An Islamic Treasury of Virtues
9. Manners In Society
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followed this with an exceptionally long prayer.
Khabbab, who was present at the time, said, “I have
never seen you utter such a prayer as you did
tonight” The Prophet concurred. “It was a prayer of
hope and fear,” he explained. “I asked the Lord for
three things. Two He granted, one He denied. I
asked Him not to destroy us as He destroyed the
nations of old. This He granted. Then asked Him to
prevent any external enemy from gaining
ascendancy over us, and this too He granted. But
when, finally, I asked God to let us not be split up in
groups, with some suffering at the hand of others,
the Almighty denied me this.”
(AL-TIRMIDHI,
SHAMA’IL)
BEING UNPERTURBED BY DIRECTNESS
The second Caliph, Umar ibn Khattab, once asked
his congregation to rectify any of his transgressions,
which came to their notice. On hearing this, a
member of the congregation stood up and swore by
God that any such transgression would be set right
by their swords. Umar then thanked God for having
placed among the followers of Muhammad-people
who would set Umar right with their swords.
