All praise is due to Allah. May Allah’s peace and blessings be
upon the one after whom there is no other prophet.
As a seventeen year old, I came across a book called, ‘How
to Win Friends and Influence People’ by Dale Carnegie, which I
found to be quite excellent and which I subsequently read several
times. The author suggested that one should read the book
once a month, which is exactly what I did. I began to apply its
principles when dealing with others and witnessed amazing results.
Carnegie would often mention a principle and then cite various
examples of this by way of incidents related to prominent
figures, such as Roosevelt, Lincoln, Joseph, and so on.
I contemplated and realised that the author’s only goal was
to attain worldly happiness. What if he were to have known Islam
and the etiquettes it teaches? He would surely have achieved
eternal as well as ephemeral happiness! How about if he were to
have turned his wonderful interpersonal skills into worship, with
which he would have drawn closer to Allah? When I later discovered
that Carnegie had committed suicide, I knew for certain
that his book, despite its merits, had not benefitted him.
I then began to search our own history and discovered that
the life of Allah’s Messenger , his Companions, and anecdotes
of some of the prominent men of this ummah are more than
enough for us to learn lessons from. From then on, I began to author
this book concerning the art of dealing with others. Hence,
this book is not the product of a month or a year’s toil. Rather,
it is the result of twenty years of serious study.
Although Allah has blessed me with the ability to have produced
twenty books so far, some of which have been printed
in their millions, I nevertheless believe that the most beloved,
precious and beneficial of all of them to me is this book, which I
wrote with ink blended with my blood; I poured out my soul and
squeezed out my memories as I wrote these lines.
I have written these words from the very depths of my
heart so it may penetrate the heart of the reader, and would
be delighted to learn that he or she has indeed implemented
its teachings, experienced an improvement in his or her skills,
and therefore actually began enjoying life. If he or she were to
then thankfully write a message expressing his or her views and
feelings honestly and send it to me via email or SMS, I would be
grateful for this kindness and remember to pray for him or her
in their absence.
I pray to Allah that the reader benefits from these pages, and
that He makes my efforts purely for His sake.
Written by the one who is always praying for what is best
for you. Dr. Muhammad bin ‘Abd al-Rahman al-‘Arifi
, his Companions, and anecdotes