Quran And Hadees On Friendship and Backbiting In Islam
By Arman Neyazi, New
Age Islam
27 April
2021
Friendship, Be It On Individual Or National
Level, Is A Very Intimate Relationship Wrapped In Divinity
Main Points:
1.
Allah, the Most Merciful as a
Friend.
2.
Amidst the mad race of materialistic
gains, the world has left spirituality behind.
3.
The greatness of a true friend has
not died down.
4.
The ‘Maula’ of the believers is a
true companion, the truest friend and ‘a protecting master’
5.
True friends and the values of
friendship has not died down.
------
Amidst the
mad race of materialistic gains, the world has left spirituality behind. In the
race of scientific achievements, spiritual achievements have been forgotten.
Our religious leaders and spiritual masters, of almost every region of the
world, have given us their priceless advice that they acquired after years of
untiring researches through meditation and following the righteous path shown
by God and His apostles.
Friendship
is a very intimate relationship wrapped in love and care for each other, be
whatever reason it may. Everyone wishes to have true friends. Some of us also
boast of having true friends but the myth of friendship breaks when need to
help them, in a serious crisis like the present one arises. Individual friends
do not answer the call of distress of a friend and the friendly nations play
politics with their sworn friends.
But true
friends and the values of friendship have not died down. There are many we
never knew of or never considered our friend are untiringly committing
themselves to dangers but helping others.
Today’s is
a gloomy situation. But it is not worth being hopeless as God always sends help
from the unknown quarters as He is that even doing today. Consider the
following Saying and distinguish between a true and a false friend. The
commander of the faithful; Imam Ali (AS) says:
'A friend can not be considered as a friend
until he is tested on three occasions; the time of need, behind your back and
until after your death
In the
light of the above mentioned saying the world can test at least the ones who
are coming forward at the time of need and learn to distinguish between a good
and a hypocrite friend.
Once you
are deceived and are fallen, there will be no use in regretting your friendship
with people of evil designs. The following Ayat of the Noble Quran says:
Oh, woe to me! I wish
I had not taken that one as a friend. ( The Noble Qur'an Surah 25. Al-Furqan, Ayat
28) - Sahih International
Above mentioned
Ayat is a warning from Allah, the Almighty for His people to be aware of false
friendship, as true friendship is divine, false friendship is evil. Following
Ayat from the Holy Quran describes the value of a true friendship. Allah, the
Most Merciful says:
“Close friends, that
Day, will be enemies to each other, except for the righteous.” (Az-Zukhruf, 43:67)
Prophet
Muhammad (SAW)’s following Ahadees are a treasure to follow for living a
peaceful and happy social and religious life. The following Ahadees describe
the significance of true friendship and its benefits. Prophet Muhammad (SAW)
says that true friends are suppliers of joy and shelters if misfortune falls
upon you. And a true friend is someone who reminds you of Allah and increases
your knowledge.
“Your best friend is the one who: seeing him
reminds you of Allah, speaking to him increases your knowledge, and his actions
remind you of the hereafter.” (Al-Muhasibi)
“Try to have as many as possible true friends,
for they are the supplies in joy and the shelters in misfortunes.”
(Bihar-ul-Anwar)
“If you wish to mention the faults of your
friend, mention your own faults first.” (Bukhari)
The last of
the above mentioned Ahadees is the one we must not forget to bring it in our
everyday life. It asks to advise your friends when there is no one except you
two so that no one listens to you and your friend’s weakness does not come into
the knowledge of others. And more than that we should mention our faults before
mentioning others. In the same vein consider the following saying from Imam
Hassan Askari (R.A). He says:
“Those who advise their friends secretly are
respecting them, and those who advise them openly are humiliating them.”
In the
following Hadees, narrated by Abu Musa (RA), we find a parable on friendship
that is an eye-opener. Allah’s Messenger Prophet Muhammad (SAW) says:
“The example of a good pious companion and an
evil one is that of a person carrying musk and another blowing a pair of
bellows. The one who is carrying musk will either give you some perfume as a
present, or you will buy some from him, or you will get a good smell from him,
but the one who is blowing a pair of bellows will either burn your clothes or
you will get a bad smell from him”. Sahih al-Bukhari Book 72, Hadith 60
Consider
the following:
“Try to have as many as possible true friends,
for they are the supplies in joy and the shelters in misfortunes” Mahdi
as-Sadr, The Ahlul-Bayt; Ethical role models, P. 290.
The human
being is advised to have as many friends as he can but they have to be
virtuous, the carriers of musk who could be a shelter in the times of
misfortune and a reason of joy.
Allah, the Most Merciful as a Friend
Is Allah,
the Almighty our friends? Yes, He is our true friend but not in the wordy sense
as we consider our friends to be equal to us, in one way or the other, that God
certainly is not. God is our friend as being omnipresent He is always there for
our help in need, whenever and wherever it is needed. Allah is our protector,
in that sense He is our friend. Allah, the Most Merciful says in the Holy
Quran:
But if they turn away
- then know that Allah is your protector. Excellent is the protector, and
Excellent is the helper. (Surat Al-'Anfal 8:40) - Sahih International
In the Holy
Quran, we find the word ‘Maula’
revealed on various occasions. Allah the Almighty addresses Himself as ‘Maula’
of the believers and ‘Maula’ is translated as ‘a protector’ and it also means,
‘a friend’, ‘a companion’ and ‘a master’. The ‘Maula’ of the believers is a
true companion, the truest friend and ‘a protecting master’.
Allah, the
Almighty is ‘the All Knower’. He knows what circumstances His creation is
passing through and He is always there as ‘a a protector’ so we must pray for
His help and rescue and cure from all kinds of diseases that befallen us.
The world
is not devoid of divine powers and spiritual learning if we tend to pursue
them. Taking guidance from the spiritual leaders of the past on the happenings
of the present times will be useful in understanding the circumstances we face
in our day to day social, political, psychological and economic life. The human
being is fortunate to have so many divine and spiritual guides in the form of
their sayings and books and hence it must understand their worth and use them
for the benefit of this chaotic world that we have designed from our mistakes.
All of them are well-wishers so all of them are our friends, true friends. They
know when to encourage us in our endeavours of making our lives better and when
to discourage us from taking wrong decisions.
The human
being should know that the identity of a true friend is that it takes us closer
to humanity, brotherhood and knowledgeable society.
And Allah knows the best.
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Arman
Neyazi is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-society/quran-hadees-friendship-backbiting-islam/d/124746
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