Excess in humility is called
lowliness (tazallul), or meanness or holding
one’s self down. Lowliness is prohibited (harâm). As is the case with other
forbidden things, practising this vice upon a forced necessity (dharurat), also becomes permissible (jâiz). Following
are some examples of forced necessities: to protect one’s religion, property,
honor, or life, or to save one’s self from a tyrant. Looking for an easy
solution is permissible when there is a forcing necessity or difficulty.
Excessive humility is one of the vices. The
following is a good example of excessive humility. When a scholar (’âlim)
is visited by a shoe maker, the scholar gets up to greet him and tells him to
sit in his place and while he is leaving, he walks along with him up to the
door and places his shoes in front of him. Alternatively, if the scholar would
get up to receive him and then sit back and show him where to sit and converse
with him about his business and situation and ask him the purpose of his visit
as well as answer his questions with a cheerful and smiling face and accept his
invitation and help him to solve his difficulties, he would have shown
humility. Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa
sal-lam’ states in a hadîth-i-sherîf: “A person who saves his
Muslim brother from trouble will be rewarded (in the
Hereafter) with as much thawâb as if he performed
(supererogatory) hajj and ’umra.” Hadrat Hasan ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anh’ asked Thâbit Benânî ‘rahimahullâhu
ta’âlâ’ to do something for him. He said he was busy in the mosque with
(retreat called) i’tikâf and that he would do it some other time. Hadrat Hasan
‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anh’ said: ‘Don’t you know
that leaving your place for the purpose of attending to one of his Muslim
brother’s needs is more meritorious than a nâfila (supererogatory) hajj or
’umra?” This hadîth-i-sherîf incidentally serves
as a basis for the conclusion that it is utterly rewarding (thawâb) for holders
of position to help needy people and for teachers to support their pupils by
using their authority and property. Anyone who begs while having means [nafaqa]
to support himself for one day would be committing excessive
humility
and thus would be committing harâm. If a person having one day’s means (nafaqa)
collects donations for others who do not possess one day’s means or for those
who owe money to others, he would not be committing excessive humility. Giving
a small gift while expecting a larger gift in return is excessive humility.
Verses in the Qur’ân prohibit this type of gift giving. It is a very good deed
to return a better gift in response to a gift received but it is not
permissible to give a gift in expectation of receiving a better gift in return.
Going to a reception without being invited would also be excessive humility. Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sal-lam’ states in
a hadîth-i-sherîf: “Not attending to an
invitation is a sin. Going to a reception without being invited to it is a
theft.”
Attending to an invitation of a marriage
ceremony is necessary (wâjib) if there are no prohibited (harâm)
things or affairs taking place at the ceremony. Attending all other types of
invitations is sunnat. It is not permissible to accept
invitations which are done for boasting or ostentation or hypocrisy.
Establishing friendships with government officials, rich people and judges with
the hope of receiving worldly benefits from them is excessive humility. The exception
in the case of forced necessity (dharűrat) was already
discussed above. Greeting by bowing down or by prostrating upon meeting one of
these people is excessive humility and is a grave sin. Bowing down for the
purpose of worshiping would cause disbelief. It would mean to imitate a Jewish
way of salutation. [A poor person means a needy one. In Islam, a person who has
enough money to purchase his basic necessities of life but does not have enough
money to purchase a sheep for slaughtering, is poor. The state of poverty Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sal-lam’ asked from Allâhu ta’âlâ and commended possession of, is
different from material poverty; it means ‘consciousness of the fact that you
always need Allâhu ta’âlâ in everything you do’.
Abdullah ad-Dahlawî ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ’ in his book Durr-ul-ma’ârif,
says, “In Sufism, poor (faqîr) means one who has no desire, or, in other words,
one who has no desire other than to please Allâhu
ta’âlâ.” A person who meets this definition will embrace patience and
contentment when there is no means (nafaqa) to satisfy the
necessities of life. He will be contented with the deeds and decree of Allâhu ta’âlâ and will work to obtain sustenance in
order to obey the commandment of Allâhu
ta’âlâ.
As he works, he will not cease to perform the acts of worship enjoined on him
(fard), and will not commit prohibited acts. He will follow the orders of Islam
while he is earning and spending. Poverty will be just as useful as being rich
for this type of person and will be a means for him to obtain happiness in both
this world and the next. A person who follows his nafs and who doesn’t have
patience and contentment is not satisfied with the decree and destiny of Allâhu ta’âlâ. When he is poor, he objects to Him by
saying that He has given him so little. When he is rich, he will not be content
and will ask for more. He will spend his earnings on forbidden things. His
poverty or riches will be a means of disaster for him in both this world and
the next.]
Doing any kind of business or trade, working
on a permissible job for a wage, e.g., working as a shepherd, gardener,
stonemason or working as a porter or working at construction jobs, is not
excessive humility. Prophets ‘alaihim-us-salawât-u-wa-t-taslîmât’
and Awliyâ did all these kinds of work. Working to support one’s self, wife and
children is an obligatory duty (fard). It is permissible (mubâh) to work at all
kinds of jobs in order to earn more money (beyond the fard amount) with the
intention of helping others with the extra money one acquires. Prophet Idris ‘alaihis-salâm’ worked as a tailor. Prophet David (Dâwűd) ‘alaihis-salâm’ worked as an
ironworker. Prophet Abraham (Ibrâhîm)
‘alaihis-salâm’ worked as a farmer and as a tradesman on textiles. Prophet Adam ‘alaihis-salâm’ weaved fabrics for the
first time. [Enemies of religion write that the first human beings lived in
caves and covered themselves with leaves. They have no documentation or
evidence to back up their allegations.] Prophets
Jesus (Îsâ), Noah (Nűh) and Sâlih ‘alaihim-as-salâm’ practised the professions
of shoe making, carpentry and bag or case making, respectively. Most of the prophets ‘alaihim-us-salawât-u-wa-t-taslîmât’ were
shepherds. Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa
sal-lam’ states in a hadîth-i-sherîf: “Purchasing one’s
household needs and carrying them to one’s home is an indication of one’s not
being a conceited person.” Rasűlullah ‘sall-Allâhu
’alaihi wa sal-lam’ bought and sold various things. He bought more (than he
sold). He worked for others and employed others to work for him. He
participated in business activities like joining corporations or its equivalent
activities at his time and
established business partnerships. He represented others by proxy as well as appointed others to represent himself in several activities by giving proxy (wakâlat). He gave and received presents. He borrowed money or other things. He established trusts (waqf). But, he never said any harsh words to anyone or became angry with anyone while conducting all these worldly activities. He took oaths and administered oaths to others. Although he principally carried out his oaths, there were occasional instances of his not doing so and paying (the compensation called) kaffârat for breaking an oath. He made jokes but his jokes were always based on truth and therefore were always useful and yielded fruitful results. It would be kibr (conceit) to avoid or to be ashamed of the aforesaid behaviour. Many people are mistaken in this respect because they confuse humility with its extreme. The nafs dupes many a person on the tenuous distinctions between tawâdu’ and tazallul.