Page 16 - Beauties for Life in the Qur'an

14 BEAUTIES FOR LIFE IN THE QUR'AN

tleties that emphasize their profound respect for others. One
way to show this respect is to wear clean clothes. Allah com-
mands us in the Qur'an, as follows:
Children of Adam! Wear fine clothing in every mosque... (Surat
al-A'raf: 31)
Thus, in this issue and others, being physically clean and well
groomed and, in this sense, seeking for the best, are qualities
that please Allah. Such qualities are unimportant to the people
of ignorance. Also, our Prophet (saas) expressed Allah's ap-
proval of such qualities in the following hadith:
Someone asked: "How about a person who likes to wear beautiful clothes
and shoes?" Allah's Messenger replied: "All of Allah's Affairs are
Beautiful, and He likes beauty." (Muslim)
We should be aware of the following point: People generally
tend to be at their best when meeting or trying to impress peo-
ple they consider important. However, due to the Qur'an's
morality, believers find such careful grooming essential because
it fully accords with their desire to please Allah.
Believers are worthy of Paradise and, in this world too, they
engage in a constant effort to keep their bodies and surround-
ings clean so that they may attain the purity and beauty of
Paradise in this world.

Keeping One's Environment Clean
Muslims are meticulous when it comes to keeping their imme-
diate surroundings clean. One example of this is given in the
Surat al-Hajj, in which Allah commands the Prophet Ibrahim
(as) to keep the Ka'abah clean for believers who worship in its
vicinity:
And We located the position of the House for Ibrahim: "Do not
associate anything with Me, and purify My House for those who