❖ Allah, exalted, says, “It is out of Allah’s mercy that you Prophet have been lenient with them. Had you been cruel or hard-hearted, they would have certainly abandoned you.” (Al `Imran: 159) “Abandoned you” as this upsets and repels them.
❖ Abu Mas`ud al-Ansari, Allah be pleased with him, said, “A man came to Allah’s Messenger ﷺ and said, ‘Allah's Messenger, by Allah, I keep away from the morning prayer only because so-and-so prolongs the prayer when he leads us in it.’ I never saw Allah’s Messenger ﷺ more furious in giving advice than he was at that time. He said, ‘Some of you are repellent! Whoever among you leads the people in prayer should shorten, for among them are the weak, the old, and the needy.” [826] Reported by al-Bukhari (702) and Muslim (466). Meaning, they repel people from Allah’s religion. [827] Sharh Riyad al-Salihin, Ibn `Uthaymin (3/617).
❖ Allah’s Messenger ﷺ advised Mu`adh and Abu Musa al-Ash`ari when he sent them to Yemen, saying, “Make things easy, not difficult. Give glad-tidings, do not repel people. Work together and do not differ.” [828] Reported by al-Bukhari (3038) and Muslim (1733).
Quotes of the Predecessors and scholars on dispraising repelling:
Mu`ammar said, “True knowledge is seeking religiously mandated concessions. As for making things difficult, anyone can do that.” [829] Jami` Bayan al-`Ilm wa Fadlih, Ibn `Abd al-Barr (1468). Hakim said, “The most corrupting of people are the ignorant worshipper and the wicked scholar. The former invites to his ignorance through his worship, and the latter repels from his knowledge due to his wickedness.” [830] Mawarid al-Zam’an li-Durus al-Zaman, al-Salman (2/17). The Messenger of Allah ﷺ has been described as: “The most expansively tolerant, most truthful in speech, most lenient in dealing, and most noble in companionship. He invites towards amiability as opposed to repelling. He honours the noble of each people and makes them their governor. He would always ask about his companions, giving each person who sits with him their due portion, such that whoever sits with him believes that there isn’t anyone more noble to him than he.” [831] The previous source (5/566).
Forms of blameworthy repelling: [832] Ihya’ `Ulum al-Din, al-Ghazali (2/169); Sayd al-Khatir, Ibn al-Jawzi (p. 350); Ajnihat al-Makr al-Thalathah, Habankah al-Maydani (p. 46-47); al-Diya’ al-Lami` min al-Khutab al-Jawami`, al-`Utaymin (2/215); al-Akhlaq al-Fadilah Qawa`id wa Muntalaqat Iktisabiha, al-Ruhayli (p. 160).
1- Excessively taking others towards the religion and being severe and zealous in doing so, always holding them to unreasonable standards.
2- Never taking concessions to lighten their load, even though Allah loves that His concessions to the people be taken up by them just as He loves that they have resolve for high standards.
3- Making the people despair of Allah’s mercy, blessed and exalted, making them give up on repentance.
4- Belittling sinners and looking down on them, or it may even be such that they are insulted and assaulted.
5- Abundantly admonishing others through warning and rebuking them, reminding them of Allah’s punishment; and never reminding them of Allah’s expansive mercy, blessed and elated, His promise of bliss, vast favour, and bountiful grace.
6- Religious discourse being such that it cannot be borne by the masses. Such examples include fine jurisprudential differences and intricate theological philosophies which are either misunderstood by the laity or are a source of their confusion.
7- Repelling when calling non-Muslims to the religion by overburdening them with all of Islam’s orders in one go, without graduation in doing what they are able to bear of obligations and prohibitions.
8- Not having adequate etiquettes in advising others, like advising others publicly, repelling the advised and making their chest constrained against accepting it.
9- Repelling children from goodness and performing acts of religious obedience, like pushing them away from coming to the mosques, and being harsh in teaching them and training them towards good.
10- Excessively repelling the masses from the lawful of this worldly life. Allah, exalted, says, “Say, ‘Who has forbidden the adornment and the nourishment Allah has provided for His servants?’” (al-A`raf: 32)
Types of repelling:
Verbal repelling: It is through poor, evil words, such as excessively admonishing others instead of enticing them to Allah’s mercy.
Actual repelling: It is through actions that are of a poor ethical societal standing, like meeting people with sternness and harshness such that they are repelled from one. Additionally, if one cheats, deceits, and lies to the people, doing things which go against Islam and negate sound morality.
Impacts of repelling:
1- The people not adhering to the rulings of the religion and leaving off worship. Furthermore, when coupled with the recipients' weak faith, repelling may cause them to leave the religion altogether. People not caring for the religion’s teachings and distancing themselves from it, viewing it as something that will make their lives difficult for them.
2- The masses being disinclined to attend sittings of goodness and remembrance, even if they be delivered by the most knowledgeable scholars of the land.
3- The people despairing of Allah’s mercy, blessed and exalted, giving up from attaining His forgiveness. This incites them to leave His obedience and engage in sin.
4- The repellent carries the sin of all those whom he repelled from truth to falsehood.
5- Society hates its possessor, and it corrupts familial relations.
6- The repellent unwittingly puts himself and others to trials.
Reasons for falling into repelling:
1- Ignorance of the Law’s principles and the precepts of calling to Allah, blessed and exalted.
2- Also, not studying the jurisprudence of enjoining what is good and forbidding what is evil.
3- Not caring for the state of the people and the difference of their natures and dispositions.
4- The repellent having self-justification in his act of repelling, believing it is what is right.
5- Haughtiness from those who are supposedly part of delivering the call and their vanity, thinking they are better than others.
6- Being excessive in giving advice and admonishment, inciting repulsion due to boredom and discontentment.
7- Having evil morals and a withdrawn disposition.
Means to desisting from repelling:
1- Following the way of the Messenger ﷺ in his calling people and softening their hearts.
2- That the caller to Allah appreciates the people’s need for an insightful, lenient, easy-going caller, who brings them closer to Allah and His love.
3- The caller to Allah expressing humility, avoiding haughtiness.
4- The caller fearing that he becomes a reason for people’s misguidance and distancing them from the religion due to his harsh and obnoxious demeanour. He must realise that this may incur Allah’s punishment and His torment, blessed and exalted.
5- That the callers to Allah are aware of the intricacies of enjoining good and forbidding evil, so they fulfill this obligation upon sound insight and knowledge.
6- Knowing that Allah alone is the one who guides, and that one is merely an intermediate to this guidance. If one actualises Allah’s commands and His Messenger’s, only then may true guidance manifest from his handiwork; otherwise, it will not.
Summary of Ethics
