DEALING WITH DIFFERENCES

Principles Of Social Living

THE Quran relates: “Believers, if an evil-doer brings you any news, ascertain the correctness of the report fully, lest you unwittingly harm others, and then regret what you have done”. (49: 6)

This Quranic verse indicates an important principle for social life. And it is that if someone says something which is controversial, you must not suspect this person of having ill intentions and think of him as bad. Instead, the right approach is to consider the matter as needing proper investigation. Form an opinion about someone only after having clear evidence or proof, not before it.

Complaints and controversies are most often caused by ignorance and misunderstandings. Lack of proper information often drives people to form a hostile opinion about another person. This is not the way to form an opinion about someone. Islamic teachings advise us to investigate the matter thoroughly to arrive at clear and convincing evidence, and based on that alone form an opinion.

 

shaow Form an opinion about someone only after having clear evidence or proof, not before it.shadow

In our social dealings, people complain about each other. These complaints get magnified, and soon turn into hatred. Hatred, in turn, escalates into uglier forms of evil, including enmity. In almost every such case, the fundamental cause is people forming opinions about each other without proper investigation and relying on rumours and hearsay, which they take to be confirmed facts. The results of this are always serious: regret in this world, and punishment in the Hereafter.

Forget the Unpleasantness

If one wants to complain, one is sure to find plenty to complain about in life. The intelligent thing to do is to forget the unpleasant things and carry on to fulfil one’s true purpose in life.