The African, Arabian, Asian and European Muslim community in Walsall, United Kingdom, hosted an event to commemorate the birthday of Prophet Mohammed, peace and blessings of Allah be upon Him (PBUH), at the Masjid Hamza, Walsall, United Kingdom, on 1st November 2025.
The event was the 4th annual program organised by the Tijjaniya Muslims in the Midlands and was attended by prominent Tijjaniya leaders from within the United Kingdom, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Netherlands and Ghana.
Attending as one of the invited guest speakers was His Eminence Alhaji Khuzaima Mohammed Osman, a Ghanaian Zango man who represented the Ghanaian Sufi community in his capacity as the Executive Secretary of the Tijjaniya Muslims of Ghana.
Alhaji Khuzaima delivered a speech on Self-Purification, and key elements of the address included:
“The Almighty Allah says in Quran 91:9 that ‘Successful indeed is the one who purifies their soul’.”
Anas ibn Malik reported: We were sitting with the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) and he said, “A man from the people of Paradise is coming to you.” A man from the Ansar came, his beard disheveled by the water of ablution, and he was carrying both of his shoes with his left hand.
The next day, the Prophet repeated the same words, and the man came in the same condition. On the third day, the Prophet repeated the same words again, and the man came in the same condition again. When the Prophet stood up to leave, Abdullah ibn Amr followed the man and said to him, “I am in an argument with my father, and I have sworn not to enter my home for three days. May I stay with you?” The man agreed.
Abdullah stayed as a guest at the man’s house for three nights. During this time, he observed the man’s actions and didn’t see him performing many extra acts of worship (such as lengthy night prayers or fasting) beyond the obligatory duties. He only heard the man mention Allah’s name (Dhikr) whenever he turned over in his sleep.
After the three nights, Abdullah confessed to the man that he had no quarrel with his father and revealed the true reason for his stay: he wanted to know what specific deed had earned the man the glad tidings of Paradise, so that he might emulate him.
The Ansari man replied that he did nothing more than what Abdullah had seen, except for one thing: he did not find any malevolence, deceitfulness, or envy in his heart towards any Muslim, and he forgave everyone every night before going to sleep.
Abdullah ibn Amr then concluded: “This is what has brought you to that rank, and this is something we are unable to do.”
The central lesson of the hadith is the immense importance of purifying one’s heart from negative feelings like envy and hatred, demonstrating that inner spiritual purity is a major factor in attaining Paradise.
Indeed, the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) said: “Verily, in the body is a piece of flesh which, if sound, the entire body is sound, and if corrupt, the entire body is corrupt. Truly, it is the heart.” — Bukhari.
Abdullah ibn Amr also reported that: We said, “O Messenger of Allah, who are the best people?” The Messenger of Allah (PBUH), said: One with a heart swept clean and truthful in speech.”
We said, “O Messenger of Allah, we know truthful in speech. What is a heart swept clean?” The Prophet said: “One that is God-fearing and pure, in which there is neither sin, nor transgression, nor envy.”
We said, “Who shows a sign of it?” The Prophet said: “One who despises worldliness and loves the Hereafter.”
We said, “And who shows a sign of it?” The Prophet said: “A believer with good character.”
Permit me to add another important hadith from Fadalah ibn ‘Ubayd who reported that: “The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: The one who wages jihad is he who strives against his lower-self (soul).” — Tirmidhī.
It is crystal clear from the above Quranic text and Prophetic traditions that self-purification leads to good character which defines a true believer.
Indeed, neither a Muslim nor a Mu’umin (believer) attains good character with mere words and insincere actions. Rather, two inseparable tools — words out of good intention and actions stemming from a clean heart — lead to good character which warrants one the ultimate desire of this world and the Hereafter: Paradise.
Let us emulate the virtues of that particular companion of the Messenger of Allah who is among the people of Paradise mentioned earlier, on account of the fact that he forgave everyone every night and harboured no malevolence, deceitfulness, or envy in his heart.
As I stand here at Walsall in the UK on 1st November 2025, I confess to Allah and to you my sins and mistakes, and I ask Allah for forgiveness just as I seek the same from anyone I wronged or caused harm. I have also forgiven everyone who wronged me or caused me harm.
We need to understand that no people can build a strong community and move forward while harbouring malice in their hearts. We must first forgive one another, learn to cooperate and help one another in any way we can.
“The merciful will be shown mercy by the Most Merciful. Be merciful to those on the earth, and the One in the heavens will have mercy upon you.” — Tirmidhi.
Alhaji Khuzaima Mohammed Osman
Eminent Member and Chairman of the Finance and Fundraising Committee of the Greater Accra Regional Peace Council, The National Peace Council of Ghana (NPC)
Consultant on ADR, Human Rights and Islamic Affairs
