وَعِبَادُ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلَّذِينَ يَمۡشُونَ عَلَى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ هَوۡنً۬ا وَإِذَا خَاطَبَهُمُ ٱلۡجَـٰهِلُونَ قَالُواْ سَلَـٰمً۬ا
63. The ones that walk humbly on the earth, and when the ignorant address them, they say: peace!
Allah subhanahu wata’ala calls those He calls and addresses them as His servants. Allah subhanahu wata’ala is the master, and we are His servants.
We are prone to forgetting this, rather we have become the master of our desires.
The most beloved being to Allah subhanahu wata’ala is Nabi salAllahu alayhi wa sallam. Nabi salAllahu alayhi wa sallam was the only Prophet to have been given Mi’raj, to have had such a close proximity to Allah subhanahu wata’ala that even the angel Jibraeel as could not go any further.
Allah subhanahu wata’ala says in the Qur’an: “Praise be to the One who has taken His servant in the night.” - (Surah Mi’raj.)
Nabi salAllahu alayhi wa sallam is the most beloved of Allah subhanahu wata’ala, and here Allah subhanahu wata’ala addresses Nabi salAllahu alayhi wa sallam as His abd’.
The highest status one can attain is to be an abd’, this is the essence of our being, to worship Allah subhanahu wata’ala, to fulfil His rights upon us as His servants.
Out of all the attributes of Allah subhanahu wata’ala, out of the 99 names that we learn, Allah subhanahu wata’ala chooses Al-Rahman,
Al-Rahman is in the mubaalagha form, meaning that it is exaggerated.
Allah subhanahu wata’ala chooses to call us the servants of the Most Merciful. When reading these attributes of Allah subhanahu wata’ala, as reported in a hadith, Nabi salAllahu alayhi wa sallam said we too should strive to incorporate such characteristics, therefore as servants of the Most Merciful, we should try to adopt the trait of mercy.
Nabi salAllahu alayhi wa sallam is reported to have walked very robustly - as if the Earth was being folded up for him.
An incorrect Manner of Walking.
In the time when Umar ra was the khalifa, he witnessed a young man walking very slowly, in a very weak manner. Umar ra asked if he was doing this because of weakness, but that man was not. Umar ra then told the man not to walk like this, though it is walking in a ‘weak’ manner, it can be seen as if one is being very proud.
When Nabi salAllahu alayhi wa sallam walked, he walked with a purpose, very robustly, heading towards his destination.
مرح - an arrogant way of walking.
Allah subhanahu wata’ala dislikes the trait of arrogance within His believers. The cloak of Allah subhanahu wata’ala is pride, therefore we should not even go near it, as only Allah subhanahu wata’ala has the right to be arrogant.
In the Qur’an many times, Allah subhanahu wata’ala says: “Is not jahannum the place for the mutakabbireen?”
“and when the ignorant address them, they say: peace!”
The ignorant refers to those who are ignorant who speak to them, or those who interact with ignorant speech, Allah subhanahu wata’ala says that these servants only say good to such people.
When an arrogant person addressed Nabi salAllahu alayhi wa sallam in arrogance, and continued in their arrogance, this only increased the forbearance of Nabi salAllahu alayhi wa sallam.
Allah subhanahu wata’ala does allow qisas - to take revenge; however these servants do not do this, they only speak good, they only speak that which is proper and upright.
وَٱلَّذِينَ يَبِيتُونَ لِرَبِّهِمۡ سُجَّدً۬ا وَقِيَـٰمً۬ا
64. Those who spend their nights prostrating and standing up.
These servants stand up in prayer in the night, they engage in the prayer of tahajjud. Nabi salAllahu alayhi wa sallam encouraged the prayer of tahajjud, it was a practice of the righteous before you.