6 Ways to Think Good of Others

The following is a translation of this Facebook note: bersangka baik itu kan bagos :)

1. When you meet someone, be sure that he is better than you. Say it in your heart, “Maybe his status with Allah is higher than mine.”

2. When you meet a young boy, say it in your heart, “This child hasn’t done a single sin yet, where as I’ve done a lot. Surely this boy is better than me.”

3. When you meet an old man, say it in your heart, “He has worshipped Allah longer than I have, surely he is better than me.”

4. When you meet someone knowledgeable, say it in your heart, “This person possesses a blessing that is lacking in me, obtained a status that I couldn’t achieve, knows what I don’t know, and he acts upon his knowledge. Surely he is better than me.”

5. When you meet someone ignorant, say it in your heart, “He does Allah wrong out of his ignorance, while I do Him wrong when I’ve already known better not to do so. And I do not know how I will be at the end of my life and at the end of his.”

6. When you meet a kafir, say it in your heart, “I do not know of his fate in the future. Maybe in the end of his life he will become a Muslim and practice the Deen well. And maybe it’s possible that in the end of my life I will become a kafir and commit wrongdoings.”

There is no harm in thinking good of others as oppose to having ill thoughts about them that can cause you to sin. Things that are not clear do not need to be thought of as evil and negative because that might just be the shaytaan talking in your head.

Allah knows best.

Posted by Aiman Azlan (Toronto)
Photo by Sodanie Chea