Summary: Indestructible You
1. Become an ideal of integrity. Integrity is more than being honest to others; it is about be true to yourself; it is about true to the innate-natural inclination (fitra) that Allah created you with; it is about true being true to your motives and aligning your actions with those motives.
2. Integrate God consciousness with good behaviour and morality.
3. The greatest obstacle in your way that’s stopping you from achieving that character of unyielding ethics is arrogance. Indeed, it was the very sin that lead satan to reject Allah, rulers to turn into tyrants, and tyrants to persecute the prophets and the righteous.
4. Sincerity can only be attained with humility; humility leads to sincerity; and sincerity is the key to advice (naseeha). Part of naseeha is to understand others; and you can’t expect to understand others without truly, intently and sincerely listening. Similar to how you can’t understand the Quran without being sincere to it.
5. Speak only when necessary: Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “The one who speaks a lot commits lots of mistakes. The one who makes lots of mistakes commits lots of sins. The one who commits lots of sins will have the Hell-fire as the first place for him.” (Quoted in Ibn Rajab, Jaami, vol. 1 p. 339)
6. If the believers’ heart is disturbed, you should avoid doing the action that disturbs the heart. But this is only true for those whose heart is attuned with wisdom (Quran and Sunnah). If the heart is diseased then the heart can’t recognize between truth and falsehood.
7. When you speak, be more than just honest; be simple, brief, and straight forward. Create transparency and openness, confront reality, and recover from mistakes with responsibility.
8. Perform in the realm of excellence. Don’t just do it; do it precisely, accurately and completely. Take your current core basic skills and expand on it by setting milestones while building a track record of excellence.
9. Part of Ihsan are the little kindnesses; institute a smiling attitude, increasing love by giving gifts, being playful; but understand people’s emotional needs in a given circumstance and adapt to it and speak appropriate words to them at the moment.
10. Gratefulness is more than mere words, but it must be shown in your actions through acts of charity towards others – and the concept of charity is more expansive than distribution of wealth.
11. Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Beware of oppression, for oppression will turn into excessive darkness on the day of resurrection; and beware of niggardliness, for niggardliness destroyed your predecessors.” [Muslim] On the other hand, He also said, “The equitable will be seated upon pulpits of light before Allah; those who do justice in the decisions, with their families, and what is entrusted to them.” [Muslim]
12. Trust is built with consistent behaviour. Make commitments carefully, and then keep them. Deliver results upon a shared vision and agreement, and then practice accountability – all the time.
13. Patience is beautiful. Al Hasan al-Basri stated, “There are four characteristics that if one possesses them, Allah protects him from Satan and forbids him from the fire. The one who controls himself while in a state of craving, fearing, desiring [or lusting] and being angry.”
14. Build a relationship with the One who you need the most. Seek assistance only with Allah. On the authority of Abdullah bin Abbas, who said : One day I was behind the prophet and he said to me: “Young man, I shall teach you some words: Be mindful of Allah, and Allah will protect you. Be mindful of Allah, and you will find Him in front of you. If you ask, ask of Allah; if you seek help, seek help of Allah. Know that if the Nation were to gather together to benefit you with anything, it would benefit you only with something that Allah had already prescribed for you, and that if they gather together to harm you with anything, they would harm you only with something Allah had already prescribed for you. The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried.” [At-Tirmithi]
15. Become the standard of unyielding ethics.