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Chapter V: Duties Towards Companions and Friends

The Prophet said: I seek refuge to God from a bad neighbour.
If he sees any good, he keep it secret and if he sees any bad, he disclose it. There is no such a man who cannot be called good for some of his conducts, and cannot be called bad for some of his conducts. There is a Hadis that once a man praised another before the Prophet. On the following day he Began to defame him. Then the Prophet said : You have praised him yesterday, and you are defaming him to-day : He said : By God, I told the truth yesterday about him and I have not told a lie about him to-day. He pleased me yesterday and I said what I knew about him as good. To-day he enkindled my anger and then I have said what I know about him as bad. The Prophet said : There is certainly sorcery in oratory. He compared it with sorcery. The Prophet said in another . Haids : Oratory and harshness are two "branches of hypocrasy. There is in another Hadis. God hates full discription of anything. Imam Shafeyi said : There is no such Muslim who obeys God and at the same time does not obey God, and there is no such Muslim who disobeys God and at the same time does not disobey Him. He is a just man whose virtues are more than his sins. Don't hold bad conjecture about your friend, because it is the back-biting of mind which is prohibited . Many conjectures remain upon mistakes. The Prophet said : God made unlawful four things for a believer - to shed the blood of a believer, to destroy his properties, to mar his honour and to harbour evil conjectures against him. The Prophet said : Beware of evil conjecture, because evil nonjecture is the worst false talks.
To search the faults of others and to harbour evil conjecture show the evil path.

The Prophet said: Don't disclose the serest of one another, don's seek the secrets of one another, and don't cut off the connections of one another and unite the servants of God in brohterhood .The object of pleasure to God is theman who imbues himself with divine attributes, as He is the keeper of secrets, pardoner of sins and kind to His servants. So how can you remain without forgiving one who is above you or who is lower than you?

Jesus Christ said to his disciples^ What do you do when the wind blows off the wearing cloth of your friends in his sleep and makes him naked ? They said : We his private parts with cloth. He said : Rather I see that you uncover his private parts. They said :

Vol-II Love and Brotherhood 107

Glory be to God, who does this ? He said . If anybody amongst you hears any secret word about your brother, he adds to is other words and discloses it in a big from, know that the faith of man is not perfect till he loves for others what he loves for himself . The lowers state friendship is that you will respect for your friends that treatment which you expect that he should mete out to you.

Source: Imam Al-Ghazali, Ihya Ulum al-Din (Revival of the Islamic Sciences)
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