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Tradition, which alone is enough to fill our hearts with fear.

The Prophet (Peace be upon him) is reported one day to have put the question to the Companion, “Who is a pauper?” The Companions replied, “Our master! A pauper is a person who is without a penny of his own.” The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said, “No. A pauper among us is a man who will appear on the Day of Recompense with a large stock of prayers, fasting and alms-giving but in the world he would have abused someone, slandered someone, beaten someone and cheated and transgressed against someone. When he will be made to stand at the Place of Reckoning those against whom he would have been guilty of these transgressions will come forward and they will be given from his good deeds what will be due to them till al the fund of his good deeds will be exhausted and, then, the sins of the aggrieved parties will be forced down upon him and he will, ultimately, be thrown into Hell.”

Brothers, Ponder over this Tradition and think how utterly ruinous and disastrous it is for us to encroach upon the right of others and to indulge in back-biting, slander of abuse. If you have transgressed against anyone or usurped his rights, make amends for it in your lifetime, pay back to him what may be his due or seek his forgiveness, and resolve sincerely to be careful in future otherwise it is going to cost you very dear in the life to come.

Good manners and noble qualities

Good manners and noble qualities of mind and character enjoy a place of crucial importance in the structure of Islamic teaching. Moral evolution and uplift was one of the main objects for which the sacred Prophet (Peace be upon him) was raised up. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) himself has said:

“I have been sent down by Allah (Subhaanahu Wata’aalaa) to teach moral virtues and to evolve them to highest perfection.”

Importance

An idea of the supreme importance Islam attaches to the cultivation of good manners and noble moral qualities can be obtained from the under-mentioned Traditions of the Prophet (Peace be upon him):

“The best of you are those who possess the best manners.”

“On the Day of Recompense nearest to me will be one who displays in one’s daily life the best of manners.”

“On the Day of Reckoning the most weighty item in the ‘Balance of Deeds’ will be good manners.”

Once a Companion asked the Prophet (Peace be upon him), “What is there that takes a Muslim to Paradise? ” The Prophet (Peace be upon him) replied, “Fear of Allah (Subhaanahu Wata’aalaa) and good manners.”

The Prophet (Peace be upon him), again, is reported to have said, “A Muslim with good manners and good moral disposition gets the same reward as he who fasts (permanently) during the day and spends his nights in prayer.”

The last Tradition tells that a believer who possess good manners and carries out scrupulously the moral duties imposed on him by Allah (Subhaanahu Wata’aalaa) but does not engage himself much in supererogatory fasts and prayers attains the degree of excellence of the man who stands up in prayer all