Aspects of Islamic etiquette

08 May, 2016 - 00:05 0 Views
Aspects of Islamic etiquette Worship in Islam

The Sunday Mail

(Continued from last week)

Umari Stambuli
Holy Qur’aan Speaks
ISLAM has encouraged the custom of greetings among the members of society because it creates a feeling of mutual warmth and leads to the spread of kind feelings and friendship.
This is supported by the noble saying of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), “You will never enter Paradise until you become Believers, and you will not become Believers until you develop kind feelings for each other. Shall I not guide you to something that will make you develop kind feelings for each other? Spread greetings of peace among you”.
Thus the promotion of greetings (of peace) between and within community members helps tremendously in building strong bonds of communal relations.
1. Islam goes a step further and explains the obligations in terms of priorities when greeting. According to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), “A person on a mount (rider) should greet a pedestrian; a pedestrian should greet the one who is seated (as he passes by him); the smaller group should greet the bigger one; the young person should greet the older one, etc.” Thus we are taught to give due regard to age, seniority and other social aspects when it comes to who should greet first.
2. Answering a greeting is obligatory. Allah Almighty declares in the Holy Qur’aan, “When you are greeted with greetings, reply with one better than it or (at least) return it…” (Chapter 4:86) By not returning the greeting when greeted by someone else, one will only give rise to doubt and suspicion in the mind of the greeter as to the motive and intention of the greeted person.
3. Upon arriving at a meeting or gathering, one should greet the attendants of the meeting or gathering, as pointed out in the Prophet Muhammad’s (peace be upon him) teaching, “If one of you comes to a meeting he should greet the gathering by saying, ‘Peace be upon you,’ and on leaving he should do the same.” This not only to announce the arrival of the person but it also serves as a declaration that he intends to participate with respect, dignity and peace, not intending to cause any disruption or commotion and so forth.
Etiquette of the meeting/gathering
1. Be as considerate as possible and leave space or create space for others to sit. Allah Almighty gives a clear instruction in the Holy Qur’aan, “O you who Believe! When it is said, make room in the assemblies, then make room; Allah will make way for you (in all aspects of life).” (Chapter 43:11)
2. It is not appropriate to ask someone to leave his sitting place for someone else as pointed out in the Prophet Muhammed’s (PBUH) saying, “Never should anyone of you make someone move away from his place and then go and sit in that very place, rather make more room for others to sit.”
3. A person should not face those sitting with him in a manner that they would dislike, that is sitting cross-legged, disrespectfully, with legs sprawled out and so forth.
4. Never separate two persons sitting as pointed out by the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH), “It is not permissible for a man to separate two men (by squeezing himself in between them) unless they give permission.”
5. Never talk to a friend privately, or in whispers, in the presence of a third person as pointed out by the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH), “If there are three of you, never should two of them talk without the third until you mix with other people, for this would grieve the third.”
6. It is desirable to suppress yawning as far as possible as yawning is a sign of laziness, as pointed out in the Prophet Muhammed’s (peace be upon him) saying, “When one of you feels the urge to yawn let him try to repel it as far as possible…” However, if one cannot suppress it then he/she must cover the mouth whilst yawning.
7. When sneezing, it is important that one observes the common etiquette of covering the mouth, as stated by Prophet Muhammed (PBUH), “On sneezing; cover the mouth with the hand or garment and suppress the voice.” This helps to maintain dignity as well as environmental hygiene to a great degree.
The Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) also said: “If one of you sneezes, let him say, ‘Praise be to Allah Almighty!’ And his fellow brother should say to him, ‘May Allah Almighty have mercy on you!’” So, to sneeze is not only natural but the sneeze is taken to be a blessing from The Almighty for which He must be praised and the one who hears the praise of The Almighty on such occasion should pray for the one who sneezed.
(To be continued)
For further information on Islam or a free copy of the Holy Qur’aan,
please contact:
Majlisul Ulama Zimbabwe, Council of Islamic Scholars
Publications Department,
PO Box W93, Waterfalls, Harare
Tel: 04-614078/614004, Fax: 04-614003
e-mail: [email protected]

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