Good Akhlaq to Everyone, at All Levels

If we really considered our work and business as “ibadah” (an act of worship to Allah), we would extend our good akhlaq – character and etiquettes – to everyone, regardless of what position or rank they may be, ‘above’ or ‘below’: bosses, colleagues, the cleaners, waiters, ‘rivals’, mat sallehs and non-mat sallehs, other departments, etc. We do not discriminate who are ‘deserving’ of our good conduct.

There’s always a tendency that we are ‘nicer’ to the bosses, the seniors, colleagues, potential clients and customers; yet we show poor manners to the people who have “no relevance” to us, especially those we view as “lower” in rank. And it gets even worse with the problematic “customer is always right” mentality – waiters, cashiers, reception desks, and security guards unfortunately always experience society’s dark side.

This unveils a major disease in our society today: the materialistic approach and lack of ikhlas/sincerity in dealing with people – “I’m good to you if you can benefit me somehow”.

And this is NOT the mentality of one who believes in Allah and the Last Day. The Qur’an and the Sunnah defined for us an honourable identity of good akhlaq to all levels of society. In fact, the Prophet Muhammad (sallAllahu alayhi wasallam) said:
إنما بعثت لأتمم مكارم الأخلاق
“Verily, I have only been sent to perfect good characters and manners” (Malik)
This hadith tells us that the holistic objective of the Qur’an and the Sunnah, is to achieve this objective – the perfection of good akhlaq: with Allah, other human beings and all creation.
So how can we claim something to be ibadah if we neglect the fruit and objective of the ibadah by discriminating those who ‘deserve’ our good akhlaq?

The issue of good akhlaq is no insignificant matter. The Prophet was asked what are the things that cause a person to be admitted into paradise the MOST, and he replied,     
تَقْوَى اللَّهِ وَحُسْنُ الْخُلُقِ
“Taqwa (consciousness, fear) of Allah, and good character”
(At-Tirmidzi, Eng Vol 4, Book 1, Hadith 2004, sahih)

On the Day of Judgment, others will bear witness on our character, and all those barriers of rank, race and roles will disappear.

So let’s improve our conduct with everyone around us with ikhlas, the clear intention of developing our taqwa (consciousness and fear of Allah), perhaps that Allah reward our work and business conduct as ibadah in His Sights, and become a means of His Pleasure to enter us into His Paradise.

The Prophet said, "Don't consider insignificant (your) good deeds,
even if it is that you meet your brother with a cheerful face"
(Sahih Muslim, Book #32, Hadith #6359)