FRIDAY SERMON
11 Rabiul Akhir 1434H / 1 March 2013
DEVELOPMENT OF A GOOD
CHARACTER
Prof Madya Dr Mohd Ismail bin Mustari
Deputy Director
Islamic Centre of UTM
• Dear brothers,
• Today sermon will be discussing on
Development of Moral Integration
• Hujjatul Islam al-Ghazali in his book
Ihya’ Ulumuddin, while discussing
on the topic Tahdzibul Akhlak said,
“Akhlaq is a situation whereby in
one’s soul and actions are at ease
without the need of thoughts and
observation.”
• When the good behaviour shown is
in line with the shariah and sound
mind, that behaviour is a noble
behaviour.
• Instead, if the behaviour is negative,
then it is being called an immoral or
bad behaviour.
• Noble character is part of faith, is it
the result of taqwa and acts of
worship.
• Noble character is one's adornment,
like how a flower is being decorated
in a ceremony, so is noble character
to a person.
• Noble character is one of the
reasons how a person is attracted to
another person.
• Even to the wicked, they still look up
and respect those with noble
character.
• A bad character is like a poison that
kills and destroys a person.
• A vile and despicable deeds distance
oneself from Allah swt, the Creator
of the universe and lead to the path
of empty desires and evil.
‫‪• Rasulullah s.a.w. said:‬‬
‫عن سهل بن سعد‪ ،‬أن رسول هللا صلى هللا عليه‬
‫ٌ‬
‫خزائن ولتلك الخزائن‬
‫الخير‬
‫وسلم قال إن هذا‬
‫َ‬
‫مفاتي ٌح فطوبى لعب ٍد جعل ُه هللاُ مفتاحا للخير‬
‫ومغالقا للشر ووي ٌل لعب ٍد جعل ُه هللاُ مفتاحا للشرِّ‬
‫ومغالقا للخير‪.‬‬
• “Verily there are treasures to this
good. There are keys to these
treasures. Success to a person
whom Allah made him the key
towards good and the cover to evil,
and curse to the one whom Allah
made him the key to evil and the
cover of good.”
• This hadith clearly shows us that
some people whom Allah has
made ​them to be motivators
towards the path of kindness,
devotion and paradise, while some
people are the motivators towards
disobedience, sins and hell.
• Today, the khatib call upon all staff
of UTM to ensure the any event or
program that is being held in this
university must be ensured whether
it is pleasing or displeasing Allah
swt.
• Every work and action will be
followed by the generations to
come.
• Therefore, if a certain ceremony or
program is in line with the faith,
sharia and moral, then it will a
success, but if it is the opposite,
then they will suffer in this
temporary world and eternally in
the afterlife.
‫‪• In a hadith, Rasulullah s.a.w. said:‬‬
‫عن أبي هريرة رضي هللا عنه قال ‪ :‬قال رسول •‬
‫َ‬
‫األخالق من‬
‫هللا صلى هللا عليه وسلم ‪" :‬إنّ هذه‬
‫منح ُه ُخلُ ًقا َح َس ًنا‪َ ،‬و َمنْ‬
‫هللا‪ ،‬فمن أرادَ به خيرا َ‬
‫أراد به سو ًءا َم َن َح ُه ُخلُ ًقا َسيِّئا"‪.‬‬
• “Verily Akhlaq is from Allah.
Whoever Allah wants good in him,
he will be given a good akhlaq. And
whoever Allah wants bad for him,
he will be given a bad akhlaq.”
• Our community are now facing a
crisis. It all started with a downfall
of moral behaviour that is
worsening each day.
• This serious and chronic problem is
extremely difficult to prevent as it
has built its own influence.
• Hence, it is important to struggle in
upholding noble character.
• The existence of a generation with
noble characters will help to prevent
and reduce this problem.
• Dear brothers,
• The arrival of the Quran to the
ummah which is the revelation from
Allah swt to His beloved Prophet
Muhammad s.a.w. is the most
effective cure to the society's
diseases.
• All the essence contained in the
Holy Quran is the remedy that has
the highest wisdom. It can only be
achieved by people who seek hard
for it.
• Overall, in general, the Holy Quran
contains 30 juz, 114 surah and 6600
verses that more or less touch on 3
basic things that is important to
raise mankind as the Khaira Ummah
(The best Ummah).
• That basic things are Aqidah,
Syari'ah and Akhlaq.
• With a strong faith, a servant of
Allah swt will automatically be able
to perform His syari'ah.
• A pure faith is the core element that
drives a Muslim to be able to stand
up and performed Allah’s
commands.
• Faith is the root in a Muslim's life.
Without a strong faith, a person is
like a feather, being carried easily by
the wind.
• Life without a clear purpose and
planning in this world and the
Hereafter.
• Knowledge of faith is the most
important knowledge to every
Muslim.
• This is because faith is the root or
the tree in Islam and the others are
branches or twigs.
• It is also a foundation for a strong
building and fortress in order to
protect a Muslim from any
suspicious and deviation.
• The importance of faith is being
explained in the Holy Quran in surah
al-Taubah, verse 109.
• Which means:
• Then is one who laid the foundation
of his building on righteousness
[with fear] from Allah and [seeking]
His approval better or one who laid
the foundation of his building on
the edge of a bank about to
collapse, so it collapsed with him
into the fire of Hell? And Allah does
not guide the wrongdoing people.
• This verse explained that the
acceptance of one's practice is
based on the devotion(taqwa) with
the true faith.
• Faith is not static without any
movement, is not hidden without
menifests, but is translated into
speech, deeds, action, thoughts,
and everything in a Muslim's life.
• Only by the perfection of Faith will
one be ready in performing Allah's
syariat. Without a perfect faith, a
person is unable to perform Allah's
commands.
• Allah says in surah al-Ahzab verse 36
which means:
• It is not for a believing man or a
believing woman, when Allah and
His Messenger have decided a
matter, that they should [thereafter]
have any choice about their affair.
And whoever disobeys Allah and His
Messenger has certainly strayed into
clear error.
• The reason for the revelation is
when Prophet Muhammad saw
matched the marriage of his cousin,
Zainab binti Jahsy and his adopted
son, Zaid bin Harith but Zainab
decline the offer, and it was then
this verse revealed.
• Afterwards Zainab agreed to marry
Zaid.
• This verse shows a guideline that
must be followed by believers in
their everyday life, that is one
should not choose something other
then what is prescribed by Allah
s.w.t and His Messenger s.a.w.
• The Islamic Law created by Allah is
complete and perfect in any time,
situation and place.
• It covers all areas of a human life
from the worship, social, education,
economy, politics, administrative,
legal and so on in a human life.
• Every Muslim who examine the
Islamic Law with sincerity will be
aware that Allah's law is the saviour
of mankind from all wrongdoings
and crimes of life.
• It will bring mankind to the highest
level in this life and the Hereafter.
And what's important, it is the way
to attain the pleasure of Allah and
to be saved from the wrath of Allah.
• Dear Brothers,
• By practising the syariah, it will
then develop into noble character.
This is because syariah is to protect
oneself in this life and the Hereafter.
• Allah says in Surah al-Ahzab verse
21 which means:
• There has certainly been for you in
the Messenger of Allah an excellent
pattern for anyone whose hope is in
Allah and the Last Day and [who]
remembers Allah often.
• Saidina Umar Al-khattab mentioned
precisely the place of one’s
nobleness, as narrated by Hakim:
• ‫ فمهما ابتغينا العزة‬،‫نحن قوم أعزنا هللا باإلسالم‬
.‫بغير ما أعزنا هللا به أذلنا هللا‬
• “We are people whom Allah glorify
with Islam, when we seek glory
other than what Allah glorify us,
then we will be look down.”
‫‪• An arab poet said:‬‬
‫• إذا ضاع اإليمان فال أمان‬
‫• وال دنيا لمن لم يحي دينا‬
‫• ومن رضي الحياة بغير دين‬
‫• فقد جعل الفناء له قرينا‬
• The words of Umar and the Arab
poet stressed out that life cannot be
led by our desires, but it must
comply to Islam.
• A good akhlaq is the menifestation
from the willingness to practice the
syariah and the syariah is the
menifestation of a strong faith.
• All the three main basics could not
be separated in Islam. It connects to
one another. Every wrondoings and
immorality associate with the
problem of that individual's faith.
• For example, free mixing culture
among male and female
undergraduates while in lecture
halls, cafeterias, parks and other
public places.
• Corruption among the community,
incest in a family and other
examples are featured lately.
• When we observe in depth, it refers
back to the problem of lack of
understanding and appreciation
towards the faith, which is the basic
in the development of a character.
‫‪• An arab poets said:‬‬
‫ليس اليتيم من انتهى أبواه من‬
‫هم الحياة وخلفاه ذليال‬
‫إن اليتم هو الذي تلقى له‬
‫أما تخلت أو أبا مشغوال‬
• The downfall of morality is related
to the early education in a family,
then it spread further to the
community of a town, school,
college, university, state, and
country.
‫‪• An Arab quote:‬‬
‫•‬
‫إنما األمم األخالق ما بقيت‬
‫وإن هموا ذهبت أخالقهم ذهبوا‬
• Brothers in Islam,
• Prophet Muhammad pbuh said
which was narrated by Imam
Ahmad:
• .‫أكمل المؤمنين إيمانا أحسنهم خلقا‬
• “The perfection faith of the
believers is the best in character.”
• Another, Prophet Muhammad pbuh
said, narrated by Imam Thabrani:
• “A person with a noble character
can achieve height in the hereafter
and a person with bad character is
in the hellfire.”
• Let us improve the quality of our
akhlaq according to the teachings of
our noble religion.
• The best moral development is
integrated from the appreciation of
faith, understanding of sharia and
the moral based on the Quran and
Sunnah.
• All forms of sins, crime, cruelty,
oppression and the vulnerable
bonding of the community of Islam
today symbolize the fragility of faith
in Allah swt, the Supreme Creator.
• Dear brothers, the Islamic Centre
will like to express Jazakumullah
khairal jaza’ to everyone for your
cooperation and commitment in the
the Program Mahrajan Cinta Rasul
1434H.
• InsyaAllah, more spiritual program
will come after this. The
management of Islamic Centre too
welcomes donations and
contributions from you for programs
to come. Together we plant our
investment for our afterlife.