Friday, January 20, 2012

The Dirty Laundry…

By Abu Muhammad Yusuf

In life we tend to be judgmental and very often look down upon others without exploring deeper and finding out why the person is behaving in such a way. The Beloved Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is reported to have said "It is enough of evil for a person to hold his brother Muslim in contempt. All of a Muslim is sacred to another Muslim: his blood, his wealth and his honour." (Hadith- Muslim)

A young couple moves into a new neighbourhood. The next morning while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbour hanging the laundry outside. "That laundry is not very clean", she said. "She doesn't know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap. "Her husband looked on, but remained silent. Every time her neighbour would hang her washing to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.

Some time later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean laundry on the line and said to her husband: "Look, she has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this."

"The husband said, "I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows"

Lesson: If our windows are dirty so will we see others as dirty too. What we see in others is indeed a reflection of our inner-selves! So it is with life that what we see when watching others depends on the purity of the window through which we look. It is easy for us to condemn, discuss other people, their lives & things that really doesn't even concern us and we tend to forget - our windows may not be that clean after all! If we are good we will see good…

The Beloved Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is reported to have said:
"A Muslim is a mirror to another Muslim"(Hadith_Abu Dawud)

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2 comments:

aneebaba said...

Ma'sha'allah, great reminder Sr. Iffath. Interestingly, the people at Friday Nasiha, also focused on this topic today, concerning what a mirror reflects and what it doesn't and thus, we should protect our fellow brothers and sisters by not pointing out their faults - looking at what we see in the mirror only and if we do see faults, do carry out the correction in a concerning, caring manner that will not portray us as looking down on the other, but rather lifting our brother/sister up, as we are one body and not separate.

Jazak'Allahu Khairan.

Here is the excerpt from Friday Nasiha:

It is the duty of a Muslim to help fellow Muslims to stay on the straight path. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) enumerated the conditions to be met in the task of advising others: "Each one of you is like a mirror to the other." (Tirmidhi) In another hadith the Prophet said: "Every Muslim serves as another Muslim's mirror. He safeguards his rights in his absence as well." (Abu Dawud) The following norms emerge in light of the above ahadith:

1. One should not look for the lapses and weaknesses of others. For a mirror does not seek defects. Only on coming face to face does a mirror reflect you.

2. One should not be criticised in one's absence. Once again the similitude of the mirror should be kept in mind; it does not reflect someone in absentia.

3. One should not exceed limits in criticising someone else. For a mirror does not magnify or diminish any feature.

4. Criticism should be forthright and free of any ulterior motive. For, once again, a mirror does not entertain any revenge or grudge.

5. One's criticism should be made with sincerity, genuine concern, pain and love. This removes any bitterness caused by criticism. Sincerity in this context signifies one's concern for the ultimate accountability in the Hereafter. One should help a fellow Muslim in order to avoid any punishment for him on the Day of Judgement. Nor should one entertain any superiority complex. Humility and not arrogance makes mutual care and advice effective.

Mrs. Iffath Hasan said...

Assalamu alaikum brother Anees,
Jazak'Allah for sharing the excerpt from the Friday Nasiha, may Allah grant us tawfiq to implement the advice of our dear Prophet(peace upon him)in our lives, ameen.