Bismillah.
Walk like ibadurRahman. Walk with haunan. That is to walk calmly, not rushing but with tawadduk or humility. Or drive for that matter. Drive with haunan. One should not walk or drive one's Ferrari or BMW with arrogance - says Habib Ali.
Habib Ali Zaenal Abidin in his monthly tausiyah on Asmaul Husna at Masjid Al Bukhary in Kuala Lumpur, tells us how to 'wear' the attribute of Ar-Rahman. It's an attribute of His which He has reserved for the mukminin because the mushrikin disapproved it.
The muhsrikin refused to accept Bismillahirahmanirrahim. They refused to acknowledge the Name Ar-Rahman being mentioned right next to Allah. This took place when the Prophet salallah alaihi wasalam wrote a letter to the mushrikin in regard to a peace treaty. They could not accept it, they asked Bismikallahumma. Because the mushrikin rejected it, Allah made it special and assigned it the believers hence the ayah: wa ibadurRahman in Surah Furqan 63-65.
The ayah did not begin with ibadullah, ibadul ghaffur or ibadul afuw. Secondly, says Habib Ali, Allah would not simply assign His Name/Attribute lest He wants to adorn His servants with that attribute of His. He wants His servant to be compassionate. In the oft-quoted hadith of mercy, it says, 'Allah loves those who are loving and those who are loving will be loved by the one who is most loving.' So, love is rewarded with love.
Allah wants us to be ibadurRahman. An ibadurRahman must have the qualities of Ar Rahman just like when a person is known as an architect, doctor or accountant, they are expected to be good in their respective fields. IbadurRahman is a name chosen by Allah. He wants to adorn us with His attribute Ar-Rahman.
In the ayah, Allah describes an ibadurRahman as one who walks (yamshu) with haunan that is to walk with ease and not hurriedly. It does not mean to walk at a slow pace. It is not just about a person's stride, it is what is in the person's heart and soul and how he/she interacts with people.
Many people walk but are they ibadurRahman? Some people walk boastfully like Qarun. There is a difference between the two. IbadurRahman walks humbly.
There is a story about a sahabi named Abu Dujanah. When the Prophet salallah alaihi wasalam threw a challenge to the sahabah if any one of them would carry a flag and deliver its rights, Abu Dujanah offered himself. He put on a red headband, grabbed the flag and walked proudly. On seeing Abu Dujanah's actions, the Prophet remarked: 'Allah hates to see a person walking like that except in battle.'
Habib Ali says, Allah would hate anyone who walks or drives in that manner. But during a war conflict, one is not supposed to show tawadduk or humbleness. People who are walking or driving should check on themselves if they walk with haunan or if they walk like Qarun. We should not walk thinking we are the best and everyone else is less worthy. Our step cannot pierce through the earth. We are not as tall as the mountains. Our foot hurts when we step on a sharp object. Now, what is there to be proud of? When we leave home we should not be thinking we are better than everyone else.
Habib Ali relates a story about Imam Abdullah bin Abu Bakar Al-Idrus who asked his son to go out looking for anyone who is less worthy than him. The boy decided to go a market because that's Shayatin's favorite place. It was time for prayer the moment he entered the market so he went on to perform his prayer. When he returned to the market, he saw one vendor was still there. Surely the man did not make solat so he considered taking the man to his father. But then he had second thoughts. The man might have actually prayed or it's possible that he would pray later, after all he is much older. So the boy looked everywhere for someone who could be worse than him. He finally came across a dog and thought 'This is najis mughalazah, I am surely better than this creature.' The boy however changed his mind because the dog would in the hereafter become dust whereas he will have to pass through the sirat and might or might not make it to the heavens. It might be better to end up as dust, he thought. The boy then decided to go home and confess to his father that he could not find a single person who's worse than him. His father, Imam Abdullah bin Abu Bakar al-Idrus was pleased with his son and subsequently concluded that the boy was ready to leave home as a da'ie.
Habib Ali says,
tawaduk is about putting people at their rightful place without claiming anything for oneself. We are ok if people do not treat us right as what we expect or if people don't kiss our hand or let us sit at a certain place or honor us. We should not be whispering in the heart 'oh they don't know my rights'.
Tawaduk is about being unassuming and not expecting people to treat us well.
In the ayah wa ibadurrahman allazi na yamshu we are supposed to be tawaduk, be calm when we go out dealing with people because there are all kinds of people out there, all kinds of attitudes. IbadurRahman is someone who will not poke back when he is poked at. If people jump the queue or overtake him on the road, he would just react peacefully and not dirty his tongue by arguing.
To recap, there are two attributes of an ibadurRahman: firstly, he walks with humility and secondly he does not react negatively when he is provoked. The third attribute is that he likes to spend the night praying, making sajda and munajat to Allah. He is not afraid when the night falls, in fact he looks forward to it.
The fourth and final character of an ibadurrahman is one who does not feel secured about makarallah that is the decree of Allah, thus he seeks protection from hell and is not even proud of his qiyamulail or his tawaduk. One who feels contented with his amal is in a state of ghaflah (careless). An ibadurahman does not feel confident about the decree of Allah, not that he has negative opinion (su'ul zan) towards Allah, but he refuses to constantly be too hopeful. He is in between the state of fear and hope about his final destiny.
Habib Ali then relates a story about a pious Israelite man Ba'am bin Bal'aura who had su'ul khatimah. He was in the beginning an ulama well known for his piety. However, towards the end of his life he fell into transgressions. Our final destiny is not determined by our early life or how we spend our mid-life, it's about how or who we are in the last chapter of our life.
p/s
So folks, let's not 'Walk like an Egyptian'.
Walk like
IbadurRahman.
It's not easy but we have to try our best.
May Allah help us through and grant us
husnul khatimah.
Ameen.
