The Lost Art

By: Hana Hassan, 5th year Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University

In a time when men were besieged by the lowest degree of civilisation, a light was brought upon mankind to lead them out from the darkness. A light that came in a form of a man, a man who preaches the teachings of God.

“And We have not sent you, (O Muhammad), except as a mercy to the worlds.”
[Quran 21: 107]

Muhammad has come to guide mankind towards a righteous, peaceful way of life and in order for him to do that, he needed to be able to charm them. Amongst the various methods explored by the prophet that intrigued the interest of others towards Muhammad’s beliefs, one in particular that I would like to mention here, was his character. His speech, mannerism, interactions and behaviour symbolises Islam itself. Each individual that walk this earth are susceptible to the attraction of these conducts for Muhammad pbuh’s conducts seep into one’s fitrah, drawing them to question themselves on how they have been living their lives.

The way Rasulullah pbuh carried himself was a work of art. The methods he used to capture people’s hearts truly was artistic. Such talent does not come by itself. It takes practise and the best teacher (Allah s.w.t) to build such outstanding character. However, like us, Prophet Muhammad s.a.w was not exempted from making faults in his conduct.

“The Prophet frowned and turned away.”
“Because there came to him the blind man, (interrupting).”
[Quran 80: 1-2]

“While he fears (Allah),”
“From him you are distracted.”
“No! Indeed, these verses are a reminder.”
[Quran 80: 9-11]

Surah ‘Abasa: verse 1-12 shows that even the best of man needed rectification in human interaction. Who is the best rectifier other than Allah s.w.t? These mistakes were let to happen in order to allow our prophet to act as an example for us all. To allow him to recognise and learn from his mistakes and also to show that even the best of man is not perfect as he is. Muhammad was shaped-up to have the best exemplary conduct for mankind to pertain to.

Placing him as a role-model, we Muslims didn’t behave too bad back then. In fact, Muslim individuals were made known to be pleasant and peaceful folks with good etiquette. What a pity it is to see those qualities fade off with time, even more so amongst us who claims to practise the religion of peace.

Nowadays,
People are treated harshly for dressing ‘kampung’.
People are brushed off for not having a ‘creditable’ career.
One disagrees with a person’s opinion discourteously.
One disapproves of a person’s actions condescendingly.
People do not try to be amiable when exhaustion strikes.

We are an ambassador of our religion. The way we carry ourselves reflects our beliefs and constitution. We would like our actions to do the talking for us and help make people realise that what we believe in is a beautiful thing.

Like how one act of removing a fine needle on the streets can do you good until you no longer carry this earth.
How we were taught to care for strangers who live half a world away from us.
How it is better to stay quiet than to lash out our anger.

We have the Quran and as-Sunnah, the sirah and our life experiences to learn from.
So let’s do it right.

“I don’t call people to Islam, I try to wear the principles of Islam to my conduct, I try to engage with people and then when people are inquisitive about Islam, then from that point, because you knocked on the door, I answer.”
– Sheikh Khalid Yaasin

The art of etiquettes.
He said it all.

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