APRIL 10
A Better Human Being
According to Abu Hurayra the Prophet Muhammad made this observation before a gathering: ‘Should I not tell you who among you is good and who is bad’ (that is, how to differentiate good from bad). The people who were thus addressed kept quiet. Then the Prophet repeated the same words thrice. Afterwards someone spoke up: ‘Tell us who among us is good and who is not.’ The Prophet then replied: ‘Good among you are those from whom people expect good to come and they are secure from them. (At-Tirmizi)
This hadith tells us clearly who are good and who are bad. A good person is one of whom one can be sure in advance that whenever one deals with him he will be expecting only good in return. Nothing will induce him to be unjust in his dealings.
Everyone, even the good man, receives his share of ego by birth. He too dislikes things which are not to his liking. He becomes angry when provoked. He has the urge to avenge himself. But despite all this, he adheres to his principled stand.
He bears all psychological shocks patiently. He does not, with a knee-jerk mentality, return the bitter pill to others. He instead returns good for evil, expecting God to compensate him for the injustice done to him. In this way his mental equilibrium is not disturbed and he is able to continue his struggle for the noble cause of Islam with total devotion.
