and to defend his honor—together with every other entitlement of brotherhood. “The Muslim is the brother of the Muslim: he neither wrongs him, belittles him, nor lies to him.” This too was mentioned earlier. He then said, “al-taqwā hāhunā,” pointing to his chest, that is, the heart; and when the heart is God-fearing, the limbs become God-fearing, for the Prophet ﷺ said, “If it (the heart) is sound, the whole body is sound.”

You may forbid someone from a certain act—for example: “Let your beard grow; it is unlawful for you to shave it”—yet he retorts, “Taqwā is here!” Where is that piety? Had what is here been God-fearing, what is out here would have been God-fearing as well; in other words, if the heart fears Allah, the limbs will follow.

You advise another person about the length of his garment: it hangs below his ankles, you counsel him, and he replies, “Taqwā is here!” Where is that piety? If there were taqwā in your heart, you would fear Allah in both word and deed, for when the heart is sound, the whole body is sound.

Yet some people—may Allah protect us—dispute with falsehood like the unbelievers, arguing with falsehood to render the truth void. Still, anyone with insight can see through their specious debate; he recognizes that it is baseless and sheer falsehood.

As for the hadith the author has quoted verbatim, a person ought to