Welcome to ALI 132 : Characteristics of the Human Being in Nahjul Balagha Session Two

1. Welcome to ALI 132 : Characteristics of the Human Being in Nahjul BalaghaSession Two __________________________________________________ Questions 1) Character development is part of human growth. Every growth process has conditions that are conducive for the blossoming of certain qualities. What conditions are necessary for optimum development of character? 2) Control of the self is crucial for character growth. Which is the hardest to control; thoughts, speech or action?

2. Agenda • Character development • Movement from non-self to self • Controlling the tongue • Actions and behavior • Seeking inspiration from Nahjul Balagha

3. Character Development Character development is part of the movement towards God. Human beings should be in a state of continuous movement. Like a seed produce that puts forth its sprout, then strengthens it so it becomes stout and then stands firmly on its stem, delighting the sowers that He may enrage the unbelievers on account of them. (48:29) Beware lest you lose wisdom’s thread And lose your self for the sake of water and bread You are the traveler, the way, the destination Beware lest you lose the path from the self to the self Al-Suhrawardi

4. Movement from non-self to self Be not as those who forgot their God, and so He caused them to forget themselves, these it is who are the transgressors. (59:19) Don’t build your house on the land of another Work for your own self and toil not for the stranger Who is the stranger except your own earthen frame? On whose account are all your sorrows and woes? So long as you nurse and pamper your body The soul will not prosper nor will it become sturdy Rumi

5. Movement from non-self to self - II You who have lost your self in a losing encounter Distinguishing not the other from your own true self At every shadow you are quick to exclaim “Ah,, this is me!” By God it is not you Isolate yourself for a while from the crowd And immerse yourself to the neck in thought Indeed you shall find you are one with the One Beautiful, serene, and blessed is your self Rumi I wonder at the man who searches for his lost things but does not care to recover his lost self. Imam Ali (a)

6. Controlling the Tongue Beware of destroying your manners and changing them, maintain one tongue A man should control his tongue because the tongue is obstinate with its master. By Allah, I do not find that fear of Allah benefits a man who practises it unless he controls his tongue. Certainly the tongue of a believer is at the back of his heart, while the heart of a hypocrite is at the back of his tongue; because when a believer intends to say anything, he thinks it over in his mind. If it is good he discloses it but if it is bad he lets it remain concealed. While a hypocrite speaks whatever comes to his tongue, without knowing what is in his favor and what goes against him. Khutba 176

7. The Prophet of Allah – peace be on him and his family – said: The belief of a person cannot be firm unless his heart is firm, and his heart cannot be firm unless his tongue is firm. So whoever of you can manage to meet Allah, the Sublime, in such a position that his hands are unsmeared with the blood of the Muslims, and their property, and his tongue is safe from exposing them, he should do so. Khutba 176

8. Shaytan and the tongue They have made Shaytan the master of their affairs, and he has taken them as partners. He ahs laid eggs and hatched them in their bosoms. He creeps and crawls in their laps. He sees through their eyes and speaks through their tongues. In this way he has led them to sinfulness and adorned for them foul things . . . Khutba 7

9. Additional sayings on the tongue • The tongue is a beast, if let loose it devours. Saying 60 • Belief means appreciation with the heart, acknowledgment with the tongue and action with the limbs. Saying 227 • Words are under your control when you have not uttered them, but when you have spoken them out, you are under their control. Therefore guard your tongue as you guard your gold and silver, for often one word snatches away a blessing and invites punishment. • Saying 381

10. Do not say what you do not know; rather do not say all that you know, because Allah has laid down some obligations for all your limbs by means of which He will put forth arguments against you on the Day of Judgment. Saying 382 • Do not try the sharpness of your tongue against Him who gave you the power to speak, nor the eloquence of your speaking against Him who set you on the right path. Saying 411

11. Action and Behavior People are of four categories. Among them is the one who is prevented from corruption on earth only by his low position, lack of means and little wealth. Then there is the one who . . . openly commits corruption . . . and has allowed his faith to perish. How bad is the transaction that you allow this world to be a price for yourself as an alternative for that which is with Allah for you. And from among them is he who seeks this world through actions meant for the next world, but does not seek the next world through actions of this world. He is at peace with himself, takes small steps, holds up his clothes, embellishes his body for appearance of trustworthiness, and uses . . . Allah’s concealment as a means of committing sins.

12. Action and Behavior - II Then there is one whose weakness and lack of means have held him back . . This keeps down his position and he has named it contentment and he clothes himself with the robes of renunciation, although he has never had any connection with these qualities. Then there remain a few people in whose case the remembrance of their return keeps their eyes bent, and the fear of resurrection moves their tears. Some of them are scared away (from this world) and dispersed, some are frightened and subdued, some are quiet . . . Some are praying sincerely, some are grief stricken and pain ridden . . Khutba 32

13. Action and Behavior - III What a difference there is in two types of actions: an act whose pleasure passes away but its consequences remains and an act whose hardship passes away but its rewards remain Saying 120 Fulfillment of others’ needs becomes a lasting virtue in three ways: regarding it small so that it attains bigness, concealing it so that it may manifest itself, and doing it quickly so that it is pleasant. Saying 100

14. Seeking Inspiration from Nahjul Balagha The earth is never devoid of those who maintain Allah’s affairs . . How many are they and where are they? By Allah, they are few in number, but they are great in esteem before Allah. Through them Allah guards His pleas and proofs till they entrust them to others like themselves and sow the seeds thereof in the hearts of those who are similar to them. Knowledge has led them to real understanding and so they have associated themselves with the spirit of conviction. They take easy what the easygoing regard as hard. They are familiar what the ignorant take as strange. They live in this world with their bodies here but their spirits resting in the high above. They are the vicegerents of Allah on His earth and the callers to His religion. Oh, how I yearn to see them. Saying 147

15. Khutbas to Study 1) Khutba 176 O Creatures, seek benefit from the sayings of Allah . . . 2) Khutba 190 Khutba al-Qasea, Sermon of disparagement 3) Khutba 193 Khutba al-Muttaqeen or the Sermon of the Pious