Akhlak Mulia Membentuk ketahanan Diri

							         Islamic Religious Council of Singapore
                     Friday Sermon
              9 March 2007 / 19 Safar 1428
             Good Character Builds Fortitude




Dearest Brothers,
Let’s remain truly conscious of Allah the Al-Mighty. Today,
let us remind ourselves to remember Rasulullah s.a.w., the
guiding light in our lives. The guidance Rasulullah has given
us is based on rahmah, or compassion.



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This shapes good character and forms our Islamic identity.
So, let us remember our beloved Prophet always by saying
the salawat upon him. Increase our love for him with
salawat. Make him the example that guides us through our
lives.


Last week, we have explored how good character positively
impacts our lives and can be felt by every creation of God.
Insya Allah, today, we will see how good character builds
fortitude in an individual, and helps him navigate through the
challenges of life.


Brothers,
Remember the Prophet Yusuf a.s. We all know that the
Prophet Yusuf had been blessed by Allah s.w.t. with physical
beauty and the best of moral character. Such was his beauty
that he was sought after by every woman who saw him.


In Surah Yusuf Verse 23, Allah tells us what happened
between Prophet Yusuf and the wife of his employer who
intended to seduce him:




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“And she, in whose house he was, asked of him an evil act.
She locked the doors and said: Come! He (Prophet Yusuf)
said: I seek refuge in Allah! Lo! He is my lord, who hath
treated me honourably. Lo! Wrong-doers never prosper.”


See how Prophet Yusuf had been tempted by women. Also
see how strongly Prophet Yusuf resisted the appeals of a
beautiful and influential woman. His strength and goodness
of character - his akhlak – has allowed him to resist and
overcome whatever challenges he had. He would rather be
imprisoned than to succumb to human desires that would
have destroyed him. As Allah describes in Surah Yusuf
verse 33-34:




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“He said: My Lord! The prison house is dearer to me than
that to which they invite me; and if Thou turn not away their
device from me, I will yearn towards them and become (one)
of the ignorant. Thereupon his Lord accepted his prayer and
turned away their guile from him; surely He is the Hearing,
the Knowing.”


Prophet Yusuf’s honesty, good character, and his resistance
to temptation finally won. When it was proven that he was
innocent, he was appointed as the Governor of Egypt. His
good character had been clearly revealed – proving that he
can be trusted to lead Egypt.


Brothers,




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We must follow Prophet Yusuf’s example in this episode. We
must withstand evil and injustice. We must face the
challenges of life with courage and fortitude as Prophet
Yusuf had.


Remember, life on earth is full of challenges. Surely the lives
we lead are full of temptation and lures that can only lead to
ruin, if we are not careful.


Just observe the world around us. We are exposed to many
challenges - the permissive pop culture, trends that
continually push the limits, interaction without boundaries,
fashion that says “less is more”. Promiscuity has become a
norm in many societies. All this is compounded by the cheap
gossip      rags,   tabloids   and   meaningless     television
programmes that focus on such worthless endeavours. With
the Internet, even more avenues are open to us, providing
even more temptation to damage our good characters.


Brothers,
Having heard this, do we still want to point fingers at others
or search for their mistakes, but not our own? Never once
should we look for the wrongs of others. A good person


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looks at himself first. We all have a responsibility and with
that responsibility, we have a choice. We need to be smart in
making our choices in life. Look at the example provided by
Prophet Yusuf – he had the choice of committing sin or to
refrain and receive Allah’s blessings.


Dear Brothers,
Ibn Al-Qayyim has explained the four principles needed to
build a good character and fortitude. We need to practice
these and develop our own good character.


The first: Patience. We have to be patient in facing every
challenge. We cannot give up at the first sign of difficulty.
Patience will give us the strength to face every challenge
head-on.


Secondly: Courage. We need courage to face challenges.
We also need courage to make the right choices, to do what
is right. We need courage to say no to evil and temptation. It
is only with courage that we can go far in facing the
challenges of today’s world.




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Thirdly: iffah (purity) With a pure mind and heart, we are able
to reject what is wrong, because we know the destructive
outcomes of every bad thing in life.


Finally: Adil (fairness). Having fairness will limit excesses
within oneself. Fairness to the self, to our families, in our
actions. Temper our interactions with fairness and justice.
Also, conduct our affairs with fairness.


Insyallah, with these four principles, we can all build good
character and fortitude to face the challenges of modern life.


With this, we can build a good society, one that is founded
on principles and will bring about a positive impact to
humanity.


This is our Singaporean Muslim identity. The identity that will
only bring goodness to ourselves and those around us, both
on this earth, and the hereafter. Insyallah.




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