Search »

Advanced Search »

Post-Hajj Issues (10+ Fatwas)

`Eid Al-Adha 1430: Share & Care (New)

Hajj Without Harm (New)

10+ Fatwas Series

Shari`ah & Humanity

Friday Khutbahs

Religious Pages

Live Fatwas

Live Dialogues

Shari`ah Forum

Living Shari`ah

Services

Mon. Jul. 11, 2005

Living Shari`ah > Refine Your Heart > Advice

Faith and Weakness

By  Dr. Yusuf Al-Qaradawi

President, the International Union for Muslim Scholars — Qatar

 
Image
Some people mistake righteousness and piety with weakness and humiliation . In their view, being a devoted person implies taking a negative position and isolating oneself from the events of life. They have a distorted vision of the morals preached by Islam; for example, they understand submission as tantamount to passivity and fatalism. Humbleness, in this context, is taken to mean accepting oppression and giving up all means and manifestations of strength. Refuting this misconception, Dr. Ysusuf Al-Qaradawi states:

The true concept of Islam has nothing to do with such spiritlessness or weakness. In fact, iman (faith) has always been the source of strength and might, high morals, and strong personality.

Once `Umar ibn Al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) saw a man who, while performing Prayer, was totally withdrawn and dispirited, as if coming from among the dead. `Umar reacted angrily to such attitude and said to the man, “Do not incorporate into our religious rites aspects of death. Submissiveness is that of the heart not of appearance.”

`Umar was famous for his saying “O Allah! I seek refuge in You from fake submissiveness.” People said, “What is fake submissiveness?” `Umar replied, “To have a humble body, but not a humble heart.” Ash-Shifa’ bint `Abdullah saw some youth walking listlessly, so she asked, “Who are those people?” “They are ascetics,” was the answer. She commented, “`Umar, though a real ascetic, used to walk quickly, speak loudly, and hit severely,” indicating that he was strong.

While being the example of modesty and humbleness, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to walk quickly as if coming down from a hill. Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) described him: “I have never seen a person with a countenance more beautiful than that of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as if sun was shining in his face. I have never seen a person quicker in pace than him, as if land is folded before his feet.”.


Yusuf Al-Qaradawi is the Head of the European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR) and the President of The International Union  for Muslim Scholars (IUMS). He has been active in the field of da`wah and the Islamic movement for more than half a century.

what is this?
This widget will help you to store, organize, search, and manage your favorite online content through a range of social bookmarking services. These services permit users to save links to websites that they want to remember and/or share. These bookmarks are usually public, but can be saved privately, shared only with specified people or groups, or shared only inside certain networks. Authorized people can usually view these bookmarks chronologically, by category or tags, or through a search engine. Most social bookmarking services also permit their users to vote and rank public bookmarks to determine which are the best ones according to the number of votes they get.
Send content to your friend Send content to your friend

 

 



 

News | Living Shari`ah | Health & Science | Politics in Depth | Discover Islam | Family | Art & Culture | Youth

 

About Us | Speech of Sheikh Qaradawi | Contact Us | Advertise | Support IOL | Site Map