KHUTAB III - 16. H.IKMAH (WISDOM) (2)

16. H.IKMAH (WISDOM) (2)

Brothers in Islam,

          What is “wisdom”? It is “the power of seeing clearly what is right and just”. A wise person possesses sound judgment concerning his highest interests, and in his own conduct choosing the best end and the best means in reaching that end. A wise man has good practical judgment, a person who has a high degree of knowledge and learning. In Arabic he is called h.akīm, a person who possesses h.ikmah (wisdom). The Lebanese people call their physicians h.akīms. One of the persons endowed with wisdom mentioned in the Qur’ān was Luqmān al-H.akīm, the Sage. Allah said,  وَلَقَدْ آَتَيْنَا لُقْمَانَ الْحِكْمَةَ (لقمان : ١٢) “And indeed We bestowed upon Luqmān al- h.ikmah (wisdom)…” (Q. 31:12).

          Some examples of using sound judgment are as follows:

(1) A man complained to the judge that a person had borrowed money from him, but the person denied it and refused to pay it back. The accused was summoned.

            “Was there any witness at the time and place where you loaned your money to this person?” asked the judge.

            “Nobody, sir,” said the lender, “except there was a stone at that place.”

            The judge ordered his men to bring the stone as a witness. Being confident that the stone could not be witness against him, the borrower said,

 “The stone cannot talk against me. Moreover, it is too big and too heavy to bring it here.” 

 At that moment, the judge realised that the borrower had been there where he borrowed money, as he knew the size of the stone. This is an indirect confession. Therefore, the judge asked him to pay back his debt.

(2) A detective suspected a person of murder, but there was not enough evidence to arrest him. The detective came to him to ask him to help him in a very polite and indirect way to solve this crime. He suggested that the criminal might have used such-and-such weapon in such-and such a way, and asked the criminal’s opinion. Since the detective brought to him an unreasonable theory, on each visit, the criminal eventually “helped” him and told him precisely how the crime had been committed. The detective nodded admiring the smartness of the criminal in committing his crime. At the same time this was an indication that the criminal did the crime, as he knew how he did it. This was an indirect confession. The man was arrested.

              “Well,” said the detective, “I am arresting you as a murder suspect.” 

(3) It happened in the Second World War, an American officer who captured a German officer, would like to know the secret of the new German weapon. Instead of torturing the German officer, he told him boastfully about the superiority of the American weapons and started deriding the German weapons. The German officer felt humiliated, and unconsciously explained and revealed the secret of the German new weapons.

(4) An old Arab emigrant who lived close to New York City wanted to plant potatoes in his garden, but he was too old and too weak to do it. He sent an e-mail to his son who was studying in a college in Paris.

“Beloved son, I am very sad, because I cannot plant potatoes in my garden. I am sure if you were here you would help me dig up the garden.” (English version).

“My beloved son, Ahmad. I wish you were with me now, so that you could help me cultivating the garden to grow potatoes, as I have nobody who could help me.” [Arabic version]

                   The next day at 3.45 p.m. the father received the reply, as follows:

“Beloved father, please do not touch the garden. It’s there that I have hidden ‘the THING’. Love, Ahmad.”  [English version]

“Dear father. Please, never cultivate the garden as I have hidden something in it. When I return home I shall tell you what it is. Your son, Ahmad.” [Arabic version]

                   At  4.02 p.m. [17 minutes later] the U.S. army, Mariners, Rangers, Police officers from the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, and CIA surrounded the house, took the whole garden apart, searching every inch, but could not find anything, then left.

                   A day later, the father received another e-mail, as follows:

“Beloved father. I hope the garden is dug up by now, and you can plant your potatoes. That’s all I could do for you from here.  Love, Ahmad.” [English version].

“Dear father. I hope that the land has been well cultivated now. This is what I can do to help you while I am in Paris. If you need anything else, please tell me, and forgive me for my limitation. Your son, Ahmad.”  [Arabic version]. 

Nowadays, in this 21^st century, men’s lives become more complicated. They create more problems, and solving them requires more wisdom, due to their complexity. Even if we do not create our own problems, they are imposed on us.  We cannot avoid them. The English proverb says, “Shut your door and stay in your house, yet troubles will come from the sky.” But the wise saying also says, “A wise hand can pull an elephant with a thread.” We desperately need wisdom more than ever before, so that we can act properly in solving any problem we are facing. Any foolish act could stain our reputation as Muslims in our community.  Let us keep praying, asking Allah for His guidance, and keep obeying and fearing Him, so that He would give us wisdom. It is said, رأس الحكمة مخافة الله “The head of wisdom is fearing Allah.” How? By obeying Him. (ANUMA, 26 January, 07).