Selecting the Best Friend in Islam
Selecting the Best Friend in Islam: There are friends who remain true and trustful under all circumstances and there are friends who remain with you only desiring the good. Islam urges to have cordial relations with others and to avoid corruption and the harmful effects of the company of the wicked and the mischievous, strictly forbidding every kind of contact and intimacy with them.
The first kind of friend is very few, and their friendship is like a mirror to you. In deed, we must be fair to our friends, and must want for them that which we want for ourselves.
Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) said, “A true believer is a mirror to his brother. He prevents him from any harm.”
Friends wish well for their friends, and feel a strong grief when they see them in any kind of distress or suffering. They work hard by all means, by their wealth and their hands to restore the rights of their friends, and give them all the help they need. They keep the secrets of their friends. This kind of friendship is the necessity of social life.
Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) said, “A person follows the ways and conducts of his friends.”
On the other hand, one encounters fools, avaricious, people cowards, and liars. The fool wants to help others, but cause more harm to them despite good intentions. The avaricious one takes but does not give back to anyone. The coward flees at the smallest danger, abandoning everyone. In addition, the liar does not benefit others, brings animosity and resentment, and causes serious damage to others. Moreover, the liar is not trusted even if he/she is telling the truth.
It is reported, “As for a liar, life with him can never be pleasant for you. He carries tales from you to others and from others to you. If he gives you a true report, a false one follows it. His reputation is slurred. So much so that when he says something true, nobody believes him. Due to the enmity, which he entertains in his heart for people, he estranges them from one another and creates malice in their hearts.
Be careful and do your duty to Allah.” These kinds of individuals might call themselves as your friends, but they do service that is more ill to you as well as to the society and in the long run.
It is advised, “Avoid the company of the vicious, because your character would pick up their degenerate and deviant qualities without your knowing it.
The Glorious Qur\’an says, “O woe is me! Would that I had not taken such a one as my friend.” 25:28
Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) said, “Every Muslim should try to select the best companion for the life span.
