A True Muslim
Our Prophet (sall-Allahu alaihi wa sallam) declared: “I have been sent down to perfect virtue and to spread beautiful morals over the world. Another hadith-i-sharif state: “Among you, the ones with perfect morality are the ones with an elevated faith.’ Therefore, even faith is measured by morality.
Spiritual purity is essential for a Muslim. A person who lies, who cheats, deceives others, is cruel, unjust, shirks from helping his co-religionists, assumes superiority, thinks only of his advantages, is not a true Muslim, no matter how much he worships. The exalted meaning of the first three verses in Chapter (sura) Maun is: “O! My Messenger! Have you seen someone who denies the Judgement, puts the orphan aside with harshness, does not give their rights, and does not encourage others to feed the needy?’ The worship of such people is not accepted. In Islam, keeping away from the prohibitions (haram) takes precedence over doing the commandments (fards). A true Muslim is, first of all, a perfect and mature person. He has a smiling face. He is a honey-tongued man who tells the truth. He never knows what it is “to be angry.’ Rasulullah (Hadrat Muhammad [sall-Allahu alaihi wa sallam]) declared: “The person given mildness is the one endowed with the goodness of this world and the Hereafter.’
A Muslim is extremely modest. He listens to everyone who consults him and helps them as far as possible.
A Muslim is dignified and polite. He loves his family and his country. Our Prophet (sall-Allahu alaihi wa sallam) declares: “Your love of country originates from your faith.’ That is why, when the government fights against aggressors, a Muslim does his military service willingly. It says as follows in a work written by a German priest in 1560, which has been mentioned above: “Now I’ve understood why the Muslim Turks overcame us in all our expeditions. Whenever there is a holy war here, the Muslims immediately take up their arms, fight and die willingly for the sake of their country and religion. They believe that those who die in a holy war will go to Paradise. In contrast, in our country, when there is a likelihood of war, everyone looks for a hiding place lest they should be enrolled in the army. And those who are recruited by force fight reluctantly.
How Allahu taala likes His slaves to be, is explained very well in the Quran al-karim. The exalted meanings of verses 63-69 in Chapter Furqan are: “[The virtuous] slaves of the Rahman (Allahu taala, who has much compassion for His slaves) walk on the earth modestly and yet with dignity. When ignorant people try to annoy them, they respond with kind words, such as peace and safety be on you! They spend the nights standing and prostrating [performing namaz] before Allahu ta’ala. [They offer their thanks and praise to Him]. They entreat Allah, O my Allah, take the Hell torment away from us. Indeed, His torment is eternal and bitter, and that place is no doubt an evil and horrible residence. In their spending, they are neither prodigal nor miserly; they follow a moderate way between these two extremes, and they do not violate anyone’s rights. They do not attribute partners to Allah. They do not kill anyone, which is prohibited by Allah. [They only punish the guilty.] They do not commit fornication.’ In verses 72-74 of the same chapter: “[Those virtuous human slaves whom Allahu taala likes] they do not bear false witness. They abstain from things… useless and harmful. If they are accidentally involved in something useless or which can be done with great difficulty, they pass by in a dignified manner. They do not turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the revelations of Allahu ta’ala when they are reminded of them. They implore saying, O my Allah! Bestow such wives and children as may be a source of comfort to our eyes. Make us examples for those who fear You.’
Moreover, the sacred meaning of the second and third ayahs (verses) in Sura (chapter) Saff: “Believers! Why do you profess what you never did? Allah dislikes you when you say something you cannot practice,’ which shows that a person’s vowing or promising what he cannot perform makes him a bad person in Allahu taala’s view.
A true Muslim is extremely respectful to his parents, teachers, commanders, the laws, and the leading authorities of his country. He is not concerned with something insignificant. He is busy only with something useful. He doesn’t gamble. He doesn’t kill his time.
A true Muslim does his worship perfectly. He offers gratitude to Allahu taala. Worship should not be performed unwillingly or unconsciously. Worship must be performed willingly and with great love for Allahu taala. To fear Allahu taala means to love Him very much. You do not want the person you love much to be displeased and you are afraid lest you might cause him to be disturbed. In this way, worship for Allahu taala should be performed in such a manner as to prove our love for Him. The blessings that Allahu taala has given us are so great that our debt of gratitude to Him can be paid only by loving Him much and by worshipping Him with profound sincerity. There are different kinds of worship. Some kinds of worship, as we have said above, are between Allahu taala and His slave. Maybe Allahu taala will forgive those who worship insufficiently. It is worship to respect others’ rights, too. But He will never forgive those who abused others and have the rights of others on them, unless the owners of those rights forgive them.