SIDQ - The Essence of Good Character
| Khatib : | Sadullah Khan |
| Khutbah No: | 153 |
| Khutbah Date: | 06/10/05 |
- thinking/rationale ~ Be sure about your facts and pure about your motive. Your intentions must be honorable, your rationale sound and you must have the well-being of others at heart.
- tact ~ consider the most effective manner in handling the matter
- tone ~ If you decide to speak, choose your words very carefully, avoid self-righteousness or unnecessary accusations and get the truth across in the best possible manner
- timing ~ pick a time and place that lends itself to honest, fruitful interchange.
- touching ~ And remember, if a word comes from the heart it will land in the heart... and if it merely comes from the tongue it may not even pass the ears! [Sufi saying]
DeceptionDistortion of truth is unreservedly condemned and deceptionخداع, غش, خيانة khidaa’/ghash/khiyanah is considered as part of hypocrisy and even of disbelief. It can be said that someone has lied when he knowingly possesses the truth and consciously attempts to deceive another individual. Curiously, it sometimes happens that a person half persuades himself that the lie he has told or is telling is true and then behaves accordingly. One may be dishonest in one’s honesty; like one who tells the truth for the wrong motive. So, though the words conveyed nay be true, one lies to one’s self why those words were conveyed (ie. honesty in what is being said, dishonest in why it is being said). Such self-deception is perhaps the worst of all deceptions.Self-deception is the process of misleading ourselves to accept as true or valid what is false or invalid. The Qur’an makes reference to this type of dangerous deception when Allah says وَمَا يَخْدَعُونَ إِلاَّ أَنفُسَهُم وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَ and they deceive only themselves yet are unaware [Q 2:9] . Self-deception, in short, is a way we justify false beliefs/ideas/opinions to ourselves. We could deceive ourselves by not facing up to or acknowledging the facts of which we may at least be partly aware. We also deceive ourselves about things that matter to us and which we wish to be other than they are. Nothing is so easy as to deceive one’s self; for what we wish, we readily believe. [ancient Greek orator, Demosthenes] Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) stated that من غشنا فليس منا whosoever deceives us is not one of us; … what then if we deceive our own selves?Self-examination / Muhaasabah, may be defined as an honest and realistic investigation of our spiritual, emotional and mental states; to know our defects so that we may overcome them, that we may be encouraged thereby to pursue a path of improvement. Self-understanding is the real starting point to understanding others. Hasan al-Basri went further and stated that the person who knows himself gets to know his Creator. Self understanding helps us …
- to realize that we sometimes think we are better than we are and to try to correct this tendency.
- to recognize that fears and misconceptions keep us from making self-improvements and living up to our full potential
Remember that our ability to know what we are up to and live authentically depends on our capacity to avoid self-deception.Characteristics of a True BelieverA true believer has many characteristics by which he/she can be identified. The most outstanding one should be honesty of character and truthfulness of speech. The tongue translates man’s internal feelings to the outside world. Honesty should thus be at the core of a Muslim's character and speaking the truth should not be seen as a separate component of a Muslim's character, but as the doorway to righteousness. Be true, be truthful and be genuine; and that is being Muslim.