Notes from the Adab Al-Mufrad Class of our Shaykh, Abu Naasir Ibrahim AbdurRauf, Session 205, held on Saturday, Rajab 27, 1444/February 18, 2023

Enduring hurt from people is very hard. It becomes harder when the hurt comes from avenues you did not expect. However, learn endurance, patience and forbearance by remembering that people greater and more significant than you were also hurt, yet they were patient.

Good relationships between the Muslims is so critical in Islam - between spouses, between parents and children, between siblings, between family members, between friends, between colleagues, between fellow students, between peers, among scholars, etc. If the relationship is good, endeavour to smoothen it and make it better. If the relationship is sour, endeavour to rectify it. If your own relationships are optimal, endeavour to help others repair theirs. The Prophet informed us that doing these has a better reward, status, virtue, and rank before Allah than making supererogatory prayers, fasting, and charity.

Maintain and help to maintain good relationships. Some people pray (Naafil) a lot and fast (Naafil) a lot, yet are terrible at relationship building, and sometime are the ones who cause their relationships and those of others to falter. Know that building, maintaining, and rectifying relationships are better than all those other supererogatory worship that you do.

Destroying healthy relationships is a means of destroying the religious commitment of the people. Learning the religion and other acts of goodness such as visiting, giving gifts, smiling at one another, saying good words, etc, are all impacted when relationships are destroyed.

It is so common nowadays among young people who ascribe themselves to the Sunnah to destroy their own relationships at a whim, or be the causes of destroying other people's relationships. On the social media, you see a lot of insults, tale-bearing, and disaffection among the Muslims, even among knowledgeable people who both call to the Sunnah. You see people cast foul words at their fellow Muslims. Sheath your swords, O Muslims! Reconcile and rectify the faults amongst yourselves!

Allah orders the Muslims to fear and be conscious of Him at all times, and to sort out their differences (Q8:1). This is a restriction for the Musliims. We have no choice but to remain conscious of Allah, obeying His commands and avoiding His prohibitions. We also have no choice but to reconcile among ourselves, sustain our good relationships, and sort out any disagreements. However you must note that if you dedicate yourself to reconciling the Muslims, be sure that you are being sincere to Allah and are not doing it for any material benefit.

O Muslims! Beware, and do not be the Shaytan that will break relationships and cause the people's religion to become defective.