Sincerity And Purity In Advising Others

All of the Messengers of Allah gave sincere advice to their peoples, and sincere advice and purity of intentions are the distinguishing features of Islam. The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said, as narrated by Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him):

“Allah's Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, once inquired, 'Who, amongst you, would carry the following words of wisdom, act upon them, and teach them to others who would also act upon them?' Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, answered positively. Upon that Allah's Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, held the hand of Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, and counted five items, as follows:

“1) Avoid all that is declared by Allah prohibited, thus you become the best worshipper of Allah, the Almighty; 2) Accept what had been predestined for you by Allah, thus you would be the richest man; 3) Be good to your neighbor, thus you would be characterized as a Believer; 4) Like for others what you like for yourself, thus you would be characterized as a Muslim; 5) Lessen your laughter, since too much laughter would cause the heart to die.”” (Reported by Tirmidthi)

Islam calls upon all Muslims to tender a meaningful, and sincere free advice to all people.

This point is based on a statement of Allah's Messenger (Peace be upon him):

“Islam is the religion of advice. The people inquired, ‘O Prophet of Allah! To whom should advice be offered? Allah's Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: To Allah, to His Book, to His Prophet, to the leaders of the Muslims, and to the general body of Muslims” (Reported by Muslim)

In explanation of this tradition, we can say: A pure advice to Allah, the Almighty is to worship Him Alone, wholeheartedly; to reject and discard any rival set up to Allah, in idolatry; to commemorate the remembrance of Allah, the Almighty, by His Beautiful Attributes and Blessed Names; to accept fully that Allah alone is in charge of all the affairs of all creatures; to believe that whatever Allah, the Almighty, wills, would happen and whatever He does not, would never take place; and to follow the Commandments of Allah, and cease all actions that He forbade.

A pure advice about Allah's Book is to firmly believe in the Divine Scripture to His Messenger, Muhammad (Peace be upon him); to accept all the laws therein.

A pure advice about Allah's Prophet is to obey what he enjoined, shun away from what he refrained, believe his statements, love and respect him, and respond to his call, practices and instructions, and propagate them amongst people.

A pure advice about Muslims' leadership is to obey the leaders as long as they do not call for, or impose any rules that disobey the commands of Allah and His Prophet (Peace be upon him); to assist them by guiding them to all the good points; not to rebel and fight against them so long as they apply Islam and its rules throughout their government agencies; and to offer them mature and the most pure advice kindly and gently.

A pure advice for general Muslims is to guide them to the best in both their religious and worldly affairs; to assist them achieve their goals; to prevent any inconvenience against them; and to like for them what one likes for himself, and to hate to cause them any harm as one would hate to cause harm to his own soul.