Loving Goodness for Others

(Friday Khutba delivered at Masjid Toronto on August 24, 2007 by Muneeb Nasir)

A successful life is about creating and maintaining good relationships - with our Creator, our fellow human beings and with the rest of creation.

But sometimes our relationships cause stress and anxiety.

Conflicts may crop up in the workplace, in the neighborhood, in the home, and in organizations which aggravate, annoy and provoke anxiety in most of us fairly regularly.

People are sometimes rude and lack civility.

Lawsuits and violence are increasingly common responses to the inevitable differences that arise in relationships.

Today, we need to be reminded of an important rule with respect to relationships – a universal teaching that is contained in the Prophet tradition:

"None of you truly believes (in Allah and in His religion) until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself" (Al-Bukhari & Muslim).

In another hadith, the Prophet, peace be on him, qualifies those things which we should love for others:

“By the One in whose hand is my soul, a servant does not truly believe until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself of goodness.” (Musnad of Imam Ahmad).

The Prophet, peace be on him, reiterates and emphasizes the dimension of faith with regard to this rule:

"The servant does not reach the reality of faith until he loves for others what he loves for himself." (Musnad of Imam Ahmad).

Furthermore, the entrance into paradise depends on living this rule and the Prophet, peace be on him, speaks of applying it to all personal encounters:

"…..Whoever wishes to be delivered from the fire and enter the garden should die with faith in Allah and the Last Day and should treat the people as he wishes to be treated by them…" (Sahih Muslim).

This rule, often called the golden rule, is teaching an important moral truth and principle.

It is also an essential basis for the modern concept of human rights.

This rule is often stated as: "Treat others only in ways that you're willing to be treated in the same exact situation."

The golden rule is endorsed by all the great world religions and, as such, the idea has been influential among people of very diverse cultures.

In the Biblical texts:

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." — Jesus in the Gospels, Matthew 7:12, Matthew 22:39, Luke 6:31, Luke 10:27

"What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man." — Hillel.

Also, in the Eastern religions:

"What you do not wish upon yourself, extend not to others." — Confucius (ca. 551 - 479 B.C.E.)

The golden rule tests our moral coherence - if we violate it, then we're violating the spirit of fairness and concern that lie at the heart of morality.

Applying Rule
To apply it – to treat others as ourselves - we need to imagine ourselves in the exact place of the other person on the receiving end of our action.

If we act in a given way toward another person, and yet are unwilling to be treated that way in the same circumstances, then we violate the rule.

To apply the golden rule adequately, we need knowledge and imagination.

We need to know what effect our actions have on the lives of others.

As such we need to be able to imagine ourselves, vividly and accurately, in the other person's place on the receiving end of the action.

By imagination, I don’t mean imagination as a flight of fancy.

By imagination I mean the act of leaving behind one’s current reality and of picturing another place, situation, time, and perhaps even what it must be like to be another person.

The kind of imagining I have just described is an active process.

It requires effort, discipline, and knowledge. It contrasts with the easier passive imaginative processes.

With knowledge, imagination, and the golden rule, we can progress far in our moral thinking.

The Prophet, peace be on him, set an example in applying this rule.

One time, a companion, Abu Dharr, asked to be given a position of leadership.

The Prophet, peace be on him, told him:

“O Abu Dharr, I see that you are weak. And I love for you what I love for myself. Never be in charge of two people and never be in charge of the wealth of orphans.”

The Prophet, peace be on him, had knowledge of Abu Dharr and could imagine what it would have been like to be in his position.

He demonstrated this active imaginative process which results in empathy and feeling for another person.

The Prophet also encouraged this active imaginative process through a parable recorded in the hadith:

“The parable of the believers with respect to their love, mercy and compassion for one another is like that of the body: if one of its limbs is hurting, the remainder of the body is afflicted by sleeplessness and fever.”

In the Toronto Star’s online section, Acts of Kindness, a reader writes of her recent experiences and the failure of others on the GO train to come to her assistance when she most needed it.

"I was taking the GO train into Toronto with my young son. He was eating candy, but all of a sudden started choking.

I tried to have him cough it up, but starting going blue. I tried the Heimlich maneuver but it didn't work. I screamed for help and pressed the panic button. People around me just stared.

A guardian angel emerged from the crowds. He told me he was a medical student. He managed to dislodge the candy, but my son had passed out from the lack of oxygen. He started to perform CPR. I was hysterical.

When the paramedics arrived, the young man stayed with the crew. At the hospital, the ER doctors told me that the medical student's actions had saved my son. When I went to thank him, he was already gone. Thank God he was there. My son stayed in the hospital overnight, but is now completely healthy.

And whenever I see someone who needs help, I'm always the first to offer my assistance. (Rachael Teeling Mississauga).

The other passengers failed to see themselves in Rachael’s situation.

Only the medical student lived up to this universal golden rule.

What would you have done?

The Prophet, peace be on him, said:

"What actions are most excellent? To gladden the heart of human beings, to feed the hungry, to help the afflicted, to lighten the sorrow of the sorrowful, and to remove the sufferings of the injured." (Bukhari).

May Allah instill in our hearts, His love, and love of our fellow humans, and His creations. May Allah make us always instruments of His mercy, and give us mercy and forgiveness on the day we will need them.