Sheikh Zayed’s politeness should be remembered in a digital age

ABU DHABI // At a time where insults and verbal abuse were being widely traded among leaders, Sheikh Zayed was committed to polite speech and never used offensive actions or words.

With the emerging trend of people insulting each other on social media, “the youth today should know the value of a chaste tongue”, said Abdullah Bin Bayya, the head of the Peace Forum for Muslim Societies.

The renowned Islamic scholar was speaking at an event to commemorate the death of the UAE’s late founder Sheikh Zayed.

He explained that during Sheikh Zayed’s reign, leftist and communist leaders used verbal insults extensively, “but Sheikh Zayed never followed this insulting (style)”.

“Today insults are spreading not under the name of communism, but under the name of this sect and that... they dress themselves in the dress of piety although the value (they follow) is contradictory to Islam.”

He explained that all of those verbal insults are considered gheeba (retorting or when one speask negatively of another in their absence), which is considered a sin in Islam.

“Insulting Muslims (one another) is [destructive] and killing each other is kufr (showing a disbelief in Islam),” he said.

“So we should remind people of this humanitarian authentic value, which this man enjoyed at a time in history. And we should teach it to our children.”

“Sheikh Zayed was searching for peace, and I like peace a lot,” he continued.

Good speech and kind actions will help in unifying Muslims today, he said.

The event held at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque started with Quran recitations by young boys and girls. Each were divided into groups of 13 and took turns reciting small chapters of the Quran along with a professional reciter. Attending the event was the UAE foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed, and the minister of culture Sheikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak, along with religious officials and the president’s Ramadan guests.

“He was a witty politician, and this generous man initiated many good actions for other to follow,” added the dean of the fundamentals of religion college in Al Azhar, Dr Abdulfattah Al Owari.

Sheikh Zayed’s kind actions extended beyond benefiting humans worldwise, but he was also a pioneer in animals welfare, which is clear from the UAE animal environment, said Dr Mohammed Al Kaabi, head of the UAE’s Authority for Islamic Affairs and Endowments.