28. DUTY TOWARDS ATTENDANT & ASSISTANT

God says:

(The God - conscious) who spend (in His way) in time of plenty and in time of hardship, and hold in check their anger, and pardon their fellow - men, because God loves the doer of good. -- Q.3: 134

For, He it is who has made you inherit the earth, and has raised some of you by degrees above others, so that He might try you by means of what He has bestowed upon you….* -- Q.6: 165
*i.e., by way of character, strength, knowledge, social position, wealth etc.

All the believers are but brethren…. * Q.49: 10
*The plural noun ikhwah (brethren or brotherhood) has here, of course, a purely ideological connotation, comprising men and women alike.

O men (and women)! Behold, We have created you all out of a male and a Female…. * Q.49: 13
*i.e., “We have created everyone of you out of a father and a mother” (Zamakhshari, Razi, Baydawi)- implying that this equality of biological origin is reflected in the equality of human dignity common to all.

..…Verily, the noblest of you in the sight of God is the one who is most deeply conscious of Him…. * Q.49: 13
*Hence, an attendant could well be nearer to God due to piety than is his or her boss.



Prophet said:

1. “He who is pleased* to see people standing in his honour should seek his seat in hellfire’ – H: Tirmizi. N: Mu`ayiya.
*This being a sign of pride.

2. A man asked: O Messenger of God! How many times should we pardon an attendant? He remained silent. The man repeated the question, but he remained silent. When asked the third time, Prophet said, “Seventy times a day!” * -- H: Abu Daud. N: Abdullah b Omer. Also, H: Tirmizi. N: Abdullah bin Amr.
*Number “seventy” being used here metonymically, as often done in classic Arabic, in the sense of “very many” (Zamakhshari).

3. “One who treats those under his authority badly shall not enter paradise” *– H: Tirmizi and Ibn Majah. N: Abu Bakr Siddiq.
*(Muslims) will enter after making amends for expiation of their sins. – Mazhar-e-Haq.

4. “You are given assistance and provision with the help of weak among you “ – H: Bukhari. N: Mus’ab -b-Sohail.

5. “(One should not address an attendant as servant but as) ‘my young man’ or ‘my young woman’, or ‘my boy’ “ – H: Bukhari. N: Abu Hurairah.