Advice from Umar r.a

From Umar r.a :


"I looked at all friends and did not find a better friend than safeguarding the tongue.

I thought about all dresses, but did not find a better dress than piety.

I thought about all types of wealth, but did not find a better wealth than contentment in little.

I thought of all types of good deeds, but did not find a better deed than offering good advice.

I looked at all types of sustenance but did not find a better sustenance than patience."


This seemingly short advice does carry a lot in it. It does seem simple yet looking into it, we see a remarkable depth of wisdom.

The best way to maintain a good friendship and ukhuwah is by being cautious of what we say to our friends as not to offend them. And being cautious of what we say of them behind them.

• Clothes are used for protection, and for identification, and so is piety, it gives us protection from deviating from the straight path, and help give us the identity of a Muslim.
  
• Wealth is not measurable, whether it is enough or not depends on the person itself, and people are never satisfied with what they get. It is only enough when he is content - that is when he is truly wealthy.
  
• Advice is certainly a major thing in Islam. Being human, we cannot escape from doing mistake and forgetting our responsibility, thus having people reminding us is certainly a blessing for us.
  
• Sustenance is literally the thing we need so as to live and remain in the best of state i.e to maintain continuity. Patience is then like a cooling water, keeping our temperature down, because in anger, people are like volcanoes which might burst anytime, and end up doing things they may regret later, if not for the patience to cool things down. It is also what we need during troubled times lest we break down, something to keep us going, something to sustain ourselves.

This is just an encapsulation of what can be seen from the advice. Others might see it differently. Quoting Gai Eaton in his book "Islam and the destiny of Man" :

"To every statement I would gladly add a formula of great significance in the context of Islam, a formula which indicates that God knows best, He alone knows truly, and those who speak or write must always keep in mind their relative ignorance and the limitations of their perspective, just as the living must always keep death in mind : Wa Allahu 'alam."