The Way of Islamic Chivalry
Habib Ali Al-Jifri in London on 9th May 2008. This presentation is brought to you by The Radical Middle Way and Islamic Circles.
You can also listen and watch this lecture online.
[Opening Du’a]
In the name of God, The Compassionate, The Merciful, praise be to God, and blessings and peace be upon the leader of the people of chivalry, and his family and companions.
A definition of Chivlary:
It’s a power or strength which is internalised, a strength which possesses insight, which is internalised and which reacts in order to give victory to truth.
I shall repeat it.
It is a power possessing insight which is internalised and reacts in order to give victory to truth.
Sincerity is its final goal. Good character is its guide. Mercy is its inward. Bringing about change is its outward. Therefore, everything which does not combine all these attributes is not considered chivalry. So it’s a power. In the body, and in the self, in the intellect, and in the spirit.
One can sometimes to be forgiven for lacking it in his body, and one can sometimes be forgiven if his self and his intellect do not have the same power as his spirit. But it’s unforgivable for it not to be possessed as a power in his spirit. And whoever does not possess this power in his sprit cannot possess chivalry.
It’s a power that possesses insight. When the power is blind, we can never call that chivalry. It can make mistakes even though it has insight, but because it possesses insight, it can correct its own mistakes. It’s internalised.
The love of demonstrating ones power has nothing to do with chivalry. Except in a situation in which one needs to bring about the victory of truth. The Prophet of Allah (saw) saw one of the companions during a battle, walking around proudly, in a way that was showing off. It was a battle to against someone who had transgressed against them. The Prophet of God said that kind of walk is a walk that is hated by God, except in this situation, so therefore it’s hidden.
So how do we come to know about it if it is hidden? Because it reacts in order to give victory to truth. And when does confusion happen when people’s strengths react? When a person gets confused as to when he is trying to give victory to truth, and when he is trying to give victory to his own ego.
It says in a description of the Prophet that he was never angry for himself but when someone didn’t give the rights of God, no one would be able to stand in front of his anger. The Prophet (saw) prayed in the basin in the area surrounding the open space surrounding the Ka’ba before he went on the migration. The disbelievers would come and harm him when he was in his prayers.
I don’t know if any of our young people have heard, but he was given the strength of forty men. I talk of his physical strength. When he was in prostration some of the people who wanted to hurt him would come and throw entrails on his back – the innards of animals on his back – and he wouldn’t move.
Seyyida Fatima Al-Zahara would come when she was about seven or eight years old at the time. She would argue with them and she would remove the filth from his back. So she had her portion of chivalry too. This chivalrous young girl of eight, would stand in front of these strong men, argue with them and remove what they had just done to her father. But she was not defending herself, she was defending the truth.
One time they strangled him until his eyes popped up, and Seyyiduna Abu Bakr pushed them away and said to them ‘Do you intend to kill a man who has just says ‘my Lord is God’? ’ Another time they struck him. Another time they put thorns in his way. A person who is quiet for all this period, what kind of impression do you think people would have of him? Answer me young men, young women? Someone who doesn’t retaliate for all this time? We’re now not talking about the messenger, but someone who the people insult, throw things at, hit and he does not retaliate. What do people think of him? Do people think he is strong?
A Bedouin Arab came to Mecca. The man had some money with the enemy of God, Abu Jahl. Abu Jahl was a strong man and he used to show himself to be courageous. He was one of the leaders of bany makhzoom, and Qureish. He walked around like a peacock. The man came to Abu Jahl, and he saw that Abu Jahl was strutting around, showing himself to be stronger than him. So the man said to him ‘just give me back my money’ and Abu Jahl did not even look at him.
He then came and complained to the multiples of Qureish, that this man has taken his right. So they wanted to see something funny being played out in front of him because they used to laugh at the messenger of God (saw) when entrails and dirt would be put on him, and harm would come to him, and he would stay silent. So they wanted to have a laugh, so they said to him ‘no one can make Abu Al-Hakam,’ (which is the other name for Abu Jahl; Abu Al-Hakam means Father of Wisdom, but he is the Father of Ignorance) ‘no one can make him do anything except that man over there’ [pointing to the Prophet (saw) who was praying next to the Ka’ba].
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