Qualities of a community

After a few days of a lot of travel and activity, today I finally have a little time to sit in front of the computer and share with you something that is going around my head and that is closely related to my last talk in Almonaster; something that I consider to be key in the life of the believer, because it is what allows him to live in harmony, strengthen ties and create a community, or a society, based on goodness, generosity, mutual help, mercy and goodness.
A society like that of the Sahaba.
And the secret of this society, of this community, is the verse in which Allah says: “They prefer them to themselves, even when they are in dire need.”
This verse of the Qur’an describes one of the most sublime qualities of the Sahaba, of the Companions of the Messenger Muhammad, sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam.
The Sahaba understood that they would not get anywhere alone, they knew that they needed each other, that they had to support each other, that they had to be as one body, and that is why they established the best community that has arisen for the good of men.
And the Sahaba were really just that, a community.
A community in which some supported others, in which some strove to help others, in which the strong cared for the weak, in which women played a very important role, in which injustice was not allowed among them, in which if someone was sick others visited them, in which if any of the members was absent for a few days his companions worried about him, asked about him, helped him in any way they could, in which if one of them made a mistake or a fault, the others hid that fault, covered it up, did not make it public, did not spread it to the four winds as we like to do so much today; on the contrary, for they were like one body; if one of its limbs became weak, the rest of the body responded with fever and insomnia, they were like a building, they leaned on each other.
In order to achieve that, what they did was to soak up the noble qualities of behavior; they imitated the Messenger of Allah as much as they could, they lifted each other up and if one made a mistake the others corrected him, if one deviated the others called his attention, with much adab, with great courtesy; but they never put him aside, saying: “No, it’s that so-and-so does this or that, and since that’s wrong, then we leave him aside.”
And they did it because they had the best opinion of their siblings.
When someone did something wrong they always looked for a justification for it, they looked for some kind of excuse, whatever it was, to justify what their brother had done instead of, as we so often see in our days, looking for ways to condemn and crucify him.
This kind of behaviour of condemning people, which is so present among us, is too widespread among us, it is not tolerable, we cannot tolerate it, all of us must make an effort to eliminate it from within, for it is not the behaviour of people who follow Allah and His Messenger.
On one occasion when they wanted to condemn a man because he had stolen something, they took him to the presence of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, who was then the Caliph of the Muslims, for interrogation and condemnation. And what did ‘Umar do? He said to the man, ‘Have you stolen? Say no!’ Before allowing him to answer, he said: ‘Say no, say you haven’t stolen!’ The man said, ‘NO.’ And ‘Umar told him, ‘Okay, then leave.’
This is what it is about and this is what I want to say: we have to protect each other, we have to help each other, we have to collaborate, we have to be like one body, it has to hurt us that one of our members suffers, it has to hurt us and we have to try to prevent, however we can and each one to the best of their ability, that there are people among us who suffer, people who are having a hard time.
There was a woman in Madinah, I think I remember that she was a Jew, who lived near the house of the Messenger of Allah, and every time the Messenger passed by her door, the woman insulted him, threw rubbish at him, threw rubbish at the door of the Messenger’s house; and a few days passed when he did not do so, when he did not rebuke the Messenger of Allah.
And what did he do?
Rejoice?
To feel relieved of that annoyance?
No, quite the opposite, what he did was worry about her, ask about her, see if she was sick, if she needed anything.
This is giving preference to others, this is caring about others, this is what we have read and heard so many times, this is part of the teaching we have received, and this is what we are gradually forgetting, because we think more and more about ourselves and we forget about others.
Ibn ‘Ayiba, in his tafsir of the verse mentioned above, in which Allah describes the Sahaba as saying “They prefer them to themselves, even though they are in dire need”, narrates that in the battle of Yarmouk, one of the Sahaba who had some water looked for his uncle, who was seriously wounded, and when he came to his side, he said, “Do you want some water?”
His uncle nodded yes, since he could not even speak due to the wounds he had received; and just as he was putting the wineskin with water on his lips, he heard the lament of another of the Muslims; The uncle nodded to his nephew to give the water to that man; The young man went to that other man to give him the little water he had and, when he was about to do so, he heard another lament; and this second man to whom he was going to give the water, told him to go and give it to him, that he had more need.
When he came to the third man and saw that he was dead, he then returned to the second man and saw that he was also dead; He then went to where his uncle was and saw that he had also died.
The young man was completely surprised, but then he remembered the verse and said to himself: “It is true, these are people who, even when they are about to die, prefer to help their brothers rather than themselves, that is why they are the best community that has arisen from among men.”
If we want to succeed, if we want success, if we want to establish a real brotherhood among ourselves, if we want to be a strong community, this is what we must follow: to love one another, to help our brothers, to strengthen one another, to open our arms and to strive for one another.
Such were the Sahaba, merciful to each other.
We have to take a step forward and stop thinking that we are the center of the world, we must worry, we must help others, the strongest the weakest, we have to worry about children and the elderly; we have to serve one another, help one another, and then: “Allah will help us.” Allah will be with us, Allah will be by our side, Allah will love us and nothing can stop us, for when Allah loves someone, as He Himself says in a hadith qudsi: “I am the ear with which he hears, the sight with which he sees, the hand with which he grasps, the feet with which he walks; if he asks Me I give him, if he implores My forgiveness I give him and if he seeks My refuge I will give him protection.”
Shaykh Ahmed Bermejo www.ahmedbermejo.com