Character of A Muslim - Dr Ahmad Saifuddin Turkistani
By Dr. Ahmad Saifuddin Turkistani | 2026-07-06T18:39:02.941872+00:00 | Topic: Seerah
Opening Praise and Testimony
الحمد لله الذي يهدي لأحسن الأقوال والأعمال والأخلاق، أحمده سبحانه وأشكره وأستهديه.
I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and there is no partner for Him in His Lordship and Divinity, His Names and Attributes, and He is the Most Generous Creator.
And I bear witness that our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is His servant and Messenger, who came with the greatest modesty and the most noble manners. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon him and his family and companions, and those who follow them with kindness until the Day of Recompense.
As for the servants of Allah, be mindful of Allah — the Most High, the Most Great. Whoever fears Allah and protects Him, and whoever relies on Him is sufficient. Taqwa is the weapon of the believer in life. It is the way to salvation. It is the will of Allah for the first and the last.
That is because it came from the Lord of the servants, who knows what will reform them and benefit them in this world and the Hereafter. It is permissible for a Muslim to adhere to the principles of this religion and to abide by the Sunnah of the Master of the Messengers.
The Importance of Good Character in Islam
My respected brothers, Allah provided for us the best of ways to follow. He revealed the best of books to read and ponder upon and to take as a source of guidance. He also sent us the best of messengers, Muhammad ﷺ, as a mercy to mankind.
Now the Prophet ﷺ brought us — beside the Shari'ah and the way of Ibadah — great manners and high standards of morality. In fact, a person will not be a true believer unless he or she follows the commands of Allah, the commands of the Prophet ﷺ, and leads a great and best example in conduct. We are so much encouraged in our Deen to follow the best example of great manners.
In fact, people who have great manners are better than the ones who are indulged in worship day and night. The best in good manners are better than the ones who are spending the day in fasting and the night in qiyam and standing in prayer.
If you hear what the Prophet ﷺ said — as it was reported in Al-Bukhari, in his own particular book, not Al-Sahih, the other book — he said:
(Al-Adab Al-Mufrad, Imam al-Bukhari, Hadith 273)
Meaning the Prophet ﷺ came to multiply and emphasize the good deeds, the great manners, and high morals in society. He himself ﷺ was a great example of this in his own life, his own sayings, and his own conduct.
When Aisha was asked about the Prophet ﷺ — how his manners were — she said: "The Qur'an was his own great manner." In other words, he was putting the Qur'an into practice. That's why he was like a walking Qur'an in life. He exemplified the teachings of the Qur'an in his own conduct.
Any particular ummah, any particular nation would not be successful and will not reach great standards of civilization unless they place morals and high standards of morality at the top. The way they behave, the way they conduct themselves, the way they deal with others — these are of very great importance. And without this, you can see how decadence in morals can demolish civilizations — how they destruct nations and take them to the lower parts among others.
The Three Levels of حُسْنُ الْخُلُق (Good Character)
It is how we deal with Allah, how we deal with the Prophet ﷺ, how we deal with ourselves, how we deal with our families, our neighbors, people around us, and then how we deal with the rest of the world. How do we treat each other as Muslims? And how do we treat others around us who are non-Muslims? What are the standards that we take when dealing with others around us? This is the important thing. And having great manners is indeed the jewel of our Deen. It is what makes a person so much beloved and so much liked by others around him.
Let me tell you that the meaning of حُسْنُ الْخُلُق is of three levels.
First Level: Good Manners with Our Creator
First, we need to have great manners with our Creator. If we have that great manner of dealing with our Creator — the Cherisher, the Sustainer, the Owner of this world — then obviously we are reaching the greatest level. That is to establish a great and strong relationship with Allah. In fact, this is the basis for being so good to everyone else, if you are so good in your relationship with Allah. Because the Deen, as we all know, is centered around a true, pious, and sincere faith in Allah. That is a true aqeedah. The basis of our iman is to connect with the Creator — to give Him His own rights, as we give rights to others, and we expect others to give us our rights.
You know when Mu'adh was behind the Prophet ﷺ riding, he said: "O Mu'adh, do you know what is the right of Allah to His servants and what is the right of His servants to Allah?" Allah and His Messenger know best, he said. The Prophet ﷺ said:
The right of Allah to His servants is to worship Him and not to associate anything with Him. And the right of His servants to Allah is that He not punish those who do not associate anything with Him.
Now, there are some rights and duties. If we give Allah His own rights — which is to worship Him alone, not to associate partners with Him, not to seek other than Allah in things that Allah alone can do for us — then obviously Allah will help us. Allah will reward us abundantly with nothing better than to be in His own paradise, if we sincerely devote our lives for that particular worship.
Now that is the basis and the moral foundation in Islam. If we do our duties towards Allah, honor His book, honor His worship, single Him out in that worship, not to take partners with Him, not to seek anyone in the graves or do these things that are done ignorantly by some Muslims — then obviously that is the basis. And we know that we have a fear of Allah. If we do something wrong, we know that He is watching us. He is mindful of our own care. And therefore we know that He is going to reward us or He is going to punish us if we go wrong.
Second Level: Good Manners with the Prophet ﷺ
Secondly, the right of the Prophet ﷺ. Since he was selected from among us to be the Prophet — the one entrusted with delivering the message to us — he brought us the glorious Qur'an from Allah, received the wahi, gave us his own Sunnah as an interpretation and in support of the glorious Qur'an, and gave us the good example to follow in life. He has his own right upon us: to defend his Sunnah, to defend his honor, his personality, to follow him in every aspect of our life. That is the right of the Prophet ﷺ. And I know that every Muslim submits to this. No one shall argue about the importance of doing this and going along these principles.
Third Level: Good Manners with People Around Us
But when we go to the rights of others — starting with your own parents and your own family members, and your colleagues at work, your own brothers and sisters in the Muslim community — where are we in these teachings? How many of these great morals do we follow when we are treating each other? I think that is really the real question.
If we truly believe in these principles that I mentioned earlier — the great relationship with Allah and the great relationship with the Prophet ﷺ — then obviously we will be dealing very well with the rest. And if anyone finds it so hard and difficult in dealing with others, in not following the great morals of Islam — of faithfulness, honesty, sincerity, truthfulness, fulfilling your promises, being kind, giving people their own rights in justice, giving ihsan which is even a degree beyond that, being kind, tender, gentle — all these good manners are so important. And if we miss any of that, we need to check back the basis of our iman.
I will inshallah address in the second part of the khutbah today some of these important dealings and how we can improve ourselves in this respect. I ask Allah to make me and all of you from those who have improved their manners, increased their faith, know the right of Allah and His Messenger ﷺ and the right of His servants, and are kind to people and are the best example for a Muslim in his life and in his dealing with people. He is All-Hearing, All-Receiving, All-Responsible.
I say what you hear and I ask Allah to forgive me and you. So ask Him to forgive you of all your sins. He is the Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Second Part of the Khutbah: Practical Conduct and Self-Discipline
The best of His Messengers and the best of His Prophets. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon him and upon his family and his companions and those who follow them with kindness, and send a great deal of peace and blessings to the extent of what is in His land and His sky.
As for the rest of the servants of Allah, the Prophet ﷺ said: "The most beloved to me and the most close to me on the Day of Judgment are the ones who have great manners." If you want to be close to the Prophet ﷺ — and that means it would be in the Firdaws, the highest among all the Jannahs, that is the status of our Prophet ﷺ — then you have to follow the good manners.
(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2018)
Guarding the Tongue and Private Parts
Now what are the good manners? Look at some of the conduct done by us when we deal with our wives, with our children, with our brothers, with our family members — and how much at times we get so angry and use foul language that some of us do because we cannot control ourselves. This is the idea. If you are a person with iman, then you shall keep this.
The Prophet ﷺ says:
If you guard the one between your jaws — what is it? Your tongue. And what is in between your thighs? That is your private parts. If you guard them and use them correctly and rightly, then obviously the Prophet ﷺ guarantees for you Jannah.
That is where the violation in all the great manners lies, because it is easy for some people to deceive, to lie, to break promises, to tell others non-truths, to invent stories of their own, to indulge in backbiting, in walking with نَمِيمَة or fitna, creating animosity among the Muslims, and so on and so forth. Obviously, that is going to lead into hellfire.
The Prophet ﷺ says, for example:
Anyone who walks spreading rumors and words around will not enter Jannah. If that is the work — because sometimes we have this ego and we have this pride within ourselves and we value ourselves so highly that we think we can always create something and we feel happy with it — of course, this is a drive by shaitan first and by the evils within ourselves. And unless we discipline ourselves, unless we force ourselves to follow the straight path and to follow the right conduct, we will not be successful.
Even in our businesses and our lives, we know that the most successful in businesses are the ones who are truthful and honest and the most generous — because people know that if you lie to them and deceive them, they don't like you. They will not deal with you. Yes, they may win for some time, but they will not win for a long period of time. And they will be on the Day of Judgment among the great losers.
Being an Example for Others
It is so important, my respected brothers, to look at how we conduct ourselves within our families, on the streets, in our businesses, in our jobs, and with non-Muslims. How do we deal with them? Are we good examples to invite others to Islam in the great manners? Everyone looks at us — the way we dress, the way we act, the way we speak, how we deal. And of course, actions speak more loudly than words. No matter how much we claim to be good people, unless people watch our actions and know what we do, they will not respect us. They will not listen to us. And we will be bad examples. In fact, we will create fitna in the minds of people.
This is the du'a of Ibrahim عليه السلام:
That's why we always need to be on the watch, my respected brothers and sisters. We need to discipline ourselves.
Knowledge and Forbearance Come Through Learning and Practice
الحلم بالتحلم والعلم بالتعلم — Forbearance is acquired by practicing forbearance, and knowledge is acquired by seeking it. When we are born from the wombs of our mothers, we were not born with knowledge.
When we came out of the wombs of our mothers, we were ignorant, had no knowledge. And we got some knowledge because we learned.
We take knowledge through the eyes, the ears, and the heart. These are the channels where we receive information, process information, collect information. Now if we do it rightly, obviously we get the right knowledge and we process it and put it into action.
So علم (knowledge) and حلم (forbearance) as well. حلم is to be very patient and perseverant, especially at those times when we need to practice our patience and perseverance. There will be hardships in life for most of the people. In fact, we all go through hardships, ups and downs. And unless we train ourselves to be always on the straight path and to be in control of ourselves, of our conduct, obviously we will not reach the ultimate goal of pleasing Allah, being the best.
And in fact, the world is looking at us and watching and observing. And let us be indeed the best in example. Let's lead a decent life that will show others that Islam is mercy, Islam is kindness, Islam is peace, Islam gives tranquility in life. If we have that طمأنينة, if we have that سكينة, and if we have all this that leads to good and we avoid all the bad and terrible things as we know — but we need to extend the hands to others, to teach others, especially the young people nowadays, who are so much into society. They go to schools, they work in the job market, they deal with others on a daily basis. It is so important that we show people how we can represent our Deen in the best way.
Closing Du'as
Iqamah and Salah
أَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ اللهِ، حَيَّ عَلَى الصَّلَاةِ، حَيَّ عَلَى الْفَلَاحِ، قَدْ قَامَتِ الصَّلَاةُ، قَدْ قَامَتِ الصَّلَاةُ، اللهُ أَكْبَرُ اللهُ أَكْبَرُ، لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ
استووا، اعتدلوا، وسدوا الخلل — Straighten up, stand properly, and close the gaps.