Benefits From Luqman’s Advice to His Son

In Chapter 31 of the Holy Qur’an verses 13 to 19, Allah mentions the sayings of Luqman the Wise to his son. Firstly it should be mentioned here that Luqman was not a prophet according to the strongest opinion and Allah knows best. These advices however contain great benefit and wisdom that I found it beneficial to mention and remind our brothers and sisters of. These ten advices include aspects of aqeedah, character and etiquettes as well as important principles like enjoining good and forbidding evil. The first verse mentions the evil of shirk and it is appropriate that it is the first thing that Allah mentioned since it is the gravest of all sins, in addition to the fact that the call of the Prophets began with tawheed and it is the foundation on which the faith of the believer in Allah the Exalted is based. Allah said

The second thing which Luqman reminds his son with is the rights of the parents. This reminder is similar to other verses of the Qur’an in which the rights of the parents are mentioned immediately following the command to avoid shirk and this is to highlight the importance of being dutiful to parents such as in the statement of Allah:

Allah mentions during the advice of Luqman to his son:

The hardships faced in bearing children are also mentioned:

This is a reminder of the rights of the parents and in particular the mother and the dependence of the infant upon her. The last part of this verse is a warning from Allah that every person will be judged by on the Day of Resurrection for what they did in the life of this world.

But even with these rights that Allah has guaranteed for the parents, He warns of the limits that exist in ensuring these rights and that Allah’s right to be obeyed takes precedence if the parents disbelieve and call on their children to transgress the rights of the Creator.

Thirdly, Luqman describes some of the power of Allah and His complete knowledge of the hidden and apparent. Luqman is teaching his son about the greatness of Allah which is of utmost importance as it is connected to the attributes of the Most High

which every believer must learn in order to give Allah the rights that are due to Him from worship and reverence.

Fourthly, Luqman advises his son to establish the prayer which is another of the rights of Allah and the servant should worship Him in the way that He prescribes for them in completion and perfection.

The prayer is the second pillar of Islam as taught by the final Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. It is a direct communication between the servant and his Lord and it is something that the Muslim parent is responsible for teaching and enjoining upon his children.

The fifth advice has to do with enjoining good and forbidding evil which is one of the fundamental qualities of the Muslim nation and the importance of this command is mentioned by Luqman to his son because it is a means of rectifying and protecting society from the evils of the weak minded.

In the same verse, the sixth advice is about being patient, and this is no doubt an important and comprehensive advice as patience is an essential component of the character of a Muslim without which he will not be able to deal with the obstacles and difficulties of life. In addition to this, a believer has a reward with Allah for bearing with patience whatever occurs to him.

The seventh advice has to do with false pride and arrogance.

This admonition is meant to teach good character and being humble which is an important aspect of good character as pride is for Allah alone and not for the human being.

The eighth advice is to walk in a way that is not haughty, the opposite of what we see many men doing today. The walk and strut of insolence and boasting is not from the character of the believers.

The ninth advice is to be moderate in speech and in the way one walks. These advices show the comprehensive nature of the Islamic shariah which includes every aspect of the life of a Muslim. All of these advices are in keeping with the goals and teachings of Islam. These guidelines also bring respect to the believer and are a means for guiding others to Islam since people do not like arrogance.

The tenth and final advice as mentioned in this surah deals with the way a believer should speak. He should not be loud and harsh in speech as that in contrary to the character of a believer.

The benefit of this last advice is such that shouting will only alienate and offend people, turning them away from the speaker. A Muslim is supposed to have the highest and best character in all aspects of his personality in order to attract the hearts of people to the truth. We ask Allah to beautify our personalities and to benefit from these wise words from the Book of Allah the Exalted.