Zubair ibn Muteem ibn Adi had still not accepted Islam at that time. He narrated ,“One day, I noticed Mohammed ﷺ sitting near the Kabah, dejectedly. Those were the days when only a handful of people had accepted Islam. I went and sat next to him.  After a few minutes, suddenly the Prophet ﷺ looked up towards the sky and gazed for a few minutes and then looked down. In between looking up and then down, he nodded his head. This was the first time I saw him doing something like this. It appeared that he was conversing with someone whom I could not see. It went on for a long time. Then he gazed at the sky as if his eyes were following something that went up in the sky. I asked him what was the matter. He replied that he had been visited by the Angel Jibrael, who visited him and taught him Qur’an regularly. I asked him if he could share what he had learned with me. He recited,

“Indeed, Allah orders justice and good conduct and giving to relatives and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded.”

(Surah an-Nahl, verse 90)

Abdullah ibn Masud (May Allah be pleased with him), the jurist amongst the companions, says, “There is none other verse in Qur’an that shows  the importance of excellence in character, as much as the 90th verse of Surah Nahl.”

In the above verse, Allah has commanded to do three things, has forbidden three things and all six things are related to excellence in character. The three things that have been commanded to do are:  Justice, excellent conduct and treating your relatives well. The three things that have been forbidden, are: Immodesty, bad conduct and oppression. These six orders, if fulfilled, perfect one’s character.

During his reign as a Caliph, Umar bin Abdul Azeez gave instructions to include the above mentioned verse in each Jumuah sermon, and this tradition continues till today to emphasise the importance of good conduct in our society.