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Issues / The Impact of Friendship
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In the Holy Quran, God says:
"The Day that the wrong doer will bite at his hands, he will say: Oh:
Would that I had taken a straight path with the Messenger".
In the afore mentioned verse, God is talking about the
"unjust"; the term unjust refers to those who persecute themselves either
by being atheists, which leads to Hell; or by committing sins, leading to
God’s wrath. Several Quranic verses, talk about how those who are
punished by God have tyrannized themselves by rebelling against God and
by being unbelievers, which is evident in God’s saying:
"We did them no wrong, but they were used to
wronging to themselves"..
In the Quran, God relates the reaction of the
self-tyrannical person when confronted with his sins. He feels beaten by
remorse when witnessing how his sins have led him to Hell, and how the
good deeds of the pious people who have abided by God's commands have led
them to Heaven.
Deviating Away from the Prophet's line:
"The day that the wrong doer
will bite his hands, and say: Ah! Woe is me! Would that I had never taken
such a one a friend.' Meaning that I wish I had taken the right
path, the one taken by the Prophet: the path of faith, believing in God
and obeying Him. But I haven't, and so I will not be given the promised
rewards God presented to those who were dedicated to the Prophet(p.)’s
line, then he remembers his friends; the unbelievers who used to commit
sins and attempted to mislead him. Man, with the help of his friends,
gets more inclined to take the wrong path because friends have a lot of
impact on one another, due to the emotional bonds existing among them.
And that is what we notice when a person befriends others in schools,
clubs, on the street, in commerce, and even in so many political parties.
In so many cases, man's morals, creed and political positions would be
corrupted by his friends.
Friend's: Angels or Devils?
The person whom you benefit of your relation with is
the trustworthy one, who is good-hearted, faithful and pious. You attain
most of your emotions, thoughts, and attitudes from your friends, due to
the factual psychological and practical impact friends have. The poet
says: A blowing wind carries with it what it blows on. When the wind
blows on fruitful and scented fields, it carries with it beautiful and
relieving sweet-smells. On the other hand, if the field contains some
rotten elements, the wind will smell bad.
This is why when man spends most of his time with
corrupt and bad companies; he attains their same corrupt and perverted
attitudes, life style, and emotions. But on Judgment Day, he will regret
and say: I wish I haven't befriended this person for he had misled me
after I was guided, he had misguided me into committing sins and
perpetrating evil deeds.
"Ah! The Devil is but a traitor to man"..
Such a friend is a devil, since the Devil is the one
who leads people astray. But when his followers confront him with the
fact that it is because of him that they are being punished, he declares
himself innocent; and claims that he has nothing to do with the evil
crimes committed by his own followers.
Some friends are just like the Devil: they trick
people into misdoings, but then they claim themselves blameless; there
happens to be a lot of criminals who go on corrupting people's life on
political and moral positions, but then, abandon their friends.
Man's Dialogue with the devil in the Hereafter:
We have discussed earlier at some point the issue of
man's talk with the Devil in the Hereafter, where people are in extreme
confusion and all of a sudden, they rush towards the Devil to blame him
for all their sins, misdoings, pointing fingers towards him and accusing
him: "you are the one who misled me, you have misguided me. But the Devil
defends himself."
"Blame not me, blame yourselves ;" for you had
your minds of your own, and God sent you His Messengers and warned you
that this day will come; why didn't you follow: "Did
no Warner come to you.
"You are nothing but an egregious delusion."
"Then reproach me not."
You have made me God's associate; you obey me and disobey Him! Where was
your conscience that God granted you? Where was your sense of right and
wrong? Why didn't you assess your losses and gains the same way you used
to calculate your money gained and lost. Hence, these verses give us a
notion of how to choose our friends, how to examine them thoroughly
before befriending them since they might lead you to Hell. Therefore, on
judgment Day when God asks man about his deeds, and then man blames his
friends who misled him;" this companion will say:
Oh: hard I make him transgress, but he was himself far astray. He will
say: Dispute not with each, other in my
presence: I had already in advance sent you warning." "One day we will
ask Hell: Art there filled to the fall? It will say: "Are there any
more".
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