Civic Life · a Light

The lowest branch of faith is clearing the road

The Prophet ﷺ described faith as having some seventy branches, the highest being the declaration that there is no god but Allah and the lowest being the removal of something harmful from the road. Modesty, he added, is one of the branches. Putting road maintenance on the same list as the creed is a decision about where religion is supposed to operate. In another report a man walking past a thorny branch in the path pulled it aside so that it would not injure anyone, and was forgiven for it. Neither act is witnessed, ceremonial or expensive. Both involve a person alone with a piece of rubbish, making a decision about strangers he will never meet.

Abu Hurayra · Madinah

Source · Bukhari 9; the man and the branch, Muslim 1914