So Look To Who You Take As A Friend… - Day 14 (1444.h)
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ اتَّقُواْ اللّهَ وَكُونُواْ مَعَ الصَّادِقِينَ
O you who believe! Be afraid of Allâh, and be with those who are true (in words and deeds).
Sūrah Tawbah, Āyah 119
﷽
This poignant Āyah brings to mind the Ḥadīth of The Messenger (ﷺ): “A man is upon the religion of his close friends, so each of you should pay attention to whom he takes as his friend.” (1).
Our friends, those we associate and mingle with, have an effect on who we are. If they are from the righteous, generally speaking, their good conduct would affect us positively. At the same time, if they were to be from those who have turned away from Allāh or the open sinners, then one will generally come under their influence, just like Allāh’s Messenger (ﷺ) pointed out in another Ḥadīth saying:
“Verily, the parable of good company and that of bad company is that of the seller of musk and of the blacksmith. The seller of the musk will either offer you free of charge or you will buy it from him, or you will notice a pleasant smell. As for the blacksmith, he will burn your clothes, or you will notice a bad smell.” (2).
In the verse of discussion, Allāh has ordered us to have Taqwā (i.e. to be dutiful and conscious of Him) and to be with those who are truthful, but unfortunately, lots of us neglect this command, instead we befriend anyone and everyone without remembering that the command is to accompany only the righteous. We cannot afford to act heedless and it is binding on every individual that seeks to be a person of Taqwā to befriend those who are righteous, sincere, and truthful in their words and deeds.
Many of us youth nowadays, Subḥān-Allāh, think we’re too young to take life seriously, or we think what is cool is to follow the various trends. You see those around you listening to music, going to parties, free-mixing between the sexes and you think you also should indulge in these acts… we’ve developed these false notions that by engaging in such evils we’re enjoying our youthful days. Do not be fooled by what many say: “after all you are young” or “YOLO”, and thus you think it’s okay to be disobedient or turn away from the Deen because later you’ll be a practising Muslim. Who promised you tomorrow o servant of Allāh? While it is true that you will not be young twice, also remember that you will not live twice! If Allāh should take your life whilst you are still young, you will not have the opportunity to return to this life to do things better.
Subḥān-Allāh, how many times do we hear of young people dying? How many times this year have we heard of young people we grew up with dying? Shouldn’t that ring a bell in our heads, should it not serve as a wake-up call to all of us? Is it not enough of a reminder that we are not promised the whole of today let alone tomorrow? So why would we not correct our ways and make good use of our youth from this very moment? Would we not want to be that young man/woman whom Allāh will shade with His shade on the day when there will be no shade but His (Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Bukhārī, 1423)?
Why would we not hasten to be from the righteous? Why would we not stay away from the company of those who are not trying to be righteous and instead befriend the righteous ones? This is what is upon you, and you have to take responsibility for it…! If we truly want to be righteous as we claim then we must be with those who are too, those who would remind us of our duty to Allāh, those who would aid us in obedience to Allāh, those who when we err in the rights of Allāh, they correct us and bring us back on track. Indeed on the Day of Reckoning, friends will be foes to one another except the pious ones:
ٱلۡأَخِلَّآءُ يَوۡمَئِذٍۢ بَعۡضُهُمۡ لِبَعۡضٍ عَدُوٌّ إِلَّا ٱلۡمُتَّقِينَ
“Friends on that Day will be foes one to another except Al-Muttaqūn (pious).”
Sūrah Az-Zukhruf : 67
So reflect, do you not want to be from the pious? Or do you want to be from those whom Allāh said regarding them:
وَيَوْمَ يَعَضُّ الظَّالِمُ عَلَى يَدَيْهِ يَقُولُ يَا لَيْتَنِي اتَّخَذْتُ مَعَ الرَّسُولِ سَبِيلًا ﴿٢٧﴾ يَا وَيْلَتَى لَيْتَنِي لَمْ أَتَّخِذْ فُلَانًا خَلِيلًا ﴿٢٨﴾ لَقَدْ أَضَلَّنِي عَنِ الذِّكْرِ بَعْدَ إِذْ جَاءنِي وَكَانَ الشَّيْطَانُ لِلْإِنسَانِ خَذُولًا
And (remember) the Day when the Zalim (wrong-doer, oppressor, polytheist, etc.) will bite at his hands, he will say: "Oh! Would that I had taken a path with the Messenger (Muhammad ﷺ). "Ah! Woe to me! Would that I had never taken so-and-so as a friend! He indeed led me astray from the Reminder (this Quran) after it had come to me. And Shaitan (Satan) is ever a deserter to man in the hour of need."
Sūrah Al-Furqān:27-29
Reflect, is it worth being in the company of those that will cause you to regret on the Day of Qiyāmah? If we’d like to avoid this, then we should be with those who are true to their Tawḥīd, true to the Sunnah, and hold on to the truth even if it is against them. The Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) said:
“Hold on to truth, for being truthful leads to righteousness, and righteousness leads to Paradise. Verily, a man will keep saying the truth and striving for truth, until he is written before Allāh as very truthful (Ṣiddīq). Beware of lying, for lying leads to sin, and sin leads to the Fire. Verily, the man will keep lying and striving for falsehood until he is written before Allāh as a great liar.” (3)
May He, The Exalted make us from the truthful and the righteous and may He bless us with truthful and righteous friends. Amīn.
وصلّى الله وسلّم على نبيّنا محمّد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين
(1) - Sunan Abī Dawūd, 4833
(2) - Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, 2628
(3) - Agreed Upon, Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Bukhārī (6094), Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (2607)
