Surah TaHa is a powerful surah that is literally filled with gems of wisdom. It is the surah that changed the heart of Umar Ibn Al-Khattab from being a vicious hater of the Muslims into one of world's best. But perhaps the one aya that strucks me the most is aya 44, where Allah SWT says:
| فَقُولَا لَهُ قَوْلًا لَيِّنًا لَعَلَّهُ يَتَذَكَّرُ أَوْ يَخْشَىٰ |
And speak to him gently so that he may take reminder or become *'khashiya'
These are Allah's words towards Musa AS when He ordered him to go to firaun (the pharaoh). It's truly incredible. Musa, the prophet, is told to give reminder to firaun, a man who had ordered the execution of all of Bani Israel's male children every other year, a man who wants Musa AS dead, a man who has the audacity to claim himself a god, a man who could easily be called the worst man who had ever lived the earth.
And still Allah SWT reminds Musa AS to speak to him gently.
SubhanAllah this got me thinking, if a man as bad as firaun deserves to be spoken gently to, how much more deserving do our children, our students, our friends or even our leaders do? This is a very simple yet powerful advice from Allah SWT. Let's try to incorporate it into our speech whenever we are giving advice or dakwah to others. And if we happen to talk to someone we really abhore, remember: that person can't be much worse than firaun.
Wallahua'lam.
*'Khashiya' is usually translated as fear. However, according to br. Nouman Ali Khan, that is a very shallow translation as there are 12 different words in the Quran that are translated as fear. The words 'khauf' and 'taqwa' for example, a also both translated as fear. 'Khashiya' does mean fear, but it's a very specific type of fear. It is a fear of something magnanimous, that simply being in it's presence makes us humbled.
Posts
