The sincere Muslim woman whose heart is filled with the sweetness of faith likes for her Muslim sister what she likes for herself. So she never forgets to pray for her in her absence, a du’aa’ that is filled with the warmth of sincere love and sisterhood. She knows that such du’aa’ (supplication) are the quickest to be answered because of their sincerity and warmth of feeling and the noble intention behind them. This is confirmed by the words of the Prophet (pbuh):
“The quickest prayer to be answered is a man’s supplication for his brother in his absence”
The Sahaabah understood this and used to ask their brothers to pray for them whenever they were in a situation where their prayers would be answered. Men and women alike shared this virtue, which is indicative of the high level of the entire society during that golden period of our histiry. Bukhari reports, in al-Adab al-Mufrad, from Safwaan ibn Abdullah ibn Safwaan, whose wife was Darda’ bint Abu al-Darda’. He said, “I came to visit them in Damascus, and found Umm ad-darda’ in the house, but Abu ad-Darda’ was not there. She said, “Do you want to go for Hajj?” I said, “Yes.” She said, ‘Pray for me, for the Prophet (pbuh) used to say,
‘The Muslim’s prayer for his absent brother will be answered. There is an angel at his head who, whenever he prays for his brother, says, Ameen, and you shall have likewise.’
He (Safwaan) said, ” I meet Abu Darda’ in the market and he told me something similar, reporting from the Prophet.”
The Prophet (pbuh) instilled team spirit in the souls of Muslim men and women at every opportunity, strengthening the ties of love for the sake of Allah between them, spreading an attitude of selflessness, and uprooting the inclination towards the individualism and selfishness in order that the Muslim society should be infused with feelings of love, close ties, solidarity and selflessness.
One of the brilliant ways in which he(pbuh) instilled this team spirit was his response to the man who prayed out loud:
“O’ Allah, forgive me and Muhammad only”. He told him, “You have denied it to many people.”
In this way, the Prophet (pbuh) does not correct the man alone, but he effectively instilled team spirit in the entire ummah of Islam, and tught every Muslim, men and women, no matter when or where they lived, that is not right for anyone who has uttered the words of Shahaadah to keep goodness for himself, because the believer should always like for his brother what he likes for himself.
Source: The Ideal Muslimah by Dr Muhammad Ali al-Hashimi
p/s: Of course, this applies to Muslim brothers too, but since the book is about being a true Muslimah, so bear with the choice of words i.e. she instead of he, etc
It’s winter holiday, so people are going around visiting friends as well as making new ones. Make our sisterhood (and brotherhood) meaningful for the sake of Allah
Let’s pray for our brothers n sisters!