بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Ali bin Abi Taleb was the Prophet’s (pbuh) cousin and son-in-law. He grew up in the Prophet’s (pbuh) house, was the first child to accept Islam and later became the fourth of the rightly guided caliphs.
Ali bin abi Taleb (ra) was known for his bravery and wisdom. In this tarbiya, I just want to focus on one of his statements, where he said:
“Take five things from me:
1- Let none of you fear anything but his wrong action
2- Let him hope for nothing but his Lord
3- Let someone who does not know, not be shy of learning
4- Let someone who does not know, not be shy of saying “Allah knows best”
5- And patience has the same relation to iman (faith) as does the head to the body; when patience goes then iman goes, for when the head goes, the body goes.” [in Al-Suyuti’s: The History of the Khalifahs]
Wrong Action
Here Ali bin abi Taleb (ra) reminds us that what we should fear most, rather than people or lack of provision, is our wrong actions or bad deeds. At the end of the day, they are the things that matter, because they are the things we will take with us.
Hope for your Lord
“…truly it is in the remembrance of God that hearts find peace” [Surat Ar-Ra’d, 13:28] Allah is the most generous- if we hope for Him, we will find Him. If we seek to get closer to Him by a handspan, He comes to us at speed. It is he who rewards a lot for the little that we do. So why do we hope other things and other people, yet we do not hope for Allah?
Do not be shy of learning
Some of us, when we do not know, do not bother to delve into the issue further. It is important for us to become literate and expand our the depth of our knowledge.
Do not be shy of saying ‘Allah knows best’
Sometimes we are so eager to help someone, that we cannot say that we do not know. But we should remember that those with more knowledge never shied away from this because it is a matter of religion. It was reported that one man traveled all the way to Madina to ask Imam Malik a question. When he got there and asked his question, Imam Malik replied that he did not know and for the man to give him some time to think over it. So he thought over it and went to the man the next day and said “I do not know”. And this was Imam Malik, who was described by his contemporaries as the most knowledgeable of his time.
Patience
Patience is key and cannot be separated from faith. The Prophet (pbuh) said, “How wonderful is the affair of the believer, for his affairs are all good, and this applies to no one but the believer. If something good happens to him, he is thankful for it and that is good for him. If something bad happens to him, he bears it with patience and that is good for him.” [Muslim] We will inevitably be faced with tribulations in our lives, and being patient is a characteristic of the Prophets. Being impatient is to show discontent with the decree of God, but being patient, making du’a, and persevering is a manifestation of having a good opinion of God and trust in Him.
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