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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Islamic Culture and Religious Studies Book -4 Lesson 12 : Akhlaq of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.w.) Part I When trying to instill morals in a person, it is necessary to present a role model who can be followed. Without such a practical example, akhlaq (etiquette) is just a set of theories that written down in books. In secular systems, such models do not exist.

No human is perfect and as such there in nobody who can be looked up to and followed as an example or moral excellence. This makes it difficult for such systems to encourage or convince its followers to strive towards good conduct. Divine schools of thought are the opposite and rely on their guides as examples of perfect conduct. In Islam, this guide is the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.w.) whom the Holy Qur'an calls Uswatun - Hassanah (The Perfect Example).

It says: " Indeed there is for you an apostle from Allah (S.W.T.), an excellent role model." Sura Ahzaab, Verse 21 Having such a perfect example as a model to follow, allows Muslims to ignore the false leaders and to lead a life directed at achieving the perfect character. If we do not study the life of the Prophet (s.a.w.w.) and his seerah, we risk the danger of not being able to differentiate between tradition, culture and Islam.

It is this lack of knowledge and interest that leads people astray and causes them to commit wrong doings in the name of Islam. We must study the life and sunnah of the Prophet (s.a.w.w.) and try our best to follow it as well as we can. It is impossible to fully appreciate his flawless character and equally impossible to achieve the state of perfection that he had either morally or spiritually.

We must however, try to emulate his manners because if we succeed in adopting even a minute aspect of his personality into our own then we will find ourselves above all others in this world and on the road towards success. Using (s.a.w.w.)'s life as our example and source, let us study some of the akhlaq that we should attempt to have in our individual and social lives. We will deal with the individual aspect in this chapter and the social in the next. A.

Individual Morals Prayers The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.w.) was often heard to say, "My happiness is in prayers." One day, while sitting with his companions, the Prophet (s.a.w.w.) asked them that if they lived near a river where they could go and bathe five times day, would any dirt remain upon their bodies? They all answered to the negative.