Dealing with People -- The Muslim's Golden Rule

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Muslims have it in the teachings of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) better than the "Golden Rule" - to love for your brother what you love for yourself.

On the authority of Abu Hamzah Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said:

"None of you will believe until you love for your brother what you love for yourself." [Bukhari & Muslim]

For the person to receive true faith they have to love their brother in humanity, Muslim or non-Muslim, what they love for themselves. This is a very high level of spirituality and selflessness the true believer should seek. We shouldn’t say that someone who does not attain this station is no longer a believer. He just haven’t reached that high level of faith.

Many of us fall short in following this teaching and sometimes act in opposite to the teachings. You will find envy and jealousy among people, even in familial relationships and close friendships. If we see something good that our brother has and we want it, or worse, that we want him to lose it, then there is an actual problem in our belief. It’s a problem in our love for our brother, and it’s contradictory to the meaning of this hadith.

Holding ourselves accountable is an essential characteristic of a believer. You hold yourself accountable and question yourself about your feelings against your brother and why you feel a certain way, and rectify it.

Sometimes when we see flaws of others, instead of hoping, striving, and working toward rectify their difficulties in flaws, we actually exploit them. We take advantage of them and make ourselves feel better. This is actually a disease in the heart that we need to see someone to do something bad in order for us to feel good. We should help the person to overcome his problems and desire for him to be better.

We should want our brother to have what we have and even better. This is a manifestation of us realizing that Allah is endless in His bounty and endless in His generosity, even infinite in these qualities. We should rid of this disease that makes us think that if someone else have it, then we can’t. Allah can give and take as He pleases so it shouldn’t make any difference if someone else has something, something we don't have or something better than what we have.

May Allah beautify our character and enable us to love for our brothers what we love for ourselves. Ameen.

Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam