Our attitude towards wrong..

Imagine someone dying, on a sick bed, caught with some dangerous disease and is so weak and helpless….his/her situation is almost irremediable, there’s a little chance that he/she will come out of it…are you still imagining??….So imagine that this same person, while you go to visit him/her at the hospital or at some encounter with the person, he/she throws an insult at you or yells at you or even hits you…will you get angry?? Really now, will you?? I know its going to be hard, especially if this persists...and it would also hurt, and it is clearly wrong…this person has no excuse for their actions, but on your part, perhaps you will be more concerned about the person’s situation than their actions towards you. Perhaps you will be more occupied with thinking of how you can help them, how you can save them and help them find cure to their disease than how deep their insult was…perhaps this will be your primary concern…because it is in fact what should be :)

This is the attitude we should all have towards wrong, the attitude we should portray when we see wrong, or when wrong is done to us. Our concern should be how we can help them quit the wrongdoing, and how we can help them overcome it and change for the better, more than how much effect their actions have on us. This is the essence of Compassion. The compassion that Rasulullaah (salAllahu alayhi wa Sallam) mentioned as regards to what the believers should have for one another. The sinner is like a drowning person. He/she is in need of help. Anyone could be drowning and such a person would definitely need help.

This ill person mentioned above, is that person who you see that is struggling with one sin or the other…whatever it is, major or minor. whether it is directly affecting you or not. It may be as seemingly trivial as bad speaking manners, they may speak to you in a way that is very impolite and rude, without consideration. Just try not to get angry, if you can advice them, then do so or make dua for them. make dua that Allah guides them towards beautiful character and for Him to forgive them. It could be anything really, any wrongdoing at all. And it could also be anyone. and no one would want to end up in the fire, and most certainly, we do not wish so for anyone as well. So when you think of how you would like to be treated, if you were in that position, how you would not like to be left to drown, but would love to be saved, it will motivate you to do so to others. It would motivate you to look beyond the attitude of the sinner and towards getting rid of that sin. That would be your main concern. And that is the way to develop compassion towards ourselves. And the firm unity and brotherhood that islam is all about begins to reflect on us, our bond becomes stronger because we would all be collectively working towards Jannah and the pleasure of Allah…helping each other all the way. 

“in order to have an effect on those one comes across, a believer should reach a maturity in their behavior and language where they will feel responsible for the mistakes of others. Just like a doctor whose responsibility is to look for a cure for the illness rather than getting angry with the patient, one should see the sinners as birds with broken wings and instead of getting angry, take them into the court of your heart and hate the sin, not the sinner”