Why we shouldn’t judge people

Source: http://themeaningofislam.wordpress.com/

People are very quick to form judgements on others, and mostly without looking at themselves first. Being quick to criticize someone, a muslim or a non-muslim, is something to be avoided because we do not know a persons intention, and they may be far better than us.

A person’s outward actions

Right now, all we see are the actions that the person has done so far in their life. We do not know later on what they will be doing, or that in secret they might be giving away lots of charity (for instance) which pleases Allah, and maybe they will be much better than us.

Hadith #4 of Imam Nawawi

Prophet Muhammad said:

[…] I swear by Allah – there is no God but He – one of you may perform the deeds of the people of Paradise till there is naught but an arm’s length between him and it, when that which has been written will outstrip him so that he performs the deeds of the people of the Hell Fire; one of you may perform the deeds of the people of the Hell Fire, till there is naught but an arm’s length between him and it, when that which has been written will overtake him so that he performs the deeds of the people of Paradise and enters therein.”

[Al-Bukhari & Muslim, Narrated by Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman ‘Abdullah bin Mas’ud]

Read the full hadith here

The lesson to be taken

We may see someone not acting in accordance with Allah’s actions and judge them to be a bad person. Only Allah knows their Niyyah (Intention) and later on in life they may be more succesful than us. We should focus on sharpening ourselves and strengthening ur good deeds rather than bickering with other people about details of their life.

Make 70 excuses

Hamdun al-Qassar, one of the great early Muslims, said:

“If a friend among your friends errs, make seventy excuses for them. If your hearts are unable to do this, then know that the shortcoming is in your own selves [ibid]“

And the words of Imam Jafar as-Sadiq

“If you find see something you don’t like in a brother, try to find 1-70 excuses for him. And if you can’t find an excuse, say ‘There might be an excuse, but I don’t know it.’ “

This is a very solid rule to live by when you see someone doing something wrong, because you won’t waste time worrying about them or trying to change them – one of the 70 excuses could be that maybe their Niyyah is not to do something wrong, or they do not know, or they will realize later and try to correct their mistake.

If we think they do not know what they are doing is wrong we should try to tell them in a gentle way. Pointing fingers and calling a muslim ‘Kaafir!’ is highly unlikely to be productive!

Prophet Musa and A;-Khidr

In Surah Al Kahf from ayah 60 till 82, is the story of Prophet Musa and Khidr. To sum up the story briefly, Prophet Musa followed a learned man called Al-Khidr to get guidance. He kept seeing Al-Khidr do actions that to Musa seemed wrong and Musa would speak up and point out that they were wrong. At the end, it turned out that Al-Khidrs intention had been good all along and though his actions seemed wrong he was actually doing them to benefit the people. This shows us that there are things of which we have no knowledge and should not think that we do.

Being harsh to non-Muslims

We will undoubtedly see non-Muslims behaving in ways that are not in accordance to our beliefs (obviously, because they are non-Muslims and don’t have the same lifestyle as a Muslim). Before we judge them and call them ‘Kufaar’ (a harsh term that is translated as ‘Infidels’ but really means someone who hides or covers, in this case, tey are covering up the truth from their Lord by denying it), we should think about the fact that all the people at the Prophet’s time were converts to Islam. They might have done actions that before were wrong but they converted to Islam and corrected their ways.

Ibn Umar, one of the closest companions of the Prophet, was on his way to kill the Prophet when he then converted (read his full story here, it’s very interesting). Now if someone saw him on his way to kill the Prophet and said ‘Kaafir! Infidel!’, they would be wrong in that judgement because he went on to become one of the strongest Muslims and leaders of our Ummah.

Calling muslims Kaafir

We should not call fellow muslims Kaafir, (which is a very common thing these days).

Prophet Muhammad said:

“If a man addresses his brother as, ‘O’ Disbeliever’ (Kaafir) it returns to one of them; either it is as he said or it returns to him.”

Sahih Bukhari 10/427 and Sahih Muslim 60, Narrated by Ibn Umar

This means that if a Muslim calls a Muslim a Kaafir, then one of them is a Kaafir but it is not the one who is being accused but rather the one who is making the judgement.

Standing united

We need to stand united as an Ummah, now more than ever when outside forces are trying to divide us all (divide and conquer!). We may not always agree wth each other but we need to focus on what we do agree on; that Allah is One and Muhammad is his Messenger. Anything after that is between us and Allah. Abu Bakr and Umar had different ways of ruling when they were Caliphs, and they never called each other Kaafir or quarreled extensively over their small differences. This is because we can only work with the knowledge we have to the best of our abilities and understandings. If someone doesn’t agree with us it’s okay; you’re never going to meet someone who agrees with you 100% on everything.

All judgement belongs to Allah

The Youm-Al Qiyaam, the Day of Judgement, is called that for a reason. Allah is the best of all judges and on that day everyone will be judged acording to their actions. We are merely human beings who have little understanding of these matters, so we should focus on ourselves so that we are not judged harshly by Allah on that day, rather than spending our energy on judging others.

Insha’Allah Allah will give us all guidance, and help us to help others.

When it comes to giving dawah here in 2014, let’s try to not judge people from their appearance

Indeed, think about where you came from and where you are now. Many of us would be ashamed of the sins we committed in the past, yet we look forward to the future of accumulating good deeds and working towards a joyous ending, in’sha’Allah!

No Racism in Islam

The most pious individuals are only known to Allaah, because the “sea of taqwaa” is the heart. Man can only judge people by each other’s outward deeds which, may or may not be misleading. – Dr. Bilal Philips

Don’t judge me! (Video)

Do not judge others by your own standards, for everyone is making their way home, in the best way that they know.

 Do not judge others by your own standards, for everyone is making their way home, in the best way that they know.
 No juzgues a los demás por sus propias normas, para todo el mundo está haciendo su camino a casa, de la mejor manera que saben.
 Oordeel niet over anderen door uw eigen normen, voor iedereen is het maken van hun weg naar huis, op de beste manier die ze kennen.
 Ne pas juger les autres par vos propres normes, pour tout le monde fait le chemin du retour, de la meilleure façon qu’ils connaissent.
 Andere richten Sie sich nicht von Ihren eigenen Standards, für alle ist, die ihren Weg nach Hause, in der besten Art und Weise, dass sie wissen.
 Bùyào yòng zìjǐ de biāozhǔn lái píngpàn biérén, měi gèrén dōu zhèngzài huí jiā de lùshàng, yīnwèi tāmen zhīdào zuì hǎo de fāngshì.
 Inte döma andra efter dina egna normer, för alla är på väg hem, på bästa sätt att de vet.
 Не судите других по собственным стандартам, для всех, делает свой ​​путь домой, наилучшим образом, что они знают.
 Herkes biliyor ki en iyi şekilde evlerinin yolunu yapıyor için, kendi standartlarına göre yargıç başkalarına vermeyin.
 Non giudicare gli altri con le proprie norme, per tutti, sta facendo la strada di casa, nel miglior modo che conoscono.
 Jangan menilai orang lain dengan standar Anda sendiri, untuk semua orang yang membuat perjalanan pulang, dengan cara terbaik yang mereka ketahui.

If you judge people, you have no time to love them.

 If you judge people, you have no time to love them.
 Si juzgas a la gente, no tienes tiempo para amarla.
 Als je mensen oordeelt, heb je geen tijd om ze lief te hebben.
 Si vous jugez les gens, vous n’avez pas le temps de les aimer.
 Wenn man die Leute beurteilen, haben Sie keine Zeit, sie zu lieben.
 Rúguǒ nǐ pànduàn de rén, nǐ yǒu méiyǒu shíjiān qù ài tāmen.
 Om du dömer människor, har du ingen tid att älska dem.
 Yesli sudit’ lyudey , u vas net vremeni, chtoby lyubit’ ikh.
 Eğer insanları yargılamak, onları sevmek için hiçbir zaman var.
 Se giudichi le persone, non hai tempo per amarle.
 Jika Anda menghakimi orang, Anda tidak punya waktu untuk mengasihi mereka.

Lets not judge others, but let us examine our own motives and conduct.

 Lets not judge others, but let us examine our own motives and conduct.
 No Vamos a juzgar a los demás, pero vamos a examinar nuestras propias motivaciones y conductas.
 Laten we niet oordelen over anderen, maar laat ons onze eigen motieven en gedrag te onderzoeken.
 Permet de ne pas juger les autres, mais nous allons examiner nos propres motifs et la conduite.
 Lässt andere nicht beurteilen, aber lassen Sie uns untersuchen, unsere eigenen Motive und Verhalten.
 Ràng wǒmen bùyào lùnduàn rén, dàn ràng wǒmen shěnshì zìjǐ de dòngjī hé xíngwéi.
 Låter inte döma andra, men låt oss granska våra egna motiv och uppförande.
 Davayte ne sudit’ drugikh , no davayte rassmotrim nashi sobstvennyye motivy i povedeniye.
 Başkalarının yargıç, ama bizim kendi güdülerini ve davranışlarını inceleyelim değil sağlar.
 Consente di non giudicare gli altri, ma esaminiamo le nostre motivazioni e comportamenti.
 Mari kita tidak menghakimi orang lain, tetapi marilah kita memeriksa motivasi kita sendiri dan perilaku.

Everyone makes mistakes. If we don’t want to be judged by ours, then we shouldn’t judge about anyone else’s.

 Everyone makes mistakes. If we don’t want to be judged by ours, then we shouldn’t judge about anyone else’s.
 Todo el mundo comete errores. Si no queremos ser juzgados por los nuestros, entonces no debemos juzgar acerca de cualquier otro.
 Iedereen maakt fouten. Als we niet willen worden beoordeeld door ons, dan moeten we niet oordelen over iemand anders.
 Tout le monde fait des erreurs. Si nous ne voulons pas être jugés par la nôtre, alors nous ne devrions pas juger sur quelqu’un d’autre.
 Jeder macht Fehler. Wenn wir nicht wollen von uns beurteilt werden, dann sollten wir nicht beurteilen, über jemand anderen.
 Měi gèrén dūhuì fàncuò. Rúguǒ wǒmen bù xīwàng tōngguò wǒmen de pànduàn, nàme wǒmen bù yìng gāi pànduàn duì rènhé rén de.
 Alla gör misstag. Om vi inte vill att bedömas av vår, då vi inte bör döma om någon annans.
 Kazhdyy delayet oshibki . Yesli my ne khotim , chtoby sudit’ po nashim, to my ne dolzhny sudit’ o chey-libo.
 Herkes hata yapar. Biz bizim tarafından değerlendirilecektir istemiyorsanız, o zaman biz başkasının hakkında hüküm olmamalıdır.
 Tutti commettono errori. Se non vogliamo essere giudicati dai nostri, allora non dovremmo giudicare chiunque altro.
 Semua orang membuat kesalahan. Jika kita tidak ingin dinilai oleh kita, maka kita tidak boleh menilai tentang orang lain.