Brotherhood in Islam

Evil deeds, which give rise to enmity and belong to evil itself, are as dark and dense as evil and the earth. They should neither spread to others nor be reflected in them. If another person adopts such conduct and commits evil, that is a different matter.

Goodness, from which love arises, is radiant like love itself. It is in its very nature to spread and to be reflected in others. Hence the saying, “The friend of a friend is a friend,” has become a well-known proverb. Likewise, the saying, “For the sake of one eye, many eyes are loved,” has become well known among the people.

O unjust person! Since this is the reality, if you are committed to the truth, you should realize how contrary to the truth it is to harbour hostility toward the lovable and innocent relatives of someone you happen to dislike.

The Fourth Aspect

It is also an injustice from the standpoint of personal life. Listen, therefore, to several principles that form the foundation of this fourth aspect.

The First Principle

When you believe your way and your views to be true, you have the right to say, “My way is correct, or better than that of others.” But you do not have the right to say, “Only my way is correct.”

وَعَيْنُ الرِّضَا عَنْ كُلِّ عَيْبٍ كَلِيلَةٌ ۞ وَلٰكِنَّ عَيْنَ السُّخْطِ تُبْدِى الْمَسَاوِيَاThe eye of contentment is blind to every fault, whereas the eye of displeasure reveals every defect.

In accordance with this truth, your biased gaze and flawed judgment cannot serve as a judge. They cannot judge the way of others to be false.

The second principle

You are obliged always to speak the truth, but you are not entitled to speak every truth. Everything you say should be true, but it is not right to say everything that is true. For a person whose intentions are not entirely sincere may, through his advice, strike a sensitive nerve in others and provoke precisely the opposite reaction.

The third principle

If you wish to harbour enmity, direct it against the enmity within your own heart and strive to remove it. Likewise, direct your hostility toward your own nafsThe aspect of the soul associated with lower desires and negative traits. and its desires, which cause you the greatest harm, and seek to reform them. Do not show hostility toward believers on account of your harmful nafsThe aspect of the soul associated with lower desires and negative traits..

If you wish to harbour enmity, then direct it toward the unbelievers and the godless who oppose Islam, of whom there are many. Indeed, just as love is deserving of love, so too enmity is deserving of enmity.