What Wisdom Brings With It

The wise are defined in the Qur'an as: "Those who listen well to My precepts and follow the best in them are the ones whom Allah has guided. They are the people of understanding". (Surat az-Zumar: 18) Allah had rewarded these people with wisdom because, they unfailingly follow the path Allah has shown them, they carry out the advice of the Qur'an meticulously, and they clearly abide by their conscience.

Wisdom is a very important factor that opens the doors to many other beneficial qualities. a wise person displays his uniqueness in every situation, by his actions, and the things he says, and he elicits great respect and admiration from those around him. Wisdom is such an important quality, that it goes on making one more and more superior right to the end of one's life.

The pages to follow will be a reminder of what a blessing wisdom is by touching on some examples of the superiority conferred by wisdom.

Good Manners

Foremost among the qualities people of wisdom acquire is the morality of the Qur'an, which opens the paths to many beauties in this world and the Hereafter. The wise man is one who meticulously practices the morals Allah lays down in the Qur'an. The Qur'an recommends such moral qualities as honesty, genuineness, sincerity, modesty, peacefulness, compassion, justness, tolerance, and forgiveness among many other virtues. and a wise person is successful in displaying all of these qualities in the best possible way, in every situation he or she faces. He knows that the more care he takes in evincing these qualities, the better Allah will recompense him in the Hereafter.

For this reason, a wise person acts according to his conscience in situations he faces every day. For example, he helps someone in need without leaving the responsibility to others. He carries out all the good things he knows that Allah will approve of, without missing any of them. Or he helps someone who is trying to carry a heavy object instead of sitting and watching him. Whenever he sees someone who is elderly or sick on a bus, he prefers to stand and give his seat to that person. Otherwise he knows that he will be uncaring and this is something Allah will not approve of. Even when he faces a situation that angers him, he knows that Allah will prefer him to act with kindness, so he overcomes his anger and responds to the person concerned with kind words. He is always honest, even when he knows that it will be of disadvantage to him.

One, who displays all the above qualities in the best possible way till the end of his life using the full power of his mind, lives a good life in this world. Moreover, because he was aiming to please Allah with his behaviour, he will be rewarded with Heaven are elaborated upon in the following verses:

Sagacity – Discernment

Sagacity is the human ability to understand and comprehend things quickly. Discernment is the ability to recognize the essence of things, to be foresighted and to have an insight on the truth in its every detail. The source that provides both these qualities to human beings is their wisdom.

In one of His verses, Allah draws attention to the importance of discernment and defines people who lack this quality as blind; "The blind and the seeing are not the same. Nor are those who believe and do right actions the same as evildoers. What little heed they pay!" (Surah Ghafir: 58)

In another verse in the Quran, the difference between those who possess this quality through wisdom and those whose sight and comprehension are blocked is compared as:

One who possesses sagacity and discernment has the capability to analyse an event, a behaviour, or a word in the best possible way. He can draw the best conclusions from his past experiences and use these in the most appropriate way for future events. He can cleverly analyse his situation, means, and the condition he is in and can make the most out of these and use whatever means he has at hand to the best advantage. Before he undertakes any task, he takes every possible precaution, foreseeing any future problems, and acts accordingly. Everything he says is appropriate, his manner entirely composed, and his thoughts are the product of a clear mind and understanding.

If people of wisdom possess these qualities, it is because they live out their lives trying to earn Allah's approval and sincerely aiming for the Hereafter. The Qur'an reminds us that the Prophets sincerely turned towards the Hereafter and in accordance with the high morals they displayed they were people of strength and discernment.

Wisdom, Decisive Speech, and The Art of Public Speaking

Another aspect of wisdom which most people fail to recognize is its ability to add purpose to one's mannerisms and speech. Most people miss the point that the actual source of such mannerisms and speech is wisdom. On the contrary, they think that wisdom is a quality that can be acquired through education and experience. That is why it is generally thought that the only way to speak well and persuasively is to memorize rules of influential speech by taking classes or reading books on how to speak effectively. These books outline when people should start and stop speaking, when they should laugh, and details such as these which are supposed to produce effective oratory. They believe that people can be successful speakers in relation to how well they follow these rules.

However, it is definitely not possible to bind effective speaking to any rules. On the contrary, truly effective speaking is not linked to any rules and is not memorized, rather it is a "sincere speech", which comes from the heart, without any difficulties, and without artificiality. and only people of wisdom possess this type of perfection in speech. The one who speaks with wisdom leaves a deep impression on the hearts of his listeners with the sincerity of his words.

One who is far from religion can make a good speech on a topic within his area of expertise with proper emphasis and by following the rules of speech. However, we shouldn't forget that the qualities mentioned do not reflect any wisdom in this speech. For a speech have wisdom, it has to be sincere and leave a deep impression on the hearts of the listeners. a wise person is someone who can explain what he wants in the most genuine and sincere way, with the most striking examples. In one verse, Allah points out the importance of wisdom by stating that He has given this quality to the Prophet Dawud (as):

As is seen in the verse, along with giving wisdom as a virtue, "decisive speech" is also mentioned. To attain such a blessing one doesn't need to have any special talent or expend any extraordinary effort. It is given by Allah to those who have faith and are sincere.

However, wisdom is not something that manifests itself only in speech. It is evinced also in a wise person's mannerisms and decisions, and in the analyses he makes. It is declared in the Qur'an that this important superior quality is given to many of the Prophets:

In other verses of the Quran, it is stated that Allah can give wisdom and insight to whomever He wills:

From all these verses we can understand that this great blessing, given to a responsive person, brings about "strength of expression" and with it the "ability to persuade". a believer takes the opportunity to explain the true religion and morals of the Qur'an in the best possible way, with the qualities of wisdom, decisive speech, and apt expression, as Allah advises: "Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and fair admonition, and argue with them in the kindest way..." (Surat an-Nahl: 125)

A Superior Analysis Ability

Another important quality wisdom brings with it is the ability to "analyse things". Anyone can recognize and make comments on any given thing. However, of where people of wisdom excel is in their recognition always being appropriate and their ability to see details which others cannot. The secret of this appropriateness and fine recognition ability is that believers use the Qur'an as their guide and use their wisdom toward its ends. The Qur'an is Allah's just book. As a consequence, people who obey the Qur'an will definitely tread the most righteous path.

This ability of wise people makes for superiority and ease in every part of their lives. Above all else, they can analyse in detail the character of the people they meet. As a result they can easily determine their friends and enemies. By taking the characters Allah introduces in the Qur'an as their guide, they can understand others' characters in a very short period. Moreover, their ability to realize at the outset which events are in their favour and take precautions accordingly is a great advantage to them. Also, it is those with wisdom who can appreciate the beauties of the people around them, the details of which generally go unappreciated and the signs of wisdom they demonstrate.

Another important quality of wise people that merit attention, is that they do not need to make lengthy observations or gather detailed information before making correct assumptions. a wise person's chief quality is his ability to arrive at correct conclusions with as little evidence as is needed and in the briefest possible time.

A wise person can determine whether a person is lying by his mannerisms at that time, by inconsistencies in his speech, by his efforts to explain the situation in detail, by his restless behaviour, and many other factors depending on the situation. a person lacking wisdom will fully trust a person who is lying and even talk about his honesty. Because of this, he can go into a partnership with the dishonest person and suffer materially and spiritually as a consequence.

The reason why people lacking wisdom draw wrong conclusions and make wrong decisions under the same circumstances is that they don't follow the Qur'an's teachings. Allah therefore draws attention to the fact that only the wise can see and comprehend the examples given in the Qur'an and reminds us that people who know and who don't know are not the same:

Attention and Clear Conscience

In the Qur'an, Allah reminds people to heed Him and draws their attention to various topics:

As the above verses recall, Allah advises people to apply their minds to thinking clearly, analyzing situations rightly, and thus seeing realities. However, it shouldn't be forgotten that the ability to focus our attention as mentioned in the Qur'an is a quality evinced only by people of wisdom. We are told in the Qur'an that only the wise reflect on and take the advice of the teachings of the Qur'an:

So, people of wisdom who focus their attention as the Qur'an instructs can see the whole of reality. They grasp primarily that there is no god other than Allah, that He is the owner of the whole universe, and that the Hereafter is a definite reality.

As we dwelt upon previously, a clear conscience and close attention manifest themselves at all times in a wise person's life. Knowing that Allah created everything for a reason, that everything they experience and every utterance they hear are parts of the test created for them, and that they're responsible for all the things they're faced with, sharpens their attention. As a result, they can sense a developing threat in their environment and take the appropriate measures before anyone else. In the same way, they can instantly determine a positive development by paying close attention.

It is true that intelligence also provides people with a certain superior awareness. But the difference made by wisdom in this case is that it notices details that intelligence can't distinguish and this gives the opportunity to analyse, take precautions, and make timely decisions. For example, an intelligent and alert person will realize that there is a burglar in his house by paying attention to the sounds coming from the basement. a wise person, on the other hand, is one who will take definite precautions and bring lasting solutions to the possibility of a burglary before the situation develops to this extent. He will have thought about all the alternatives to the possibility of a burglar entering and worked extensively on this issue. For example, he will set up a sophisticated security system that will definitely prevent a stranger from entering the house.

So, this is the ideal type of attention one should be capable of. a wise person does not just cope with a dangerous situation as it's happening. He takes precautions before the danger begins to develop, before he faces such a situation, even where many of the relevant factors are not immediately obvious. After he has determined these actual dangers, he takes definite precautions in order not to be subjected to them.

A Strong Personality

A wise person knows that all creatures alive or not, submit to Allah and nothing ever happens in this universe without His permission. His submission to and the trust he reposes in Allah enable him to be fearless of anyone or anything except Allah and thus enables him to develop a strong personality. Because he knows that Allah controls everything, his behaviour towards others or in different situations does not change. As he strives to earn Allah's approval and not that of other people, he doesn't ever make a concession in his personality, behaviour, and morals for any personal benefit.

However, we should remember that the true meaning of a "strong personality" is actually different from the way it is used in ignorant circles. People far from religion, believe that the only way to build up the personality is through arrogance, formality, and gravity. They think that the more a person makes his difference from and superiority over others felt by those around him, the greater the personality he has. However, this kind of conduct does not denote a strong inner personality but is rather aimed at hoodwinking others and projecting "an image" of an individual with a great personality to those around him.

Real personality has nothing to do with pride, gravity, formality, or outward appearances. According to the Qur'an, a strong personality indicates one's fear of Allah and as a result of this, shows determination in living by the morals of the Qur'an. One with strength of personality never compromises upon the truths told to him by Allah for any reason or for any worldly gain, and never condescends to crude or unpleasant behaviour. So, these are the qualities that give a person a real personality and people who are steadfast in maintaining these qualities are people of wisdom. People of wisdom who never stray from the right path are given this good news in the Qur'an:

Allah's Help and Support

In this verse Allah informs the believers of a very important reality: unbelievers cannot misguide believers.

The right path can be reached only by those who have faith and who follow the teachings of the Qur'an. Because such people always take the teachings of the Qur'an as their guide and live their lives accordingly, they always receive Allah's help and support in return. Allah helps believers and has promised to help those who help his religion:

Allah explains in another verse, that He helps and supports those that believe in Him sincerely and that He makes things easier for them:

In Surat al-Anbiya', Allah points out that the truth and justness always wins over falsehood. This is why, people of wisdom who follow the right path always win against those who hide behind falsehood. Allah tells us this truth: