WHO IS A GOOD MAN?
By Babatunde Jose
In Islam, the concept of a good man encompasses several key attributes and responsibilities: A good man is characterized by faith, truthfulness, sacrifice, generosity, courage, and loyalty, guided by divine principles.
He is expected to engage in self-purification through prayer, charity, and the remembrance of Allah. A good man is responsible for establishing regular prayers, giving zakat, and obeying the Prophet, and ensuring his family’s spiritual well-being.
He should be just, kind, compassionate, and responsible, fulfilling the needs of others before himself. A good man continuously strives to improve his character and intellect, seeking knowledge and avoiding sinful behavior.
These attributes and responsibilities reflect the holistic nature of manhood in Islam, emphasizing both personal and communal responsibilities.
However, the concept of a good man varies across different religions and philosophies. The concept of a good man in various philosophical and religious traditions embodies a range of moral and ethical qualities. In Jainism, he is depicted as a virtuous individual adhering to ethical standards, while Vaishnavism emphasizes altruism, selflessness, and moral integrity. Similar themes emerge across texts like the Arthashastra and Purana, where a good man is characterized by righteousness, kindness, and positive influences on others. This multifaceted notion highlights the importance of virtuous behavior, hospitality, and steadfastness in moral character across cultures and philosophies.
The Quran emphasizes the importance of self-purification, devotion, and unwavering faith. It praises those who prioritize remembrance of Allah and uphold prayer and charity.
Key attributes of a good man in Islam include faith, truthfulness, sacrifice, generosity, courage, and loyalty. These qualities contribute to a man’s character and signal the essence of being a righteous human being, as taught by Allah and the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (SAW).
According to Islamic conception man has a wonderful story. The man of Islam is not merely a ‘biped homo erectus’. From the viewpoint of the Holy Qur’an, this being is too profound and too mysterious to be defined in such a simple way. The Holy Qur’an has at one and the same time lauded and disparaged him. It has praised him very highly, but it has also slighted him in the most disparaging terms. It has described him as superior to the heavens, the earth and the angels, but at the same time has also declared that he is inferior even to the Devil and the beasts. The Holy Qur’an is of the opinion that man is a being who has enough power to control the entire world and put the angels to his own service, but he often falls to the lowest ebb. It is a man who makes decisions about himself and determines his final destiny. Let us interrogate the merits of man as mentioned in the Holy Qur’an.
Man is the vicegerent of Allah on earth: *The day Allah wanted to create man, He intimated the angels of His intention. “They said: ‘Will You put on the earth one who will make there mischief and will shed blood? He said: ‘I know what you do not know.” (Quran 2:30).*
*”It is He who has appointed You vicegerent on the earth and exalted some of you in rank above others, so that He may test you by means of what he has given you.” (Quran 6:165* ).
Of the entire creation man has the highest capacity to acquire knowledge: *”He taught Adam all the names (all the realities of things). Then He presented those things to the angels and said- ‘Tell Me the names of those if what you say is true’. They said: ‘Glory be to You! We have no knowledge except that which You have given us. (We can learn nothing, except that which You have taught us direct). Then Allah said to Adam: ‘Tell them their names’ ‘ and when he had told them their names, He said: ‘Did I not tell you that I know the secrets of the heavens and the earth? (I know what you do not know at all). And I know what you disclose and what you hide’.” (Quran 2:31 – 33).*
Man’s nature is such that he intuitively knows that there is one Allah. Any disbelief or doubt is an abnormality and a deviation from real human nature: *”When the children of Adam were still in the loins of their fathers, Allah creatively made them testify His existence.” (Quran 7:172).*
Man is a mixture of what is natural and what is extra-natural, of what is material and what is not material, of body and soul: *”Who made all things good. And He began the creation of man from clay. Then He made his seed from a draught of despised fluid. Then He fashioned him and breathed into him of His spirit.” (Quran 32:7 – 9).*
The creation of man is well-calculated and not accidental. Man is a chosen being: Man has an independent and free personality. He is a trustee appointed by Allah and has a mission and a responsibility. He is required to rehabilitate the earth with his effort and initiative, and to choose between prosperity and misery:
*”We offered the trust to the heavens, the earth and the hills, but they shrank from bearing it and were afraid of it. On the other hand, man assumed it. Surely he has proved a tyrant and a fool.” (Quran 33:72).*
Man enjoys dignity and nobility. Allah has made him superior to many of His creations. Man feels his real self only when he realizes his dignity and nobility and regards himself above every kind of meanness, bondage and lewdness:
*”Surely We have honored the children of Adam. We have put the land and the sea under their control, given them sustenance and have exalted them above many of those whom We have created” (Quran 17:70).*
Man has been endowed with a sense of moral insight. He knows what is good and what is evil by means of a natural inspiration: *”By the soul of man and Him who perfected it and inspired it with the knowledge of vice and virtue.” (Quran 91:7-8).*
Man does not feel satisfied with anything except the remembrance of Allah. His desires have no end. He soon gets fed up with anything that he gets or achieves. It is only his attachment to Allah that can satisfy him: *”Surely in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest!” (Quran 13:28).*
All the good things of the earth have been created for man. *”He, it is Who created for you all that is in the earth.” (Quran 2:29).* Hence, man has a right to make lawful use of all things.
Man has been created to worship his Lord alone and to take orders from Him. Hence it is his duty to obey the commands of Allah: *”I created the jinn and mankind only so that they might worship Me.” (Quran 51:56)*
Man cannot find himself except by worshipping and remembering his Lord. If he forgets his Lord, he forgets himself, and does not know who he is, what he is, what he should do and where he should go: *”Do not be like those who forgot Allah, and therefore He caused them to forget themselves.” (Quran 59:19).*
*”Allah has promised the believers, both men and women, gardens underneath which rivers flow and in which they shall abide. (He has promised them) nice dwellings in the Gardens of Eden. What is more, Allah shall be pleased with them. That is the supreme triumph.” (Quran 9:72).*
Hence, from the viewpoint of the Holy Qur’an man is a being chosen by Allah to be His vicegerent on the earth. He is a semi-angelic and semi-material being. He is instinctively conscious of Allah. He is free, independent, holding a Divine trust, responsible for himself and the world. He controls nature, the earth and the heavens. He is inspired by good and evil. His existence begins with weakness and proceeds towards strength and perfection. All these are virtues of the subject of this sermon.
*It is therefore in this light that we celebrate our revered Egbon, Bearer Segun Oki who will be 80 on Sunday 18th May 2025. A paragon of virtues and goodness; nothing can satisfy him except the remembrance of Allah. His intellectual and practical capacity is unlimited. He is endowed with inherent dignity and honor. Often his motives have no material aspect. He has been given the right to make lawful use of the gifts of nature. But in all cases he is responsible to his Lord.*
Brother Segun, as I have always called him in over 50 years when I knew him, visited us in London in the home of the late Dotun Animashaun (Anibongolo); here we are wishing him a very happy birthday and the unlimited blessing of Allah. Incidentally, his wife too is a big sister dating back eon years.
May Allah reward Bearer Segun Hakeem Oki’s unwavering generosity to the cause of the Crescent Bearers. He is indeed a very good man.
Barka Juma’at and a happy weekend
Babatunde Jose
Friday 16th May 2025
