Our Prophet Muhammed Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam told us in an authentic Hadith that he was sent to perfect the moral conduct and the beautiful qualities of human beings.
This Hadith highlights the facts that throughout time, people had in them good qualities, moral conduct; something that we in Arabic call Al Aqlaq. And when Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam came, he did not invent something that was new, he came to perfect this; and this came through the Qur’an and through the Sunnah as well.
And among the illnesses of the heart; among the bad things that Islam came to purify us from, is what is known as selfishness. It’s an illness, it’s a disease; however the majority of us; one way or the other, have it in us.
The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam gave us a beautiful example about how human beings are created and how these bad qualities in them are original and must be modified so that they would pass the test; the test that Allah Azza wa Jall has given them.
Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam tells us that when you see two hungry wolves, extremely hungry, extremely vicious; what would they do when they enter and attack a herd of sheep? Definitely it’s going to be chaotic. The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam is telling us when a person is so keen and eager to gain money and to gain honor for himself, he would be as vicious and as devastating as that hungry wolf.
So the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam is telling us that we should be careful of what we wish for. It is human nature that people love themselves; it is only natural to love yourself more than anyone else; otherwise it would be foolish just to let people step on you, to give people all what you have and stay without anything in your hand; So this is not wrong; to love yourself is not wrong at all. What is wrong is to take what is not yours.
To take things that others are more worthy of taking than you. What’s wrong is to take what you have no right in taking at all. Islam came to purify these hearts, Islam came to teach us how to love one another, how to care for one another and how to give and devote without expecting something in return.
This is extremely difficult but with training, with conditioning; when you know that there is great reward at the sight of Allah Azza wa Jall, it becomes very easy. Our role model is our Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam.
And if you look at him and if you try to measure how generous he was, it would be extremely difficult. He Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam was the most generous person ever to have walked the earth. And he never said no to any request, to the extent that a woman made the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam a cloak that he was deeply in need of.
Our Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam was not rich; he did not have a wardrobe full of clothes, though he could have but he did not. He Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam did not live in a mansion. He did not enjoy what we think is the enjoyment of this life.
Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam lived like a servant of Allah. He was given the choice by the Arc Angel Jibreel; and he said to him,” O Prophet of Allah, Allah is giving you a choice whether to be king and the Prophet or a servant and a Messenger.”
Soloman {peace be upon him} was the king and a Prophet; so it’s not something strange. The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said,” I would like to be a servant of Allah and a Messenger.” And he told us that,”
If I wish it, Allah would make it come true. If I want the whole area in front of me, to turn into gold, Allah will make it true, Allah will make it happen!” But he didn’t, he lived a simple life. When this woman made him this cloak, he Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam wore it, because he needed it.
And once he went out of his house and met his companions, one of them said,” What a beautiful cloak, O Prophet of Allah give it to me.” And the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam immediately took it off and gave it to him and went back in to his home. The companions blamed that man, they told him,” Don’t you fear Allah, don’t you see that the Prophet needs this cloak and he never rejects anyone who asks him for anything?”
The man said,” By Allah! I didn’t ask for the cloak so that I can wear it, I asked for it so that when I die it would be my Kafan, I would be shrouded in it and I would be buried in it.”Shortly afterwards the man died and he was shrouded in that cloak. The Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam was very generous; though he was in need yet his generosity was overwhelming.
After the battle of Hunain, when the war booty was gathered, he, Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam was standing on a hill and next to him was a Beduin ; a nomad, someone of no great importance to the Arabs or to the Muslims.
And the man’s jaw almost touched the ground because he was looking at a herd of sheep that filled a valley; that filled an area between two mountains; so you can imagine the number. And the man was shocked by this view. He is a nomad and this is what he lives for and after.
So the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam looked at him and said,” Do you like it?” And the man looked at the Prophet astonished and said,” Yes!”And the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said,” It’s yours.” And the man could not believe his eyes or ears; so he went running to his tribe saying,” O people accept Islam, come and join this great religion because Muhammed {peace be upon him} gives like a person who does not fear poverty.” And the Prophet never feared poverty.
Therefore if you look at the companions of the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam known as Al Ansar; they are people of Madina who welcomed the emigrants, coming from all over the world to stay in their city: Madina.
Allah Azza wa Jall praised the Ansars in the Qur’an by saying that they love to give more than they love to keep. Complete selflessness in opposite to the selfishness that we have. So how can I get to this stage of purity: Loving for others what I love for myself? Well this is one part of Iman {Belief} Imagine that part of your belief is to love for others what you love for yourself. So if I love money, I would love for others to get money, if I love righteous wife, I would love for others to get righteous wives as well.
This is selflessness! And Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam, as Allah commanded him in the Qur’an, was instructed to take the poor due from the rich and give it back to the poor. And Allah Azza wa Jall told him in the Qur’an that this is the purification of the soul and Allah says,” Take Sadaqah {Alms} from their wealth {rich} in order to purify them and sanctify them with it!” So you want to purify yourself? Give to the poor; you want to purify yourself from selfishness? Recite the Qur’an and learn the biography of the Prophet Salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam.
Doing this will make you a humble servant of Allah Azza wa Jall and no matter how much you give; Allah will you back much-much more than what you have given.