Do Not Reciprocate The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “If somebody reproaches you and makes you feel ashamed of any of your defects, do not make him feel ashamed of any of his defects.” [Abu Dawud] Usually, when somebody points out one of our shortcomings, we immediately become defensive and start finding faults with them. But the advice of our beloved Prophet is that we should listen quietly and evaluate what we are being told. If there is something we can improve about ourselves, it is only to our own advantage to do so. If the criticism is unjustified, then we are rewarded for our patience and good behaviour in not retaliating. The angels will take care of defending our honour. Starting a counter attack opens the door for Satan to come in and take over. Once Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) was sitting with the Prophet (peace be upon him) when a man came and started to abuse Abu Bakr. Abu Bakr remained silent. Finally, he started to speak in his defence. At this point the Prophet (peace be upon him) got up and left. Abu Bakr immediately went after him and inquired if he had done something wrong. The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied that as long as he had been silent, angels had been speaking on his behalf, but when he started to respond, the devil came and sat down next to him. As the Prophet (peace be upon him) could not remain seated where the devil was sitting, he left.
Posted on: Tue, 10 Sep 2013 15:31:44 +0000
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