Social Duties

As for your 'public charges', these are all people entrusted

by God to your custody, such as children, wife, and slave, all

whom are part of your charge' It is your duty to guide them

to the performance of that which God has made obligatory

and the avoidance of that which He forbade. Beware of allowing

them to neglect an obligatory or conmit a forbidden act;

summon them to that in which their salvation and happiness in

the hereafter lies. Teach them courtesy and do not plant in

their hearts the love of the world and its cravings, for you

would thus have done them harm. It has been said that the wife

and children of a man shall clutch him before God and say: 'O

Lord! This one did not teach us Your rights upon us; therefore

give us retaliation from him!'

You must treat them with justice and graciousness' Justice is

to give them everything that God has made rightfully theirs in

the way of expenditure, clothes, and living with them charitably.

One ol its obligations is to take the wronged one's

rights from the unjust among them. In a hadith it is said that a

servant may be recorded as being a tyrant when he has power

over his family alone, that is, when he treats them

high-handedly.

As for graciousness, this is to treat them gently, and not to

be harsh in asking them for the rights assigned to you by God,

and to preat them with nobility, and to laugh with them at

times without falling into sin, in a manner that removes estrangement

and repugnance but maintains reverence and

respect.

You should forgive the wrongdoers among them and those

who offend you; absolve them inwardly, for what they may

have embezzled of your wealth you will [one day] find on the

side of good deeds [of the Balance]; it is not fitting that they

acquire punishment because of you, while you are rewarded

because of them. The Messenger of God, may blessings and

peace be upon him, was once asked: 'How often should a slave

Le forgiven each day?' and replied: 'For seventy mistakes.'

This forgiveness touches upon your rights over them, but

never those of God.

Imam Al-Haddad, Excerpt from The Book of Assistance, (Social Duties)

 

On Kindness and Charity (Excerpt)

Beware of cursing a Muslim, an animal, an inanimate thing,

or any specific person, even if he is a disbeliever, unless you

know for certain that he has died a disbeliever, as in the cases of

Pharaoh and AbuJahl, or unless you know that God's mercy

will not, under any circumstance, reach him, as in the case of

the devil. It has been said that the curse uttered by a person

ascends toward heaven but that the gates are locked against it.

It then descends to earth, the gates of which are also locked

against it, so that it then goes to the one who was cursed, and

either finds him vulnerable to it, or else it recoils against its

utterer.

Beware of sowing discord through slander, backbiting or

anything else such as will result in antagonism and aversion;

for this is considered an immense sin by God.

Slander is to report the words of one person to another with

the intention of creating discord between them. The Prophet

has said, may blessings and peace be upon him: 'A slanderer

cannot enter the Garden.' And: 'The most abhorrent amongst

you to God are those who damage [relationships] between

brothers by slander, and create rifts between brethren.'

Backbiting is to say things about a person, in his absence,

which he would have resented had he been present, with

defamatory intent, whether this defamation be verbal, written,

or indicated. The Prophet, may blessings and peace be

upon him, has said: 'Every part of a Muslim is sacrosanct with

regard to other Muslims: his blood, his wealth, and his

honour.' And: 'Backbiting is worse then adultery.

Beware of unjustly harming a Muslim or insulting him. The

Prophet, may blessings and peace be upon him, has said:

'Anyone who hurts a Muslim has hurt me, and the man who

hurts me has hurt God.' And: 'To insult a Muslim is immorality

and to fight him is disbelief.'

Beware of injustice, for it will be darkness on the Day of

Rising, especially injustice to others, which is never left alone

by God. The Prophet, may blessings and peace be upon him,

has said: 'The bankrupt in my nation is the one who comes on

the Day of Rising with numerous good deeds, but who has

struck someone, insulted someone else, and taken the money

of still another; for they will take from his good deeds one by

one until, when his good deeds are exhausted, some of their

evil deeds are raken and added to his, after which he is cast into

the Fire.'

Defend the lives, honour, and wealth of Muslims as you

defend your own, whether they be present or not. The one

who supports a Muslim will supported by God, and the one

who deserts a Muslim will be deserted by Him.

Imam Al-Haddad, Excerpt from The Book of Assistance, (On Kindness and Charity)