Central Khutbah: “Style and Elegance Reside in Gentleness and Composure”

The believer is circumspect and reserved: he protects himself from injustice and refrains from placing others in a situation where they would call upon Allah against him because of wrongdoing (zulm). Circumspection is built upon gentleness and composure—qualities that Allah loves. Ibn ‘Amr ibn ‘Abd al-Qays, radiyallahu ‘anhu, reported:

“When we arrived in Madinah, we hurried from our mounts toward the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. Al-Ashajj al-Munzirī, however, waited until he reached his luggage; he put on his two garments—in other versions, he washed himself, put on clean clothes, and applied perfume—then came to the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. The Prophet said to him: ‘In you are two qualities that Allah loves: gentleness and composure.’
He asked: ‘O Messenger of Allah, have I acquired them through effort, or has Allah created me with them?’
He replied: ‘Allah has created you with them.’
He said: ‘Praise be to Allah who has created me upon two qualities that Allah and His Messenger love.’”
(Abū Dāwūd, 5225)

In contrast, among the polytheists we find excess and coarseness.
‘Uqbah ibn Abī Mu‘ayt distinguished himself by his vileness and corruption. Al-Bukhārī reports from ‘Abdullāh ibn Mas‘ūd, radiyallahu ‘anhu:

“One day, the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was praying near the Ka‘bah, and Abū Jahl and his companions were sitting nearby. One of them said: ‘Who among us will go to the butcher and fetch the intestines to throw on Muhammad’s back when he prostrates?’
The most wretched among them, ‘Uqbah ibn Abī Mu‘ayt, volunteered. He brought them, and when the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, prostrated, he placed them on his back, between his shoulders. I watched but could do nothing; even if I had tried, I could not have stopped them. They laughed so hard that they leaned over one another.
The Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, remained in prostration and did not raise his head until his daughter Fātimah came, removed the burden from his back, then he raised his head and said: ‘O Allah, deal with Quraysh! O Allah, deal with Quraysh! O Allah, deal with Quraysh!’
This invocation weighed heavily upon them, for they knew that prayers made in that city were answered. Then he named them: ‘O Lord, deal with Abū Jahl, ‘Utbah ibn Rabī‘ah, Shaybah ibn Rabī‘ah, al-Walīd ibn ‘Utbah, Ubayy ibn Khalaf, ‘Uqbah ibn Abī Mu‘ayt—and I mentioned a seventh but cannot recall who it was.’
By Him in Whose hand is my soul, I saw them all dead in a pit at Badr.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 1/37; hadiths 240, 520, 2934, 3185, 3854, 3960; notes 208–209. The “seventh” was ‘Imārah b. al-Walīd, as stated explicitly in hadith 520.)

“Whenever Ubayy ibn Khalaf saw the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, he would slander and mock him, so Allah revealed: ‘Woe to every slanderer, mocker!’” (Sūrat al-Humazah, 104:1; Ibn Hishām)

The mockery and violence directed against the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, were met with the prayer of the wronged and the justice of Allah.
The believer, therefore, is exceedingly cautious of zulm—he never allows himself to be the one against whom prayers are justly made.

The model of circumspection shown by ‘Abdullāh ibn Mas‘ūd, who reported this episode with the polytheists, is entirely different. ‘Abdullāh ibn Mas‘ūd, radiyallahu ‘anhu, said:

“I was praying; once seated, I began by praising Allah, the Most High, then by sending blessings upon the Messenger, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, then I made supplications for myself. The Messenger, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: ‘Ask, and you will be answered! Ask, and you will be answered!’”
(Aḥmad, 3662; Tirmidhī, 593 — ḥasan)

“In Aḥmad’s version, it is specified that this occurred in the mosque, and Ibn Mas‘ūd said this supplication: ‘O Allah, I ask You for a faith that will never deviate, a blessing that will never fade, and the companionship of the Messenger, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, in the highest eternal dwellings of Paradise.’”
(Aḥmad, 3662)

“As the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, passed by him accompanied by Abū Bakr and ‘Umar, radiyallahu ‘anhumā, he stopped to listen to his recitation of the Qur’an and said: ‘Whoever wishes to recite the Qur’an fresh, as it was revealed, let him recite according to the recitation of Ibn Umm ‘Abd.’”
(Reported from ‘Abdullāh ibn Mas‘ūd; see Musnad Aḥmad and Sunan Ibn Mājah)

“‘Umar, radiyallahu ‘anhu, said: ‘I thought to myself: By Allah, I will go early to ‘Abdullāh to gladden him with the good news of the Prophet’s āmin to his supplication! I went at dawn, and found Abū Bakr, radiyallahu ‘anhu, had already preceded me with this joyous news. I said: “O Abū Bakr, you are always the one who precedes in goodness.”’”
(Reported in the context of the preceding narrations; see Musnad Aḥmad)

The believer’s circumspection is practical: it shapes his conduct toward others (free from violence and mockery), and it shapes his ‘ibādah (beginning with praise of Allah, prayers upon the Messenger, and personal supplication).
Gentleness and composure are both a gift and a duty: a gift when Allah has created us upon them, and a duty to cultivate them daily. Thus, the believer’s style remains distant from haste and zulm, and close to du‘ā’, fairness, and a fresh, living relationship with the Qur’an.

(Central khutbah by the religious leader Hafiz Hilmija Redžić on October 10, 2025, at the “Centre Islamique et Culturel Berat” in Esch-sur-Alzette)