There are some people who are loved by almost everyone around them. One of the most important reasons for that love is that they are always "the Protector" wherever they go. And that is their most distinct characteristic.
The word "Protector" means "someone who guards, protects and watches over." Wherever they are, people with this morality are the ones who are the most attentive in showing compassion, mercy, concern and affection, and in protecting and watching over, and those are the ones who live by those attributes most intensively.
No one has ever assigned these people and said "you are responsible in protecting and watching over everyone in your whereabouts; in solving every problem they might face and taking all the responsibility on yourself" to them. However, because of their intense love and compassion towards people, their high conscience and strong sense of responsibility, these people generally assume such a mission quietly and retiringly. But of course they don't make statements to the people around them saying: "I have taken on such a task. I am going to protect and watch over you, I will look after all of you". They constantly show this characteristic naturally in the course of events only as the requisite of their faith and morality without putting a name on it.
Living by the morality of a protector, taking on the responsibility of many matters and many people is of course much more laboring and difficult in comparison to the situation of a person who does not take any responsibility. It has the risks of "making mistakes, taking wrong decisions, facing opposition of the lower selves of many people or not being able to satisfy everyone simultaneously". However due to their high conscience and fear of Allah, they take on the risks of making all these mistakes. For the approval of Allah, they give priority to fulfilling the needs of others or solving their problems, far above their own comfort.
This attitude of such people, which remains unnamed but which comes to everyone's attention, is "the morality most compliant to the approval of Allah". That is because a Muslim could never remain "as a mere spectator" in the face of events happening around him. Matters like an illness, tiredness, unhappiness, a faith related defect, a disagreement that goes on among Muslims, a difficulty and distress experienced by a friend beside them, are the matters such people "embrace primarily".
One of the most important characteristics of such people is that they do not disturb anyone during this embracing and looking after; they resolve everything by the morality of the Qur'an very wisely and conscientiously. Without drawing any attention on them, without creating a trouble, without giving the impression "there is something extra-ordinary going on and I am solving that problem at the moment" to the people around; they act with the most calming most relaxing manner. While they are doing all these, another important characteristic of such people is that they never are in the need and effort to "give prominence to themselves ". Their aim is never to assume the position of a supposedly "leader", to have a say among people and to "act superior" or to "nourish their egos". They just approach people around them with compassion, mercy and love within the character of a self-sacrificing protector. Allah reminds us in the Qur'an about the superior morality such people assume, as follows:
Do not direct your eyes longingly to what We have given certain of them to enjoy. Do not feel sad concerning them. And take the Muslims under your wing.(Surat Al-Hijr:88)
On the contrary to the character of a protector, some people have the exact opposite understanding. If there is a person who has a distress, problem or a discomfort; instead of approaching that person with compassion and mercy and inspiring confidence in him, first they feel an "anger" towards him. Instead of attending to that person and helping him with his problem, they express their anger with wordings like "Why did you do that?", "It wouldn't be like this, if you hadn't done that", "This is all your fault", "Why didn't you think about these consequences beforehand?" which would perturb him even more.
Yet if these same conditions were valid for those people as well, they would want the others to approach them with love, compassion and understanding. Allah reminds people this reality in a verse of Qur'an and calls man to be compassionate towards each other:
Were it not for the Grace and Mercy of Allah on you, and that Allah is Compassionate, Merciful. (you had been the losers). (Surat An-Nur: 20)
All men are in need of the Mercy and the Compassion of Allah. And every man is created with a soul that enjoys compassion, love and complaisance. Then, just like the mercy they search for themselves, people should strive to show this morality as best as they can towards others.
Allah reveals in the Qur'an that Muslims are "protectors of each other". Owning up the problems of other Muslims; helping them without causing any discomfort for them; trying to correct their mistakes with the compassion required by the Qur'an even in their biggest mistakes; being the first one to come to everyone's help; being the one coming up with solutions to every kind of shortage and trouble; being the first one that anyone in need would come to without even thinking, are the necessities of this "protector character".
In the Qur'an, Allah gives the glad tidings to the people who show this morality:
The men and women of the muminun are friends and protectors of one another. They command what is right and forbid what is wrong, and establish salat and pay zakat, and obey Allah and His Messenger. They are the people on whom Allah will have mercy. Allah is Almighty, All-Wise.(Surat At-Tawba: 71)
