A Muslim shows patience in order to attain the pleasure of Allah by obeying Him. That kind of patience is a means for the love and pleasure of Allah. Sincerity is essential in such patience. Sincerity means to do everything only for the sake or pleasure of Allah. (Badiuzzaman, Lem'alar (*****es), 21.Lem'a).Man should show the same patience against haram too. When man is exposed to haram first, the resistance shown against it will eliminate the bad sparks coming from it and thus will overcome it. Therefore, our Prophet said the Hazrat Ali "The first glance is for you but the rest are against you." That is, harams can catch a man’s eyes. However, if he closes his eyes and turns his face away, it will not be recorded as a sin for him. Even a reward can be recorded for him because he has not looked at haram. Similarly, man is always face to face with committing sins. As he shows resistance against committing sins, he will reach taqwa (fearing of Allah) and higher ranks in taqwa.
Testing is the sunnah of Allah for his slaves in their lives. Allah tests His slaves in order to disclose their talents and abilities. With such a testing, it becomes clear how a person uses the ability of will and choice that has been granted to him. Allah tests any one of His slaves that he wishes at any time and however He wills. A person can be tested through his closest relatives. Therefore, man should think that he can be tested both through his enemies and friends; he should do favors to his friends, whom can be used as a means of testing against him by God Almighty. 2. Treating People Nicely and ToleranceTolerance and gentleness are the most important cornerstones in the tabligh of Islam by our Prophet. God Almighty says the following to the Prophet, who approaches people with gentleness, by congratulating him on the honesty and perfection of his acts: "It is part of the Mercy of Allah that thou dost deal gently with them. Wert thou severe or harsh-hearted they would have broken away from about thee; so pass over (their faults), and ask for (Allah's) forgiveness for them; and consult them in affairs (of moment). Then when thou hast taken a decision, put thy trust in Allah. For Allah loves those who put their trust (in Him). " (Aal-e-Imran, 3/159)Gentleness is like a different golden key given to the Messenger of Allah. He opened many hearts with that key and affected their hearts. But for his gentleness, many intolerant hearts would have faced some harsh acts and some would have opposed to Islam unlike now, and some would have moved away from him. Only thanks to the gentleness of the Messenger of Allah were they prevented and many people embraced Islam in groups.As it is understood from the verse, gentleness originates from mercy. If the Messenger of Allah had become rude and harsh, everybody around him would have abandoned him. The vast mercy of God Almighty made him gentle. That is, God made his nature so perfect and gentle that the hands that touched him were never injured, and they found a rose when they expected thorns. (Gülen 1997, 1:398).
I find it useful to mention some hadiths related to mercy here. The Messenger of Allah says:Allah will not show mercy to someone who does not show mercy to people. (Bukhari, "Tawhid", 2; Muslim, "Fadail," 66)Show mercy to those on the earth, those in the sky will show mercy to you. (Hakim, al-Mustadrak, 4:277)He who does not show mercy to people will not be shown mercy. (Bukhari, "Adab," 18; Muslim, "Fadail, 65)
Hazrat Prophet (pbuh) acted tolerantly towards even those who broke his teeth and injured his head. After the conquest of Makkah, he said to the Makkans, who were wondering what would happen to them, “You may go; all of you are free” although they had expelled him from his hometown when he was sorry and in tears. He forgave Abu Sufyan and softened his heart so that he would embrace Islam. He also forgave Wahshi, who had killed his beloved uncle, and Ikrima, the son of Abu Jahl. He forgave many others like them and did not call them to account for what they had done.He did not reproach people; he did not blame them in front of others due to their mistakes; instead of despising them, he acted nicely and honestly by setting an example to them.
Sometimes, there were some people who came to him, acted rudely and even insulted him. If he had raised a finger, a hundred swords would have cut off his head. However, he reacted gently towards those rude and harsh behaviors. (Gülen, 1997, 1:403).Bukhari and Muslim narrate from Abu Said al-Khudri: A man called Dhu'l-Huwaysira came to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). Meanwhile, the Messenger of Allah were dividing the war booty. He addressed our Prophet insolently: "O Muhammad, be just!" (If that word were said to one of us, we would have a shock. As a matter of fact, we can be unfair. However, the person to whom that sentence was said was a prophet who was appointed to bring justice to the world.)Hazrat Umar, who was there at that time, roared when he heard that disrespectful remark and said, “Let me cut off that munafiq’s head, O Messenger of Allah!”After soothing Hazrat Umar and those who thought like him, the Messenger of Allah turned to that man said to him only the following: "Woe on you! If I am not just, who else can be just? (Bukhari, "Adab", 95; Muslim, "Zakat", 142) In other narrations, the reply of our Prophet is in a different form that can mean as follows: "Woe on me if I am not just; it means I am destroyed. Woe on you because of my injustice because you follow me as a prophet!" (Gülen, 1997, 1:405-406)The following are guiding principles related to tolerance:
Open your heart to everybody, let it be like oceans! Be filled with belief and feel love for people; let there be no dejected heart that you have not been interested in and you have not helped..! Appraise the good people due to their good deeds; be generous towards believing hearts; approach the faithless people softly so that their animosity and hatred will melt away; be like Messiah with your breaths...! Drive away the bad deeds with good deeds; do not heed rude attitudes! Everybody reflects his own character through their behavior. Prefer the way of tolerance and be noble-hearted towards those who do not have good manners..! It is the most distinguished quality of a heart that is full of love to love the love and to turn against hostility. To hate everybody is either an indication of having been directed by the devil or a sign of insanity. Love human beings; admire humanity..! (Gülen, Ölçü veya Yoldaki Işıklar, p. 101)3. GradualismWhen we look at the events happening in the universe, we see a gradualism. That gradualism is one of the most important points in conveying the message of Islam.
We know that our Prophet (pbuh) conveyed the message of Islam gradually and step by step, and the Quran was sent down in 23 years. The 23-year period was divided into two; the first period is called the Period of Makkah, and the second period as the Period of Madinah.Although it is possible to mention several periods in the Period of Makkah, it is possible to deal with it as two periods: one when the message of Islam was conveyed secretly, the other when it was conveyed openly. The following verse is quite meaningful about the call in Makkah: " Invite (all) to the way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious: for thy Lord knoweth, best who have strayed from His Path, and who receive guidance." (Nahl, 16/125)The verses that were sent down during the Period of Makkah generally contained the fundamentals of belief, ethical principles, behavioral criteria and advice.The Period of Madinah was a period when, on the on hand, Islamic legal system was enacted and settled and on the other hand, the barriers between the slave and Allah were tried to be eliminated. (Buti, S. Ramazan, Fiqhu's-Sira p. 95).
The Master of the universe (pbuh) conveyed the message of Islam in accordance with the conditions of each period; he did not burden a load of 40 kg on someone who had the capacity of 10 kg, thus, he did not cause that person to be injured. He treated people in accordance with their states and paved the way for people to warm to Islam and have belief in their hearts.That principle of the Messenger of Allah is a main principle that will serve as an example till Doomsday. Abdurrashid Ibrahim, the famous traveler who visited Japan in the 1900’s, narrates the following: "I told a Japanese person, who became a Muslim as a result of my tabligh, only about the fard prayers. He started to pray as I taught him. Once, he saw me performing sunnah prayer and asked me what it was. I said it was the sunnah of the Prophet. He asked me, “Why did you not tell me about it before?” I said, “If I had told you about it when you first became a Muslim, it could have been difficult for your soul.” He said, “You are right”, and started to perform sunnah prayers from then on (Abdurrashid Ibrahim, Japonya'da İslâmiyet, 1:156).4. Attributing the Results to AllahOur Prophet (pbuh) did whatever necessary for something and left the rest to Allah. He never boasted about the success and achievement that Allah granted, on the contrary, he often said that all good results came from Allah and that nothing would have happened but for His help.The faithful people loving the Prophet (pbuh) and following his path always attributed the achievements to Him, and they did not have euphoria of victory. A believer should fulfill his duty and should not interfere with the duty of Allah. A very outstanding example regarding the issue is as follows:It is very well known that Jalaluddin Harzamshah, a hero of Islam who defeated the army of Jenghiz Khan several times, was addressed by his viziers and commanders as follows while he was setting out for a battle:
"You shall be victorious, God Almighty will make you the winner."
He answered them as follows:"My duty is to fight in the way of Allah. I cannot interfere in his duty. To make someone victorious or a loser is his duty. (Nursî, Lem’alar (*****es), 17. Lema)Naturally, when one has such mentality, he will not be conceited and will not boast about anything; he will not show egocentrism, either