[
In the Name of Allaah, the All-Merciful... ]
What
are the characteristics of the believers that make them distinct
from the disbelievers?
This
is a great question indeed. By knowing the difference between
the believers and other people, the difference between the
Truth and falsehood becomes distinctly clear, as does the
difference between the people of eternal happiness and the
people of eternal misery.
Know
that the true believer
is the one who believes in Allaah and all of his Names and
Attributes that are found in the Book and the Sunnah, upon
their proper understandings. They must be fully acknowledged.
Furthermore, the believer exalts Allaah, declaring Him free
of anything that contradicts the perfection of His Names and
Attributes. Thus, his heart becomes full of Eemaan,
knowledge, conviction, serenity, and becomes totally concerned
with Allaah.
The
believer repents to Allaah alone, performing acts
of worship for Him that He has legislated upon the tongue
of his Prophet (sallallaahu 'alayhe wa sallam), with
sincerity to Allaah, hoping for His Reward and fearing His
Punishment.
The
believer is thankful to Allaah in his heart, with
his tongue, and with the actions of his limbs. He is thankful
for Allaah's Blessings and the great amount of goodness that
Allaah has given him, those that he enjoys at all hours of
the day. The believer is thankful and utters phrases of Allaah's
remembrance, and he does not see any blessing greater than
what Allaah has given him, nor any token of generosity greater
than what has come from Allaah.
The
believer scoffs at the materialistic fancies of
this worldly life, as he is focused on the delight of repenting
to Allaah, and turning completely to Him alone. With this,
he takes an ample share of worldly delights and enjoys them,
but not as the disbelievers or heedless ones do. He indulges
in them in a way that assists him in establishing the Rights
of Allaah and the rights of His servants.
By
contenting himself in this way and hoping for the reward from
Allaah, the believer fulfills his desires, his heart rests
peacefully, and he finds tranquility. He does not become saddened
if some affairs reach him that he does not like. With this,
Allaah has combined for him the happiness of this worldly
life and the happiness of the Hereafter.
As
for the heedless disbeliever,
then his affair is not like this. He denies the presence and
perfection of His Great Lord, that which is established by
way of both intellectual and textual proofs, as well as scientific
facts and findings. He does not pay any mind to these things.
As
he cuts himself off from Allaah by not acknowledging Him and
not worshipping Him, the disbeliever attaches his self to
things found in nature and worships them. Thus, his heart
becomes similar to the hearts of grazing animals.
The
disbeliever has no concern other than gathering
and enjoying material things. His heart is always in a state
of unrest, afraid that he may lose the things he loves, afraid
that affairs he does not like will reach him. He does not
have the Eemaan that makes facing difficult things
easy and lightens the weight of calamities.
The
disbeliever has been deprived of the delight of
Eemaan, the sweetness of drawing close to Allaah, and
the fruits of Eemaan in this life and the Next.
The
disbeliever does not hope for any reward from Allaah,
nor does he fear any punishment. His only hope and fear is
connected to the cravings of his lowly, materialistic, worldly
desires.
From
the characteristics of the believer
is humbleness when submitting to the Truth, and humbleness
when dealing with others as well. He is sincere to the servants
of Allaah no matter what their status or position. This sincerity
is found in his statements, actions, and intentions.
However,
the disbeliever has pride and looks down upon the
Truth. He looks down upon other people, too. He is amazed
at himself, and does not make a practice of being sincere
to anyone.
The
believer
has a clean heart that is free of deception, rancor, and jealousy.
He loves for the Muslims what he loves for his own self, and
he hates for them what he hates for his own self. He dedicates
himself to working in their best interests. He carries the
burden of being harmed by them, and does not oppress them
in any way.
The
disbeliever's heart is boiling with rancor and
jealousy. He does not want any good or benefit for anyone
else, unless there is some worldly goal in it for his own
self. He does not mind oppressing others when he is able,
while he is the weakest of them in bearing their harms that
reach him.
The
believer has a truthful tongue and interacts with
people in a good manner. He is gentle, calm, peaceful, merciful,
patient, and trustworthy. He is easy to be around and a good
host to his guests.
The
disbeliever is rash, harsh, and full of worries
and dismay. He lies and is not trustworthy. He is quarrelsome
with an aggressive temperament.
The
believer does not render himself completely to
other than Allaah. Both his heart and face have become safeguarded
against submitting fully or rendering themselves to other
than their Lord. He is virtuous, strong, brave, and generous.
He has integrity, and chooses what is good.
The
disbeliever is upon the opposite of that. His heart
is attached to the created beings. He fears their harm and
hopes to benefit from them, expending all of his energies
for them. He is not virtuous, nor is he strong or brave, unless
it is to achieve his lowly motives. He has no integrity, nor
does he care if what he earns is pure or filthy.
The
believer combines seeking after the means that
benefit him and placing his trust in Allaah, relying on Him,
and seeking help from Him in all his affairs. He finds that
Allaah the Most High helps him.
The
disbeliever knows nothing of tawakkul, nor
does he look to other than his own weak, humiliated self.
Allaah has given him abilities that he uses only to benefit
his self, and thus caused them to become useless. If he attains
some things that he loves, then he is only being led into
a gradual punishment.
The
believer meets all blessings that come his way
with thankfulness, and he uses them to benefit himself in
a way that will cause more good to come.
The
disbeliever meets blessings with exuberance and
pride, busying himself with the blessing rather than the One
who gave it to him, and thus does not offer any thanks. He
uses the blessings for his lowly goals. With all his exuberance,
his blessings are quick to part from him.
The
believer meets calamities with patience and counts
on Allaah's Reward, hoping for Allaah to remove the difficulty.
The goodness and the reward that Allaah gives him in place
of his loss is greater than the beloved thing he lost or the
hardship he endured.
The
disbeliever meets calamities with dismay and worry,
and thus his calamity increases and he is hurt both outwardly
and within his heart. He has no patience or hope for any reward.
How severe is his loss and how great is his sadness!
The
believer worships Allaah by having faith in all
of the Messengers. He honors them and loves them more than
he loves the rest of the entire Creation. He acknowledges
that all goodness that reaches the Creation until the Day
of Standing is only the result of their work and by their
guidance. He knows that any evil that reaches them is a result
of their opposition to the Messengers. He further knows that
they are the greatest of all the Creation, in terms of the
goodness they spread, especially their imaam and final
seal, Muhammad (sallallaahu 'alayhe wa sallam), the
one that Allaah made as a mercy to all the Creation and sent
him with every kind of righteousness, to correct and guide
the people.
The
criminal disbelievers are upon the opposite of
that. They sanctify the enemies of the Messengers and honor
their statements. They mock what the Messengers came with,
just as their predecessors did. This is the biggest evidence
of the absurdity of their intellects and the extreme lowliness
of their manners.
The
believer worships Allaah by loving the Companions
and the imaams of the Muslims, the imaams of
guidance.
The
disbeliever is upon the opposite of that.
The
believer
performs deeds for the sake of Allaah and behaves well with
the servants of Allaah, due to his complete sincerity to Allaah.
The
disbeliever only works to achieve his own lowly
goals.
The
believer's chest
is expanded, full of beneficial knowledge, sound Eemaan,
turning to Allaah, remembering Him, and kindness to others.
His chest is free of lowly characteristics.
The
heedless disbeliever is upon the opposite of that,
since he has not taken any measures to expand his chest in
such a way.
[
And Allaah knows best. ]
This
article was taken from BAKKAHnet (www.bakkah.net)
