Keeping good company
Sisterhood is important in
Islam. It has vast significance and meaning and encompasses a
wide range of principles and practices. However the true
essence of sisterhood can obly be understood and preserved if
we all adhere to the correct Islamic teachings, and remain in
the company of other like-minded Muslim women. If we associate
with Muslim women who are weak and act according to their
desires and emotions rather than obeying Allah's guidance we
may be influenced to do the same. The Muslim Ummah is then
likely to fall further into disunity. The Prophet (saw)
emphasised the importance of keeping good company and used the
following analogy to explain the difference between good and
bad friends:
The similitude of good company
and that of bad company is that of the woner of musk and the
ironsmith and his bellows. The owner of musk would either ofer
you it free of charge or you would buy it from him or you would
smell its pleasant odour. As for the ironsmith blowing his
bellows, he would either burn your colthes or you will have to
smell its repugnant smell. (Abu Musa (ra), Muslim, Vo IV,
Pp201, No.2628).
&
A person follows the deen (religon)
of his close friend, therefore let each of you look carefully
at whom he chooses for friends. (Abu Hurairah (ra), Abuawud,
Vol.III p1350, No 4815. At-Tirmidhi. Riyad as-Salihin, Vol.I,
p161, No.367)
The Prophet (saw) warned that
the worst of company is those who disbelieve in Allah (swt),
and those who do not remember Him or follow His divine laws and
guidance. Instead they choose to believe in man-made theories
and belief systems and are misguided far from the Truth. If we
obey the laws of man before the laws of our Creator, we will be
among the losers in this life and the next:
If you obeyed most of those on
earth, they would misguide you from Allah's way. They follow
nothing but conjecture. They are only guessing. (Surah al-An'am
6:116)
&
People who get up from an
assembly in which they did not remember Allah will be just as
if they had got up from an ass's corpse, and it will be a cause
of grief to them. (Abu Hurairah (ra), Abu Dawud, p1354.
No.4837)
&
If anyone sits in a place where
he does not remember Allah, deprivation will descend on him
from Allah; and if he lies in a place where he does not
remember Allah, deprivation will descend on him from Allah.
(Abu Hurairah (ra), Abu Dawud, Vol.III,p1355, No.4838 & Vol.III,
p1404, No.5041)
The Prophet (saw) advised all
Muslims to keep good company whith muminun (believers) who have
taqwa (fear of Allah( as they will encourage us to do right
actions and refrain from doingwrong actions. They will
constantly remind us of Allah (swt) and steer us back nto the
straight path towards the Garden:
You who have Iman! have taqwa of
Allah and be with the sadiqun (the truthful). (Surah at-Tawbah
9:119)
&
Restrain yourself patiently with
those who call on their Lord morning and evening, desiring His
face. Do not turn your eyes away from them, desiring the
attractions of this world. And do not obey someone whose heart
We have made neglectful of Our remembrance and who follows his
own whims and desires and whose life has transgressed all
bounds. (Surah al-Kahf 18:28)
The company we keep will not
only determine our position in this life, but also our final
position in the Hereafter. We should therefore, be selective in
our choice of friends to ensure a better position in this life
and the Next.