Akhlaaq

Ten Tips Towards Being a Successful Husband

Prophet Muhammad (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said, “the best amongst you are the ones who are best to their wives.” So dear Muslim brother! Your obligations towards your wife are not limited to earning money and supporting her financially. A wife needs love from her husband, and emotional support too!

10 Tips on How to Be a Successful Husband

Note: Additions in brackets are notes from a sister.

Prepared by Muhammad Alshareef, reprinted from Islamway.com.

Human Nature is Insatiable

Human Nature is Insatiable

Human nature is insatiable. No matter how much you get, you will never be happy with it. That is the way we have been created. The key to happiness is not to get it all, but rather, to be content with little.

“O Allah, I seek refuge in Thee from incapacity, from sloth, from cowardice, from miserliness, from decrepitude, and from the torment of the grave. O Allah, grant to my soul the sense of righteousness and purify it, for Thou art the Best Purifier thereof. Thou art the Protecting Friend thereof, and Guardian thereof. O Allah, I seek refuge in Thee from the knowledge which does not benefit, from the heart that does not entertain the fear (of Allah), from the soul that does not feel contented, and the supplication that is not responded to.” [Muslim Book 035, Number 6568]

Victory Comes With Patience

The Messenger of Allah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said to his cousin: “And know that victory comes with patience, relief with affliction, and ease with hardship. 1

Even in the battle of Qadisiyyah, after fighting through the whole day, the Muslim leader said “just be patient, and keep fighting.” Even into the night, when most armies stop fighting at night! But subhanallah, what happened? By the next morning, the Muslims had won.

QMajd Issue 1: Rules of Engagement

Those of you who haven’t heard of the AlMaghrib institute, you’re missing out–they give some mashallah amazing double-weekend Islamic classes.

Qabeelat Majd (QMajd) is the Toronto branch. Mashallah, through the dedicated efforts of some dozen or so people, they finally published their first newsletter! It’s for the Rules of Engagement class (click to learn more about the class), so it covers the subject of akhlaaq–manners, etiquettes, dealings with Allah, with people, with yourself–and contains such fruitful topics as:

Losers!

I walked by as I noticed a bunch of people moved by music, indulged in gossip, purchased tickets from each other … until I spotted my younger sister, Ayesha. I signed, looking at them, as I commented to her, “…bunch of losers.”

“What makes you think they are all losers?” questioned Ayesha.

Well, look at all the things they are indulged in? They’re obviously losers,” I responded, as we both noticed other people carrying on with their activities disapprovingly.

Imam Abu Hanifa: A True Tradesman

Once, a women came to Abu Hanifa (رحمالله) to sell a silk garment. Abu Hanifa asked ” How much is it?” She replied, “one hundred.” He said, “It is worth more than a hundred. How much?”

So the woman increased the price by hundred, and again, and when it reached four hundred, Abu Hanifa said, “It should be more than that.” The woman said, ” you are mocking me.”

So, Abu Hanifa said, “bring a man to value it.” She brought a man, and he valued it at five hundred.

Talk Ain’t Cheap

One of the diseases we experience in our culture is cheap talk. People say things all the time, whether they mean it or not. Worse, people lie as easily as they breathe–sometimes, even as often–and sometimes, under the guise of “just kidding!”

But is talk cheap? Let’s look at some evidence from the Qur’an and Sunnah.

  • Shahada: People enter Islam when they take the shahada–in other words, when they say certain words.
  • Kufr: People leave Islam when they say words of disbelief.
  • Marriage, Divorce, Slaves: The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said: Three things are serious if you’re serious, and serious if you’re joking: marriage, divorce, and freeing a slave. (The words matter, even if uttered without intention [1].)
  • The Truthful: The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said, in a longer hadith: Truth leads to birr, and birr leads to Paradise. A person keeps speaking the truth until he is recorded with Allah as one of the truthful. [Bukhari]
  • The Liars: The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said in that same hadith: Lying leads to vice, and vice leads to Hellfire. A person keeps lying until he is recorded with Allah as a liar. [Bukhari]
  • Hellfire: One of the sahaba asked the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم), “Will we be held accountable for what we say?” He said, “May your mother lose you! People will be flung face-down into the Hellfire on account of what their tongues sent before them!” [Tirmidhi]
  • Hypocrites: The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) said: the hypocrites have three traits. [One is] when he speaks, he lies. [Bukhari and Muslim] (I.e. words can become a reason for one to become a hypocrite.)

And these are a few small things that you probably already knew, some common ahadith we hear often enough. There are no doubt many, many more proofs.

The Call of Jahiliyyah

Once a young man from the Muhajiruwn and a young man from the Ansaar quarreled. So the muhajirun called out for help stating: “O Muhajiruwn!” And the ansaari said: “O Ansaar!” The Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) heard this and said: ”Is it with the call off jahiliyyah that you are calling out, and I am present amongst you!” (Bukhari)

Extract the Honey, but do not Break the Hive

The following is an excerpt from “Don’t be Sad” by Shaykh Aaidh ibn Abdullah Al-Qarni.

Extract the Honey, but do not break the Hive

Everything that has gentleness within it is beautified, and whatever lacks it is spoiled. When you meet someone, giving them a bright smile and a kind word, you are displaying a characteristic of the truly successful person, a characteristic that even a bee exhibits. When a bee lands on a flower (doing so for a practical purpose) it does not destroy it, because Allah rewards gentleness with that which He does give for harshness. There are certain people whose personalities are like magnets , attracting everyone who is nearby, simply because they are loved for their gentle talk, their good manners, and their noble deeds.

Rules of Engagement

Rules of Engagement

Rules of Engagement is an AlMaghrib Institute course taught by Muhammad ibn Faqih. The course teaches and emphasizes ethics, morality, rights, character attributes, and manners–everything from the rights of children before they’re born to the cause for the decline and destruction of socieities to the literally dozens of virtues one earns from sabr! The course focuses a lot on self-development, self-improvement, and dealing with others, as well as improving oneself.