Ramadan: Day 4- Kindness

I have known Muslims who are very devout. They never miss a prayer, they are dutiful in recitation of the Quran and they try to uphold the five pillars. For all intents and purposes, they should be a source of inspiration. But when I am around them, I don't feel inspired. Instead, I might feel judged or alienated. Although these people have mastered the technical aspects of Islam, they are missing a very important message of our deen and that is the message of kindness.

In the Quran, Allah commands us, "And worship Allah and do not join any partners with Him and show kindness to your parents and near relatives, to the orphans and those in need and to the neighbor who is of your own people as well as to the neighbor who is a stranger..." (4:36)

When we see a person being compassionate to their parents, taking care of an orphan or showing good will to a neighbor or stranger, we say, Masha'Allah because we know that such a simple act can be very difficult in light of anger, poverty, ignorance or the general self-absorption that comes with life in the West. 

The Prophet said, "A Muslim is the brother of a Muslim. He does not oppress him, abandon him, or look down on him. Righteousness is here," he said, and pointed towards his chest three times. "It is bad enough for a Muslim to look down on his fellow Muslim. A Muslim should consider that everything that belongs to his brother has a special, protected status: his blood, his wealth and his honor." (Muslim)

How many times do we not protect each other's honor? How many times do we not only fail to extend kindness but do harm to each other? How many times do we see someone in need but do not extend our help? As we see from the Quranic ayah above and the hadith below, the provision of kindness is not limited to Muslims.

The Prophet said, "People are God's family. The dearest to God is the person who is kind to His family." (Baihaqi)

So, when we are rude to a waitress,  when we are unkind to our co-workers, when we use harsh words with our family member, when a scowl is constantly on our face, when people fear our anger and temper and when in so many other situations, we are not kind, then we are going against Allah's commandment of Kindness and the Sunnah of the Prophet who was the kindest of all people.

May Allah help us to show kindness to all those we meet, both when it is easy and when it is difficult, so that He may show His kindness to us. Ameen.