ADA’AB AL-MA’ASHRAT (آداب
المعاشرت) (ETIQUETTES OF LIVING IN ONE’S SOCIETY)
This is a
small booklet by Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi RE. Hazrat Thanvi used to say that
while he could not cover every single etiquette in it, he has written all
etiquettes that came to his mind at different times. When a person starts
reading it gradually they will be able to generalize it to other situations and
Allah Ta’alah will guide them about these etiquettes. For example, one
etiquette is that when we park our car we should do say in a way that it is not
parked illegally, we are not blocking anyone’s way, and we are not cause inconvenience
to anyone. Today if a non-Muslim visits a mosque at the time of Friday prayers
what impression of Islam and Muslims is he going to get just by looking at how
Muslims have parked their cars? We feel proud that we are doing an act of great
virtue by coming to the mosque for Salah. What do we do not realize is that we
are committing a major sin by parking our cars illegally, or in other people’s
driveways or designated parking spaces, causing inconvenience and distress to
them. In fact, we are not just committing a sin, we are also representing Islam
wrongly. Similarly, if an outsider sees the state of cleanliness in and around
mosques he will probably say that these people are not very clean and hygienic,
and they cause inconvenience to a lot of people. Is our behaviour attracting
people to Islam or repelling them from Islam? (Ma’az Allah, God forbid)
Because we
have almost completely let go of the etiquettes of Ma’ashrat (ways of living in
a society), rather than presenting a good model of behavior and attracting
people to Islam, we are pushing non-Muslims away from Islam by our behavior.
May Allah Ta’alah guide us about this aspect of our behavior and grant us a
correct understanding of Islam. Ameen
Based on the talk “Do not cause harm to other people” by Hazrat
Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani DB
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