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By Khalid Yasin | 2026-01-16T14:27:18.28486+00:00 | Topic: Iman
The Character of a Muslim
Lecture by Shaykh Khalid Yasin
Opening
Introduction
My dear Muslim brothers and sisters in Islam. Allah has enjoined upon the Muslims the best characteristics of behavior. He reminded us when He said to His messenger ﷺ:
"Verily, O Muhammad ﷺ, you are upon an exalted standard of behavior."
And He said:
"So certainly, there is for you, O believers, in the messenger of Allah excellent behavior for anyone who hopes to meet with their Lord. And they remember Allah much and often."
The Character of the Muslim: Most Important Quality
The character of the Muslim is the most important quality of the Muslim.
Of course, internally, the Muslim must have the fire of Iman. He or she must have knowledge to light the fire of Iman. Because without knowledge, there is only the wick and there is only the oil, but there is no fire.
Everyone who bears witness that there is none to be worshipped except Allah and that Muhammad ﷺ is the messenger of Allah - they have entered Islam and they have made the Kalimatan. There they have the wick and there they have the oil.
But in order to light that lamp, they need knowledge. Without the knowledge, there will be no light for them.
They are Muslim and they do what every Muslim is to do.
But neither will they give light, neither will they have light. They will be forced to follow someone, anyone who has some light, some knowledge. But this is the internal illumination of the Muslim.
To illuminate themselves and give illumination to others, they need knowledge. But there is the external quality of the Muslim which is apparent to everyone and that is the character. The character, the behavior.
The Prophet's Character: His Risalah
The highest form of the Prophet's ﷺ risalah was his character and his impact upon human beings. How he spoke to them, how he sat with them, how he walked, how he talked, how he dressed, how he ate, how he looked, when he laid down. How did he lay down? When he ate, how did he eat? When he drank, how did he drink? The proportions which he used.
When he was angry, how he controlled himself. When he was happy, how he controlled even his happiness. How he dealt with his neighbors, how he dealt with his children, how he dealt with his wife, how he dealt with his enemies, how he wore his clothing.
When he received a gift, when he gave a gift. Even when he fought, what were his etiquettes? These are the illuminating parts of the Prophet's ﷺ risalah that are evident to the whole world. That are documented for history.
If they don't understand the nature of the Wahy, if they do not understand the nature of the revelation, if they do not understand the nature of the authenticity of his words, if they do not understand the tafsir of the Quran, they are the ones, the kuffar. They documented for the whole world the character of the Prophet ﷺ. Because it was evident.
Evident as the sun in the sky. The same sun which is in the sky in Australia is the same sun which is in the sky in New York City. And the reaction to that sun is the same for the whole world.
This is why Allah said:
When Allah says that the Prophet ﷺ was created and that he is upon an exalted standard of conduct, it means that no one's standard of conduct is above his.
When He said:
It means there is certainly, Allah says definitely, certainly, with no doubt, there is for you in the Messenger of Allah the kind of behavior that if you imitate it, you too will be upon an exalted standard of conduct.
Character: The Actual Fruit
The character of the Muslim is the most important part of the Muslim.
Not what he or she says, not only what he or she wears, not where they come from or who their mother or father is or grandfather, not the country they live in or for that matter, if they live next to the Kaaba. This is not important at all. It is the character because the character is the actual fruit.
The character is the actual fruit. If the fruit bears a bitter fruit, if the tree bears a bitter fruit, it doesn't matter how beautiful that tree is. It is the fruit that is rejected.
It doesn't matter who that Muslim is and how much knowledge they have. It is the fruit which is rejected.
Everyone in the world loves sweet fruit.
It doesn't matter to them what country it came from. What matters is that it's very few, it's very sweet, it's very delicious. The Muslim needs to decorate themselves, compliment themselves, illuminate themselves with good knowledge to support their character.
Integrity and Honesty
They need to compliment themselves with integrity and honesty. And integrity and honesty are very clear words. Allah says:
"Words that are straightforward and truthful."
Reference: Surah Al-Ahzab (33:70)
قَوْلًا سَدِيدًا - Clear, straight, truthful, to the point. And if you do that:
يُصْلِحْ لَكُمْ أَعْمَالَكُمْ
"Allah will make islah. He will reconciliate, He will arrange, He will straighten out whatever it is because you were straightforward and truthful."
Reliable and Dependable
The character of the Muslim is to be reliable and dependable. Reliable, what he says, he does. And what he says, he does it efficiently.
What he says, he does. And what he does, he does it proficiently. This is the reputation, the character of the Muslim.
Good Morals and Social Conduct
The Muslim must have good morals and social conduct. The messenger of Allah ﷺ said: I did not come as a curser. Swearing, using foul words.
When he's angry, using foul language. And when he sees something disagreeable, using foul language. Cursing, complaining, criticizing, condemning, even those who deserve to be cursed or condemned.
The Muslim should not behave that way.
Good Appearance and Hygiene
The Muslim should have good appearance and pay attention to their hygiene. When the messenger of Allah ﷺ saw one man with his hair all over his head, he told him, "Don't you know what is the comb? Take benefit of the comb."
Arrange yourself. He told us on Jumu'ah, take a bath, put on itr for the men and wear your best clothing. Because he want the Muslims that when they gather together, he wants them to smell good.
He wants them to look good. He told the men, grow your beards and clip your mustaches. This is hygiene.
Clip your nails. Wear good decent clothing. The messenger of Allah ﷺ wanted us to take care of how we appear.
Not to dress ostentatiously. Not to dress with excess. But to be clean and to be neat and to be precise and to be decent.
So that when people looked at you, they said, "I'd like to be like those Muslims."
Understanding and Sensitivity
The messenger of Allah ﷺ wanted us to have understanding and sensitivity.
This means, listen to people.
When they talk, listen to them and make them feel that you are listening to every word that they say and that there is nothing more important to you than what they are saying. It was reported that when people came to the messenger of Allah ﷺ to speak with him, when he turned to them, he turned his entire body to them to speak to them. And they felt as if he was not concerned about anyone else there except them.
That's how he gave them his attention. And he always spoke very nice to them. Giving them a very bright smile and asking them, "How are you? How do you feel?" Whether Muslim or non-Muslim.
He was not a man frowning at the people. Scowling at the people. Saying bad things to the people.
Dismissing the people. Whether Muslim or non-Muslim. And he was accessible always.
And sensitive to the sufferings of the people. Whether the old or the young. He said:
"He or she is not of us who is not respectful to our elders and gentle to our youth."
(Sunan al-Tirmidhi (1919) and authenticated in Sahih al-Jami' (5443))
Patience and Sabr
The Muslim must have patience and sabr. Allah said:
"Seek help with perseverance and prayer. Verily it is a difficult thing except those who have khushu."
Brothers please, move forward. Make room for the people who will come to you inshallah. Don't worry.
You don't need to leave much space between the ranks. Allah said in Surah Al-Asr:
And in Surah Al-Bayyinah He said:
Understanding and sensitive. Whether to the animals or to the young or to the old, to the Muslim or the non- Muslim, they are showing dignified behavior.
Good Communication Skills
The Muslim has good communication skills. He or she learns to speak where they are. The Muslim who comes from another country, you should not be satisfied to sit with your own people and talk your own language.
No. You must give precedent to the language of the people where you have come to, so that you may greet them and interact with them and talk to them and facilitate them. Why? Because communication is the key to the hearts of the human beings.
If you want people to love you, to trust you, to feel for you, to accept you, you must learn their language. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ always appointed someone to go learn the language of such and such a people so we may know them.
Convincing Arguments
Prepared for Leadership
The Muslim should be prepared for leadership.
You should not work with the kuffar for years and years and years as a subordinate to them. Why? Why should the Muslim be subordinate to the kuffar in any level? Whether in the industry, whether in the school. Why should you be subordinate to them for years and years? No.
You have to learn whatever skill it is in whatever field you are and you become the leader. Set up your own business. Become the foreman.
Become the boss. Become the president. Become the chairman.
Become the leader, even in your neighborhood. You become the one who initiate the programs to clean the neighborhood, to keep the neighborhood safe. Let them look to you for the problems.
Let everyone in your neighborhood, non-Muslims, come see Abdullah. You got a problem? You're hungry? Somebody in the neighborhood is creating problems? Go see Abdullah. He will handle it.
The Muslim must be a leader. He must be the man that when people have problems, they come to him to resolve that problem. You go to your neighbor and you tell them, "My name is Abdullah. My name is Muhammad. My name is Ahmed. My wife is there. I'm your neighbor. If you have any problems at all, come and see me. I will take care of it for you, inshaAllah."
And you go see all of your neighbors like that. They will all say, "Did you get a visit from this guy? Who appointed him? He's telling us he can handle all the problems in the neighborhood." Yes, we can handle all the problems, inshaAllah.
The Example of the Prophet in Madinah
Because the kuffar, they accepted Muhammad ﷺ to come to Medina, to come to Yathrib. And it was acceptable for them to call Yathrib Madinatun Nabi ﷺ. Why? Not because they were willing to accept his message. Not because they were prepared to accept Islam, but because they heard of his ability to resolve problems.
They knew that he was a problem solver. And they were on the verge of civil war. So they agreed.
"Yes, go and get Muhammad ﷺ and bring him to our city and he will be for us as an arbitrator." When they heard the Quran and they saw his behavior, they accepted him as the leader of the city. And so Allah guided him to that position.
O Muslims, in the city where you are, through your character, if you become the arbitrators, you become the leaders and you are respectful, the people will bring the problems to you. You don't have to run for office, just you have to polish your behavior.
Wide Knowledge About Where You Are
The Muslim must have wide knowledge about where he or she is at.
If you're living in Australia, know everything about Australia. What are its major cities? What's its industry? What's its problems? What's its infrastructure? Who are its leaders? What is its history? What's its culture? You must know everything about it.
Why? Not because you want to swallow the culture or follow the culture.
But when you know about people, you can be sensitive to their problems. You cannot come to this country as an Arab and all you care about is the Arabs.
You cannot come to this country as an Asian from Indo-Pak continent and all you care about is your culture.
You cannot come to this country from somewhere else and you form your own little enclave and that's all you care about. Why do you think somebody should follow you because you immigrated here and all you care about is yourself? No. The Muslim must be wide in his conduct.
The Example of Indonesia
Think, Muslims, this country is very close to Indonesia, a country that the Muslims went to, the Arabs they went there. And what happened? They learned their language, they did business with them, they married their
women, they helped them with their problems, they were kind to them and decent with them and they taught them their religion.
And now what is Indonesia today? It is the largest Muslim country in the world and no army ever went there.
From what? The behavior of the Muslims.
Oh, Muslims, the character of the Muslim is the most important part of the Muslim and we have to keep this in our minds. The inside of the Muslim is his iman and his knowledge but the outside it is his character that the world will see.
Sending Salawat on the Prophet
Dear Muslim brothers and sisters, I want to say something to you. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
"The most stingy of those that mention me are those who do not say salawat when they mention me."
(Sunan al-Tirmidhi (3546))
Allah, He said in the Quran:
"[He's giving you the order.]"
Oh Muslims, do not be stingy.
When the name Muhammad comes and we're talking about the Prophet of Allah, say صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم
Because Allah and His angels say it. Who are we? We have to say. When anyone mentions Muhammad, Mustafa, Nabiullah, Rasulullah, say.
Let your children hear you say. And say it openly and clearly, صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم
Sticking to the Aqeedah
Oh Muslims, part of the character of the Muslim is the aqeedah, sticking to the issues of aqeedah. What is the aqeedah? Understanding what is your relationship with Allah. Understanding the tawheed.
Understanding the rights of Allah over His creatures. What is it that distinguishes us from the kuffar? It is not just the words. It is also the ideas which we have concerning Allah that we don't say anything about Allah other than what Allah has said about Himself.
Or what we have received through authentic hadith from Rasulullah about Allah.
Loving the Sunnah
The character of the Muslim also includes adapting the authentic sunnah of Rasulullah. Loving the sunnah.
Not just accepting it but loving it.
This is two different things. You tell somebody this is the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ and the man says "I know that." This means I accept that.
That means he say I hear but I don't obey. No.
لَا يُؤْمِنُ أَحَدُكُمْ حَتَّى أَكُونَ أَحَبَّ إِلَيْهِ مِن وَالِدِهِ وَوَلَدِهِ وَالنَّاسِ أَجْمَعِينَ
"Loving the message of Allah said none of you can become a true believer until I become dearer to him than his father and his son and the whole of mankind."
(Sahih al-Bukhari (15) and Sahih Muslim (44))
Allah mentioned in the Quran:
"I swear O Muhammad by your Lord they can never become true believers until they make you hakim, a judge and an arbitrator. Between them for all of their affairs and they do not find inside themselves no reservation, no hesitation to follow your orders but they accept them completely."
So when we hear a sunnah of Rasulullah we prefer that over our desires.
He said:
"None of you can become a true believer until they give up their own ideas and their own inclinations for what I have brought."
(Authenticated by Imam An-Nawawi in Al-Arba'in (41))
So it is not "yes I understand but..." There is no wa lakin. There is no however.
You heard sam'a wa ta'a. You heard the sunnah you follow the sunnah. We cannot follow every sunnah because we don't know every sunnah.
But what we do? As much as you can. And if you do not follow a sunnah you should feel ashamed of that and not try to give some excuses about it so that you hand this weakness over to your children. "Oh I don't do this because of that. I have this excuse and this excuse and that and some scholar told me I didn't have to." What you're doing? You're giving to your sons and your daughters a fatwa of why they also should disobey the Prophet ﷺ.
Islamic Dress
Oh Muslims. Part of the sunnah of the Prophet includes adapting the dress of the Muslims.
Now this doesn't mean you have to wear a turban. It doesn't mean you have to wear a kufi. Doesn't mean you have to dress with a Saudi thawb.
No. But it means you should distinguish some part of your dress so that you are known as a Muslim. Something that someone looks at you should know that you are a Muslim and distinguish you from the kuffar.
So you see how the kuffar how they dress? You should dress somewhere distinct from them. If you think you have to wear a suit and tie? Do that. But if you wear a suit and tie and no kufi and no beard what to distinguish you from the kuffars? You wear a suit and tie put on a kufi.
You must wear something distinguish you. Of course your character is the best distinction. But in general when we look out and see some crowd of people there should be something about the Muslim that distinguishes him.
The Prophet said:
"The believer is the one that when you see him, he reminds you of Allah."
(Authenticated in Sahih al-Jami' (6650))
He doesn't remind you of Allah in his siwa (appearance only). No.
He reminds you of Allah by his character and how looking at him or her.
Arranging the Home According to Sunnah
We follow the sunnah of the Prophet in the arrangement of our home. Our home should not be like the home of the kuffars.
So you should not look in the home and garden magazine and try to make your house look like that. No. Think to yourself.
Build your home around the salah. Make your home around the salah and around the comfort of your family which means what? Make a place for the women. So that the men do not have to come through the place of the women and the women can be safe and they can be comfortable.
You don't have your house set up like the kafirs. So the women and the men come through the same door. They all sit down, they eat together.
No, this is the kuffar way. Arrange your home according to the sunnah of the Prophet. Get rid of the excess. Make it simple.
The Manner of Speech and Greeting
The manner of your speech. The Prophet ﷺ said:
"Give food. Invite and take the invitation. Invite and answer the invitation. Spread food. Spread goodness. And give good greetings to everybody that you meet."
(Sunan al-Tirmidhi (2485) and authenticated)
Okay, we don't say to the kafir:
No, we don't say that to the kafir. But if a kafir says to you, you can say to him:
"Peace be upon those who follow the guidance."
(Surah Ta-Ha (20:47))
Allah says, answer the greeting with what? One that is equal or one that is better. So if a kafir, he says to you:
What you say? What? You can say, he said to you, peace. You cannot say to him, peace.
Peace is not a sacred word that is only reserved for Muslims. There is nothing in the hadith about that. Peace is a word of security, safety, honesty, clear intention.
Somebody said to you, peace. You cannot say, peace. You say to him:
No.
We give the special greeting, specific greeting for the Muslims. The Prophet ﷺ said:
"Peace be upon those who follow the guidance."
So they hear you say back to them, peace.
This is adab. This is good manners. You see, the wisdom of the Prophet ﷺ, the greetings and the cultural etiquettes.
Not Being Impressed by Kuffar Civilization
You should not be impressed by the civilization that you live in. Do not show them that you are impressed by them. Walking around downtown, looking all at their buildings, going to their museums, standing around with them, going to their parties, setting your tables like them, wanting to dress like them, designing your house like them, and feeling in front of them subordinate, cowed down, and also wanting to be like them, happy when you see them.
Allah said:
"The believers are those who are strong against the kuffar, not arrogant but firm. And merciful among themselves."
(Surah Al-Fath (48:29))
We have reversed it. We are strong against our Muslim brothers, and towards the kuffar, we are ruhama (merciful).
No.
Not Taking Kuffar as Friends
We don't take them as friends. What does it mean friend? Somebody say, "I have a non-Muslim friend."
How is your friend? Friend means he's intimate to you. You can rely upon him. You can trust him.
No, we cannot rely upon them. We cannot trust him, except in general things. I have a neighbor.
Sometime he will cut my grass. Sometime he will watch my house. I'm some place on vacation.
He's my neighbor. He tells me, "If you leave me the key, I'll make sure the alarm is set. I'll make sure such and such. I'll keep this. I'll do that." That's different.
But we don't take them as friends and intimates. Relying upon them, taking advice from them, wanting to be with them, trusting them, marrying them. No, we don't have that kind of relationship with them.
Allah says:
"O you who believe, do not take the Jews and the Christians as friends and protectors."
(Surah Al-Ma'idah (5:51))
In another place He says:
"They are friends and protectors only of each other."
Your friends are none other than Allah and His messenger and the believers.
Not Relying on Their Institutions
We do not rely upon their institutions and their services. O Muslims, you send your wives to the hospitals. You send your wives to the clinics.
And the kuffar is examining them. And you don't care. You tell your wife, "Don't say salam to the brother. You're not supposed to say salam to the brother." But she gets in a taxi. She rides with the kuffar.
She goes to the hospital. The doctor says, "Oh, okay, Mrs. Ibrahim. Take off your clothes. I'll be right there." You don't mind.
No, we need to have our own clinics.
We need to have our own schools. We need to have our own institutions. So we do not have to rely upon the institutions, the schools and the clinics of the kuffar who will violate us and disrespect us.
All of that calls for consolidating our own economics and trusting each other.
Not Participating in Their Political Systems
O Muslims, we should not participate in their political systems. Yes, if the imam or the amir of Sydney or of Australia, the leader of the Muslims in Australia said, "Everyone go and get a voter's registration card because we will use this as some kind of strength."
We will do it. We will do it. But we're not running for office.
We're not trying to be the mayor of Sydney. We don't want to be the MP. We don't want to join their MP circles.
We don't want to join them. No, because the messenger of Allah, he did not join them in their circles and he did not bring them in his circles. Never.
And neither did Abu Bakr al-Siddiq or Umar ibn al-Khattab. And neither did Uthman ibn Affan or Ali ibn Abi Talib. And these are our examples.
We deal with them on our terms, not on their terms.
No Interfaith
O Muslims, we do not collaborate with them in religious matters. This whole idea of interfaith.
There is no such thing. No such thing.
"The deen in front of Allah is Islam."
(Surah Al-Imran (3:19))
There is no interfaith. We can sit with them and talk with them.
Compare. Tell them this is what Allah said. This is what the messenger of Allah said.
And we can give them nasiha. Listen to them, but we don't join their faith in ours like it's a sandwich. A little bit of this and a little bit of that.
The good from our religion and the good from your religion. A little bit of Judaism. A little bit of Islam.
A little bit of this. A little bit of mushrik. A little bit of Buddhism.
A little bit of that. And they put it all together into wahdatul adyan. One world faith.
As some Muslims, they have went astray, deviant. And they are joining with the kuffar to make one world faith. No, Allah says:
"It is He, Allah, who sent His messenger, Muhammad, with the guidance of the Quran and the sunnah. Wa deena alhaq. Al-Islam. The aqeedah. Li yudhihirahu ala aldeeni kulli. In order that it may do what? It may dominate and prevail. Prevail and conquer over all of the deens. Even though the kuffar will hate it."
(Surah At-Tawbah (9:33))
How you will do this? If you are melting Islam down and mixing it up with them.
They will never respect you. And Allah told us, they will never be satisfied with you, even if you accept their religion. If you abandon your religion and join them, still they will disrespect you.
So, oh Muslims, don't do it. All of this is part of our character. This is part of the distinction of our religion.
Be Good Citizens
Our good manners is what we need to show to the people. Be good citizens. Be peace loving people.
Be productive people. Progressive people. Compete with them in everything.
The good of Australia, take it. Use it. Exemplify it.
Mix it with Islam. Islam takes the good of everything and everybody. But we don't compromise our Islam for nothing and no one.
This is our character. This is the distinction of our deen.
Take What the Prophet Gave
Oh Muslims, Allah says:
"So take what the Prophet gave and leave alone that which he has forbidden you."
(Surah Al-Hashr (59:7))
Hold Fast to the Sunnah
Oh Muslims, keep these messages in your mind. The Prophet ﷺ said:
"Upon you is the following of my sunnah and the sunnah of the rightly guided khulafa ar-rashideen al-mahdiyeen. Hold on to them with the molars of your teeth."
(Sunan Abu Dawud (4607) and Sunan al-Tirmidhi (2676))
Not the front teeth that can be pulled out, but the back teeth. Hold on to them. Don't give up.
Hold on to that and follow the sunnah. What does that mean for us? Following the sunnah of the first generation. Following the sunnah of the second generation.
Following the sunnah of the third generation. The companions of the Prophet. The Tabi'een and the Atba' at-Tabi'een. Hold on to them.
Those are our examples. This is where and the proof of our character.
Closing
Oh Muslims, keep these points in mind.
This is my advice for you and advice for myself.
Closing Dua
End of Lecture