you to heedlessness, unless one can do it in such a way that his mind is with the companions, but the heart with Allah.
But the best is he who enjoins them the good and the virtuous and prevents them from the evil. Such a believer is better than he who avoids their company altogether. (Al-Tanweer and others)
2. Ka`b b. Malik reported the Prophet (saws) as saying, “A believer’s soul is in a bird that feeds on the fruits of Paradise until will return to its body on the Day of Judgment.”
Commentary
The allusion is to the souls of the martyrs as the Prophet clarified in other reports, such as in a narrative preserved by Tirmidhi wherein he said, “The souls of the martyrs in the shape of green birds that feed on the trees of Paradise.” (Haashiyyatu al Sindi, Mirqah).
However, it should not be imagined that the soul itself will become a bird, but that it will acquire that form. (Mirqah)
3. On the authority of `Umar b. Sa`eed’s father, the Prophet said, “I am amazed by Allah’s decree for a believer that if he is struck by a good thing, he praises Allah and is grateful; but if he is struck by something evil, he praises Allah and observes patience. A believer is rewarded for everything, including for a morsel that he raises to his wife’s mouth.” (Ahmad, Sahih)
4. `Amr b. Shu`ayb reports from his father who reported his grandfather saying, “The Prophet (saws) prohibited from picking grey hair adding it is a believer’s light, further adding, “A man did not get old in Islam but Allah raised him by a rank thereby, an evil is erased from him thereby, and a virtue is written for him thereby.”
5. On the authority of Abu Hurayra, the Prophet said, “When a believer commits a sin, it becomes a black dot on his heart. When he repents, desisted and sought forgiveness, it is cleaned off his heart, but if he adds on it (the dot) is added on until the heart gets attached to it. That is the layer which Allah mentioned in the Qur’an: ‘Rather not, but there is a layer (of dust) on their hearts…’ (Mutaffifeen, 14) – Mustadrak of Hakim, declared as on the conditions of acceptance laid down by Muslim: Dhahabi. (Mirqah)
