Be Generous: It Perfects All Imperfections

The best development of moral character is when self-assertion and appetition are disciplined so that consistently all movement of the heart or limbs follows deliberate thought. For a Muslim, that is when a person acts and reacts according to the energy of reason and the synergy of religious law. As a result personal and social virtue is produced. Emotional maturity by means of this moral development emerges when the revelation of God and the wisdom of the examples of God (His prophets) are completely and intimately followed. This is one of the subtle meanings we understand from the revelation: "Indeed you are truly vast in character" (The Pen, 68:4). And from the explained wisdom of the Beloved of God (Prophet Muhammadﷺ) when he reportedly said, “I was only sent to perfect noble character.” [Ahmad]

The most perfect people of character with human imperfections would be those blessed to be in the company of the Messenger of God. We know he fully cultivated and nurtured good people to become great people of character. Among the dean’s list of those best in character would be the al-`Ashara al-Mubasharîn bi-l-Janna, or the Ten Promised Paradise. In this case study I will highlight one of those ten noble companions, less known, Talhah, son of Ubaidullah. According to the Messenger of God ﷺ this companion personified the virtue and character trait of generosity. Regarding this particular virtue ofbeing generous, I believe religious leaders on the front lines in communities today need this virtue more than any other. As chaplains and imams we should really consider why Talhah was given the title of al Kareem "The Generous", which is an attribute of God by the one who exemplified this attribute himself, the Messenger of God ﷺ.

It is reported that the Messenger of God ﷺ said, “The believers most perfect in faith are those best in character” [Tirmidhi]. Thus the opposite is true— imperfections of faith manifest when knowledge, appetition, and self-assertion are either under or over developed, which results in imbalanced moral calibration. Only the Beloved of God had them all in perfect proportions at all times, in every place and under every human condition. Talhah was not the wealthiest among The Ten Promised Paradise by far. So how is it possible that he was given the title “The Generous”? This question intrigued me enough to search for the meaning from our tradition. Accordingly, al-Ghazali gives the definition as, that which manifests in a person when self-assertion functions under the proper control of reason, which begets the following virtue of shaja'a (courage). Ghazali says, when the virtue of courage acts as the regulator or the mean between badhakh (extravagance) and badhala (miserliness) in the person, the virtue of karam (generosity) becomes perfectly manifest in an individual. This definition made me think broader and deeper about why the Beloved of God ﷺ would call Talhah, “The Generous”. Finally, I searched the Seerah looking for this generosity when Talhah distinguished himself especially among his elite peers noted as having the best of character.

In the most unusual of places, I found an excellent example of Talhah’s distinction of generosity among his peers, where his gift to a fellow Muslim was neither extravagant nor miserly but perfectly placed between those two extreme options. Why he was called ‘The Generous’ manifested when someone from the Muslims was in absolute need. In fact, the Qur’an describes this person’s absolute need when it states:

And (He turned in mercy also) to the three left behind and whose cases had been deferred (because they had not taken part in the campaign of Tabuk): (they felt such remorse that) the earth was too narrow for them despite all its vastness, and their souls became utterly constricted for them, and they came to perceive fully that there is no refuge from God except in Him. Then He turned to them in mercy, that they might repent and recover their former state (in Islam). Surely God is the One Who truly returns repentance with liberal forgiveness and additional reward, the All-Compassionate (especially towards His believing servants.) (Sura Tawba 9:118)

This story is mentioned in general in the Qur’an but in full detail in the books of seerah and hadith. For the sake of brevity I will use selections to examine and show how Talhah’s noble character was distinguished in regards to his generosity among his peers.

Ka’b ibn Malik describes the background and his condition to his son:

“As for my news (in this battle of Tabuk), I had never been stronger or wealthier than I was when I remained behind the Prophet in that Ghazwa.”

He then describes the clarity of the time and place:

"Whenever the Messenger of God wanted to make a Ghazwa, he used to hide his intention by apparently referring to different Ghazwa till it was the time of that Ghazwa (of Tabuk) which the Messenger of God fought in severe heat, facing, a long journey, desert, and the great number of enemy. So,(in this case) the Prophet announced to the Muslims clearly (their destination) so that they might get prepared for their Ghazwa. So he informed them clearly of the destination he was going to."

Ka’b describes intending to get prepared everyday but never doing it. He then describes looking at all those left behind as the known hypocrites or those excused due to a sickness or weakness. His remorse and shame gripped him. The Beloved of Allah asked about him in Tabuk and he was described as being distracted by his wealth but Mu’adh, son of Jabal defending Ka’b by saying ‘we know of nothing but good of him’ but The Beloved of Allah ﷺ remained silent.

Ka’b himself described details of his worldly distractions at the time:

‘The Messenger of God was accompanied by a large number of Muslims who could not be listed in a book namely, a register." Ka'b added, "Any man who intended to be absent would think that the matter would remain hidden unless Allah revealed it through Divine Revelation. So the Messenger of God fought that Ghazwa at the time when the fruits had ripened and the shade looked pleasant.’

Ka'b bin Malik describes his internal struggle and recovery from heedlessness to awareness:

"When I heard that he (i.e. the Prophet Muhammad) was on his way back to Medina. I got dipped in my concern, and began to think of false excuses, saying to myself, 'How can I avoid his anger tomorrow?' And I took the advice of a wise member of my family in this matter. When it was said that The Messenger of God, had come near all the evil false excuses abandoned from my mind and I knew well that I could never come out of this problem by forging a false statement. Then I decided firmly to speak the truth.”

Thus, after wrong action became manifest in Ka’b his internal calibration and moral character prohibited him from lying. Ka’b had resolved to speak the truth in hope of God’s forgiveness and out of respect of the Beloved Messenger of God ﷺ.

Ka’b bin Malik describes the situation:

“So the Messenger of God arrived in the morning, and whenever he returned from a journey, he used to visit the Mosque first of all and offer a two-rak'aat prayer therein and then sit for the people. So when he had done all that (this time), those who had failed to join the battle (of Tabuk) came and started offering (false) excuses and taking oaths before him. They were something over eighty men; the Messenger of God accepted the excuses they had expressed, took their pledge of allegiance asked for Allah's forgiveness for them, and left the secrets of their hearts for Allah to judge. Then I came to him, and when I greeted him, he smiled a smile of an angry person and then said, 'Come on.' So I came walking till I sat before him. He said to me, “What stopped you from joining us.”

Ka’b told the truth and so did two other known righteous companions; in fact, those other companions were two older men who fought in the Battle of Badr. Ka’b added:

”The Messenger of God forbade all the Muslims to talk to us, the three aforesaid persons out of all those who had remained behind in that Ghazwa. So we kept away from the people and they changed their attitude towards us till the very land (where I lived) appeared strange to me as if I did not know it.”

Ka'b describes the scene of shunning:

”We remained in that condition for fifty nights. As regards my two fellows, they remained in their houses and kept on weeping, but I was the youngest of them and the firmest of them, so I used to go out and witness the prayers along with the Muslims and roam about in the markets, but none would talk to me, and I would come to the Messenger of God and greet him while he was sitting in his gathering after the prayer, and I would wonder whether the Prophet did move his lips in return to my greetings or not. Then I would offer my prayer near to him and look at him stealthily. When I was busy with my prayer, he would turn his face towards me, but when I turned my face to him, he would turn his face away from me."

Ka’b’s narrates his condition upon the acceptance of his repentance:

“When I had offered the Fajr prayer on the 50th morning on the roof of one of our houses and while I was sitting in the condition which God described (in the Quran) i.e. my very soul seemed straitened to me and even the earth seemed narrow to me for all its spaciousness, there I heard the voice of one who had ascended the mountain of Sala' calling with his loudest voice, 'O Kab bin Malik! Be happy (by receiving good tidings).' I fell down in prostration before God, realizing that relief has come. The Messenger of God had announced the acceptance of our repentance by Allah when he had offered the Fajr prayer. …. When he (i.e. the man) whose voice I had heard, came to me conveying the good tidings, I took off my garments and dressed him with them; and by God, I owned no other garments than them on that day. Then I borrowed two garments and wore them and went to the Messenger of God.”

At the end of this narration from Ka’b to his son about this great trial of his personal character he mentions the character of the general Muslims. Notice the overall spirit and celebration of the common people about Ka’b’s accepted repentance:

“The people started receiving me in batches, congratulating me on God's Acceptance of my repentance, saying, 'We congratulate you on God's Acceptance of your repentance."

However, Ka’b notes a different response from the al-`Ashara al-Mubasharîn bi-l-Janna. Here is the wisdom of the Beloved of God being manifest among them on that day—only one generous soul stood out to Ka’b in his time of need. He adds:

"When I entered the Mosque. I saw the Messenger of God sitting with the people around him. Talha bin Obaidullah swiftly came to me, shook hands with me and congratulated me. By Allah, none of the Muhajirin (i.e. Emigrants) got up for me except him (i.e. Talha), and I will never forget this (act of generosity) by Talha."

Today we need people of character of such generosity that people in absolute need will never forget us. Talhah, the Generous, is one companion to follow in how to welcome back people into our communities after difficult struggles. We should swiftly rush to them with a warm welcome of joy and love after their time and distance from the community. How many today are in need of this type of generosity in our mosques, on our college campuses, coming home from prison, our sons and daughters in the community? May we be given the courage to break corrupting group-think, gender micro and macro aggressions and all exclusive social club statuses that shun race and class. May our imams and chaplains perfect this virtue of karam (generosity.) May God perfect our imperfection of character and increase our faith.