Saturday, February 11, 2012

GOOD CHARACTER


Good character is an attribute of the Master of the Messengers (SAWS)
and the best of the works of the veracious [Siddīqīn], and is in
reality half of religion. It is from the fruits of the spiritual struggles of
the God-fearing, and the efforts of the worshippers. Base (bad) character is
a lethal poison, a fatal destroyer, and a humiliating debaser—manifest
vileness, and filth that distances one from the sanctuary of the
Lord of the worlds. It makes the one characterized by it of the devils,
and it is the open door to the burning fire of Allāh, that “Leaps up
over the hearts (of men),” (Qur’ān 104:7). Good character, on the
other hand, is the open door to the bounties of the Gardens and
proximity to the Merciful. Base character is a sickness of the heart
and a disease of the lower self. It is a sickness that endangers the
ever-lasting life. Therefore, it is necessary to pay utmost attention
to it, even more than outward sickness.
Character traits are attributes of the self by which it leans to
either beauty or ugliness. Complete outward beauty is not possible
through the beauty of the eyes alone, without the nose, mouth, and
cheeks. Rather, it is necessary that all these be beautiful. Similarly,
inward beauty requires four essential elements. And good character
is completed through an appropriate balance and temperance of
these elements. These elements are: knowledge, anger, passion, and
justice between the other three elements.
-Shaykh Zafar Usmani

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