All Praise is due to Allaah, we praise Him, seek His aid and His Forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allaah from the evils of our souls and the evils of our actions. Whomsoever Allaah guides there is none to misguide and whomsoever Allaah misguides there is none to guide. I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, alone, without any partners and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger.
O you who believe! Fear as He should be feared,
and die not except in a state of Islâm (as Muslims) with complete
submission to Allaah. [Aali Imraan 3:103]
O mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created
you from a single person (Adam), and from him (Adam) He created his wife [Hawwa
(Eve)], and from them both He created many men and women and fear Allaah through
Whom you demand your mutual (rights), and (do not cut the relations of) the
wombs (kinship). Surely, Allaah is Ever an AllWatcher over you. [An-Nisaa
4:1]
O you who believe! Keep your duty to Allaah and
fear Him, and speak (always) the truth. He will direct you to do righteous good
deeds and will forgive you your sins. And whosoever obeys Allaah and His
Messenger (sallallaahu `alaihi wasallam) he has indeed achieved a great achievement (i.e. he will be
saved from the Hell-fire and made to enter Paradise). [Al-Ahzaab
33:70-71]
To proceed:
For the (purpose of) purifying myself and my Muslim brothers I have written on the topic of humility, so that I may ponder over what is easy for me from its secrets and its meanings and what is possible for it (i.e. humility) to change in my conduct and that of my brothers to that which is more excellent, if Allaah wills.
So I learnt that humility has levels and degrees. A servant reaches them to the extent that Allaah grants him success in his striving, earnestness and endurance. And I observed that a person becomes elevated due to his humility and his manners until he is amongst the most-beloved of people to the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) and the nearest of them in accompanying him on the Day of Judgement.
And I learned that humility is the key to the purification of the soul, the way to forgiveness of one’s sins, expiation of one’s sins and entry into Paradise, if Allaah wills.
(Just as I leaned that) it it is the correct path for uniting the hearts and the word (of the Muslims) and dissolving the disagreements, differences and disputes between the offspring of the ummah of Islaam.
And built upon this, a person will not be weighed by the scales of descent, wealth, power of honour but rather, by precedence and competing in taqwaa and righteous actions.
And it is necessary for us to know that the cause of the pains and wounds that we complain about is the lack of humility and its imperfection in the individual, the family, the society and the ummah.
Therefore, let the hearts become humble to Allaah, the Exalted.
And let the limbs become humble to the One, the Powerful.
And let this humility be plain and visible in us, manifest in our lives, - truly - so that it is witnessed and observed, so that we do not put the saying of anyone ahead of the saying of Allaah, the Exalted or ahead of the saying of the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) - until we (are able to) obtain the highest levels (in Paradise) and everlasting bliss.
And let this humility also be apparent in our conduct and our actions with our brothers and those with whom we interact with until we begin to taste the sweetness of humility, taste its pleasure and obtain happiness due its effects.
And when humility has the rewards and recompenses from Allaah, the Sublime, that it has, Shaytaan exerts himself and strives to make this reward go to waste, to change the favour of Allaah into ungratefulness and to inflict the people with pride and amazement with themselves. Therefore, he enters upon the callers to Allaah, before anyone else, from this door.
Therefore, let our concern be that we understand humility correctly and that we act upon the requirements of (this) understanding of ours and let our example in this be the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) so that we succeed, are saved and remain happy in both the worlds.
I ask Allaah, the Exalted, that He accepts this action of mine, that He benefits me by it, that He blesses me in it, that He raises me by His blessing amongst the crowd of the poor ones and that He benefits me and my brothers and sisters in the east and the west, indeed He is powerful over all things.
Introduction from the Book of Humility