# Allah Loves Gentleness | Episode 16 **Author:** Dr. Omar Suleiman **Series:** Allah Loves **Published:** 2019-05-21 **YouTube:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LlohFkpoy8 **URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-gentleness-episode-16 **Topics:** Allah, Faith ## Description “Allah is Gentle and He loves gentleness in all affairs.” This episode illustrates the example of Prophet Muhammad’s composure and gentleness with those who taunted him, even at the height of his power. ## Transcript **[0:00]** As-salamu alaykum, welcome back to Allah Loves. So last episode we talked about honor and **[0:20]** a sense of protection and we've talked about strength. So we're going to tone it down a little bit but we're going to show how this concept is actually not contradictory. The Prophet ﷺ was one day walking with A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, and there was a group of people in Medina, a group of people in the book that yelled out and they said **[0:36]** salamu alaykum which means may death be upon you instead of salam. And the Prophet ﷺ said wa alaykum and upon you and the reason why he said that ﷺ is because if they said salam and they said it really fast then salam upon you and if they said salam which means the opposite of salam then it's upon you but he kept himself composed ﷺ and calm. **[0:57]** A'ishah was outraged by the fact that they spoke to the Prophet ﷺ that way and so she screamed back at them and she said wa alaykum wa salam wa la'na and upon you is the curse of Allah and upon you is the anger of Allah and she started to shout back at them. And **[1:12]** the Prophet ﷺ told her to calm down and he said to her that, she said don't you know what they said? Didn't you hear what they said to you O Messenger of Allah? He said didn't you hear what I repeated? And then he said to A'ishah he said inna Allaha rafiq yuhibbu alrifqa fil amri kulli. Very beautifully he said that Allah is gentle and Allah loves **[1:32]** gentleness in all things. A lot of times when you read the seerah of the Prophet ﷺ you read it to confirm an attribute that you have. So if a person wants to be strong and a person wants to justify their behavior in a context they go and they take something from the Prophet **[1:48]** ﷺ where he demonstrated a sense of anger, a sense of aggressiveness that wasn't common from the Prophet ﷺ or the opposite of it. So anyone that wants to justify any type of engagement or compromise uses Surah Hudaybiyah, the treaty of Hudaybiyah. Anyone that wants to justify the opposite of that they'll use another incident. But you have to read the **[2:06]** seerah honestly. The default of the Prophet ﷺ was that Allah loves gentleness in all of his affairs and so if the Prophet ﷺ departed from that it was for good reason. It was to send a very specific message in a specific context. But what does this mean and how do **[2:22]** you compare gentleness? Just as Allah is gentle and Allah is kind, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala also has attributes that denote punishment, that denote a sense of anger depending on the context. That doesn't mean that Allah stops being Rahman and Rahim and Wadood and Ghafoor. That means that there are contexts that determine that type of response. And **[2:43]** in this situation the Prophet ﷺ is saying that the general default is gentleness in all of your affairs. Now the way that we also understand this and understanding the Sunnah in a holistic way is that you don't have to be loud or aggressive or foul to denote **[2:58]** strength. Rather those things are actually signs of weakness. The Prophet ﷺ's composure in the face of the types of taunts and insults that he received in Mecca and Medina were actually portrayals of strength. That he wasn't going to allow his enemies to get in his head **[3:14]** or to drive him away from his principles and his ethics. The Prophet ﷺ speaking in a calm manner, not raising his voice at people to win an argument, not cutting people off, not demonstrating aggression and power even when the Prophet ﷺ was at the height of his power was in fact a symbol of strength and a show of strength. So just like Allah **[3:33]** azza wa jalla despite having all of the authority over all of his creation yet still opting, yet still showing gentleness and kindness, we too show our greatest strength when we are in positions of power but we opt for gentleness and kindness not in a way that would cause **[3:51]** injustice to be rampant but in a way that stops us from becoming unjust or departing from our natural goodness and core. So inna Allah harafiq yuhibbu alrifqa fil amri kulli Allah is gentle and Allah loves gentleness in all things. We ask Allah to place that attribute within us and to allow us to act upon it even when the devil tries to stoke **[4:11]** our anger and to cause us to depart from it. Allahuma Ameen. Jazakum Allah Khayran. See you all next time inshaAllah. Wa Salamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullah. ## Other Episodes in "Allah Loves" - [Allah Loves Beauty | Episode 30](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-beauty-episode-30.md) - [Allah Loves the Acceptance of His Gifts | Episode 29](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-the-acceptance-of-his-gifts-episode-29.md) - [Allah Loves Being Prophetic | Episode 28](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-being-prophetic-episode-28.md) - [Allah Loves Generosity in Trade | Episode 27](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-generosity-in-trade-episode-27.md) - [Allah Loves the Unnoticed | Episode 26](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-the-unnoticed-episode-26.md) - [Allah Loves Your Mother | Episode 25](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-your-mother-episode-25.md) - [Allah Loves Love | Episode 24](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-love-episode-24.md) - [Allah Loves The Mosques | Episode 23](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-the-mosques-episode-23.md) - [Allah Loves Cleanliness | Episode 22](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-cleanliness-episode-22.md) - [Allah Loves Punctual Prayer | Episode 21](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-punctual-prayer.md) - [Allah Loves Consistency | Episode 20](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-consistency-episode-20.md) - [Allah Loves Due Diligence | Episode 19](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-due-diligence-episode-19.md) - [Allah Loves Forbearance and Deliberation | Episode 18](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-forbearance-episode-18.md) - [Allah Loves Humility Without Disgrace | Episode 17](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-humility-without-disgrace-episode-17.md) - [Allah Loves Honor | Episode 15](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-honor-episode-15.md) - [Allah Loves Healthy Pride | Episode 14](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-healthy-pride-episode-14.md) - [Allah Loves Independence | Episode 13](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-independence-episode-13.md) - [Allah Loves Strength | Episode 12](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-strength-episode-12.md) - [Allah Loves Beneficial People | Episode 11](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-beneficial-people-episode-11.md) - [Allah Loves Justice | Episode 10](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-justice-episode-10.md) - [Allah Loves Patience | Episode 9](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-patience-episode-9.md) - [Allah Loves Trust | Episode 8](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-trust-episode-8.md) - [Allah Loves Tears and Traces | Episode 7](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-tears-and-traces-episode-7.md) - [Allah Loves Those Who Are Trying | Episode 6](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-those-who-are-trying-episode-6.md) - [Allah Loves Sincere Supplication | Episode 5](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-sincere-supplication-episode-5.md) - [Allah Loves Angelic Praise | Episode 4](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-angelic-praise-episode-4.md) - [Allah Loves Excellence | Episode 3](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-excellence-episode-3.md) - [Allah Loves Repentance | Episode 2](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-repentance-episode-2.md) - [Allah Loves Piety | Episode 1](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-taqwa-episode-1.md) - [Allah Loves: Series Introduction](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/allah-loves/allah-loves-series-introduction.md)