The seventh point: Wisdom.
That he is distinguished with wisdom, as Allaah (subhaanahu wa ta’aala) says:
He grants Hikmah (wisdom) to whom He pleases, and he, to whom Hikmah is granted, is indeed granted abundant good.49
And wisdom is that the student of knowledge becomes a teacher of others with what he possesses of good manners and invites to the Religion of Allaah (subhaanahu wa ta’aala), such that he addresses everyone according to that which befits their level of understanding. And if we were to pursue this path, we would acquire much good as our Lord (subhaanahu wa ta’aala) says:
…and he, to whom Hikmah is granted, is indeed granted abundant good.50
And the hakeem (wise person) is he who adapts matters to their appropriate level, because the word hakeem comes from the word ihkaam, and that is agreement and mastery of a thing whereby he adapts a matter in such a way as to bring it to its required level. It is therefore befitting, moreover, obligatory upon the student of knowledge to be wise in his da’wah.
Allaah (subhaanahu wa ta’aala) has mentioned the principles of da’wah in His (subhaanaahu wa ta’aala) saying:
Invite to the Way of your Lord with wisdom and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better.51
And Allaah (subhaanahu wa ta’aala) has mentioned a fourth principle in debating with the People of the Book, by saying:
And argue not with the people of the Scripture, unless it be in that which is better, except with such of them as do wrong…52
So the student of knowledge should select from the techniques of giving da’wah, that which is the closest to acceptance. An example of this is the da’wah of the Messenger (salallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam), whereby a bedouin Arab came and urinated in a part of the masjid. The companions stood to rebuke him, but the Prophet (salallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam) forbade them from doing so. When the bedouin Arab had finished urinating, the Prophet (salallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam) called him over and said:
“These mosques are not the places meant for urine and filth, rather, they are only for the remembrance of Allaah, prayer and the recitation of the Qur’an.”53 or the Prophet (salallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam) said that which was similar to this.
Have you seen better wisdom than this?
So this Bedouin Arab became so delighted and content, that he said: “O Allaah! Have mercy upon me and Muhammad, and do not be Merciful to anyone else.“
And in another story, that of Mu’aawiyah ibn al-Hakam as-Sulamee, who said: “Whilst we were praying with the Messenger of Allaah (salallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam), one of the men sneezed. So I said: “May Allaah have mercy upon you!” So the people all looked at me intensely with piercing eyes. So I said: “What’s the matter with you all, looking at me like that?” Then they began beating their thighs with their hands. When I saw them attempting to silence me, I became quiet. When the Messenger of Allaah (salallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam) had finished praying, (May Allaah sacrifice my Father and my Mother for His Sake!) I have not seen a teacher since better than him. By Allaah! He did not alienate me nor strike me nor insult me, rather he (salallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam) said:
“Certainly nothing of the speech of the people is permitted in this prayer, rather, that which is permitted is the glorification and proclamation of the greatness of Allaah and the reciting of the Qur’an.”54
And from this, we find it is obligatory to undertake the da’wah to Allaah with wisdom as Allaah has commanded.
And yet another example, is when the Prophet (salallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam) saw a man and on his hand he had a gold ring, and the gold ring is haraam (prohibited) for the men. So the Prophet (salallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam) took it off his hand and threw it away, then said: “One of you is wishing for live coal from Hell, and putting it on his hand.”55
So when the Prophet (salallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam) left, it was said to the man: “Take your gold ring and derive benefit from it (i.e. sell it).” So he said: “No! By Allaah, I will not take it when Allaah’s Messenger (salallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam) has thrown it away.”
So the manner of advising here is more severe, since every situation has its own particular way of being addressed. Similarly, it is befitting for everyone who invites to the Path of Allaah to adapt every matter in such a manner as to bring it to any required level and not to consider the people all on one and the same level, since the desired result is to achieve benefit for all concerned.
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