Mohd Siddiqur Rahman :
On the path of our life, we experienced many people as very wise, humble, gentle positive, compassionate and loving beings as well as very rude, harsh, merciless, brutal and negative on the other. Generally, some people holding good positions in all stratum of the society, seem to be lacking in the qualities of being kind, humble, gentle, loving, nice and careful. To them, to be humble is the sign of weakness as the cleverer persons might take the advantage of it over them at this time and age. They least believe in fellowship and don’t bother to confront their fellow brothers in gentle, polite, courteous and decent manners that are in line with our religious instructions: to be humble, gentle, mild, encouraging, loving and clear about holiness that Allah (Swt) wants to. To day here I would prefer to discuss about humility and gentleness that are most distinguishing traits in a person’s character, in the light of Islam. Before going into the details, definitions of humility and gentleness need to be spelled out.
Humility : It means a humble person – not proud, or arrogant. Humility is the quality of being humble and means putting the needs of another person before your own and thinking of others before yourself, it also means not drawing the attention to yourself and it can mean acknowledging that you are not always right. Humble persons value others, value other people’s time as much as his own, he never boasts about his achievements, let others recognize them instead. A truly humble person is not concerned with who he is or he should be. He is not concerned with himself at all but instead he is concerned with other people. He may have accomplished a lot or is the absolute best, but never brags about it even though they may have great pride in those accomplishments. Ury Boyka is the most skilled fighter in the world, but after he got defeat one time, was still the best – but he remained humble. Nelson Mandela who was awarded the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize for his work for the peaceful termination of the apartheid regime and for laying the foundation for new democratic South Africa, said. “We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is with us. It is not just in some of us, it is in everyone and as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other peoples’ permission to do the same : we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others” So a humble person recognizes his talents as gifts of God not his own ability. In all situations, humble people respect others, respect moral and ethical boundaries that govern all planning and decisions in life.
Gentleness : It is the quality of being kind and careful. Gentleness, translated meekness, does not mean weakness. Rather it involves humility and thankfulness toward God, and polite and restrained behaviour towards others. The opposite of gentleness is anger, a desire for revenge, and personal aggrandizement. Further, gentleness also means giving up the right to judge what is best for others and ourselves. God is not concerned with our comforts as he is concerned with our spiritual growth, and He knows how to grow us for better than we do.
Humbleness is the dress of a man, while gentleness and politeness are complementary to it. It is such a quality that helps build up personality and transmit power to conquer the world, the whole world even. The more a man is humble, the more he gains honour and dignity. It is the channel to be having love and affection of others. He follows the path of Allah (Swt), carry out His orders and become the best friend to Allah. Hazrat Muhammad (Sm) had possessed the qualities of being humble and gentle, and never bragged about his greatest achievements and positions. His followers and devotees did follow the suit and were considered to be the best modest at that time.It is said in Holy Quran at Ayat No. 55 of Sura Al Maida, “Your real friends are (no less than) God. His messenger and the (fellowship of ) believers -those who establish regular prayers and regular charity, and they bow down humbly (in worship).” Humility and modesty help achieve worldly honour and obtain Paradise in hereafter. Again it is expressed in Ayat No. 23 of Sura Huud, “But those who believe and work righteousness, and humble themselves before their Lord, they will be companions of the garden, to dwell therein forever”.
As to humility, Hazrat Muhammad (Sm) said, ” If anybody shows humbleness in order to satisfy Allah (Swt), He creases his dignity.” In fact, to be true servant to God, one must be humble,” With consistency, the Holy Quranul Majid quoted in Sura Al-Furqan 25 and Ayat 63 ” And the servants Of (God) most gracious are those who walk on the earth in humility, and when the ignorant address them, they say, Peace.”
In every sphere of life, every aspect of life, to follow modesties and softness is one of the teachings of Islam. Our Prophet (Sm) said, “Allah Himself supports humbleness, love it and reward the supporters generously that He never thinks for the rude and arrogant.” Humbleness is the dress of a man, in contrast, crookedness is the sign to be a sinner. Our Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (Sm) said, “A true believer is simple and gentle, while a sinner is cheater and low ranking.”
The Holy Quran, having informed good news, and focused on importance of unlimited bounties of next world to the people, said at 34 No Ayat in Sura Al-Hajj “To every people, we appointed rites (of sacrifice), that they might celebrate the name of God over the sustenance. He gave them from animals (fit for food). But your God is one God: Submit then your wills to Him (In Islam). And you give the good news to those who humble themselves.”
In the distant past, our forefathers conquered the world, brought back the wealth lost to others and built the lighthouse of Islam by dint of modesty. Now it is regretted that that spirit does not exist in us, rather, it has almost reached the brink of extinction. Where-as Caliphs in the past, by dint of aforesaid quality, became the architects of revolutions, set up many monumental establishments over the territories during a very transitional and conclusive phase of Islam. The whole empire was decorated with the touch of our religion and manifested with the light of principles.
Humility, therefore, can guarantee our success only when we are not disdainful of other people, instead, show them humbleness, value others forgetting self-conceit and protect their sense of prestige and dignity. To this end, we have to free ourselves from self-glorifications and egoistic sense.
Above all, believing in One Allah without sharing anything, anybody with Him should be basic quality of a man. According to Hadith : A true Muslim is harmless to all, he never hurts another Muslim with his words and hands. So one needs to enrich him with the knowledge of humbleness and gentleness and pass and focus its light on the path of others’ life.
From the above discourse on the issues, we are knowledged that Allah (Swt) and Prophet Muhammad (Sm) command and want that we establish the key traits in our character for determination of peace and success in all perspectives of life. Nevertheless, our Islamic Philosophers, Scholars, Social Scientists and Educationists are cordially invited to come forward with their valuable strategies and suggestions for building and developing good character at all levels : individual, society and the state at large.
(Mohd Siddiqur Rahman, Ex Country Manager of Biman, Bangladesh Airlines, in Frankfurt,Germany.)
