“ A believer is the mirror of his brother. When he sees a fault in him, he should correct him ”- narrated by Imam Bukhari

It took me some time to allow myself to absorb and really understand the meaning of this hadith. Of course, it basically means that, if you witness your fellow Muslim brother or sister doing something they should not be doing, it is your duty to point out his/her fault. It is pretty self-explanatory, so why did it take me so long to grasp? Because I, like most other human beings, dislike being wrong. If I’m wrong, I don’t want to be told that I’m wrong. In fact, I usually know if I’m doing something wrong, so why should anyone else tell me? Who are they to say anything? In the end, it’s my problem, so why does anyone have to get into my business. Right?

Apparently not. This is clear proof, if you have a problem, someone needs to tell you to fix it. Though it may be your problem, if someone loves you, then it’s his/her problem as well. And you should love every one of your Muslim brothers and sisters. So, from now on, I ask of my friends to point out the visible blemishes in my Iman, because this is the only way that I’ll correct myself.

Something else comes to mind as I write this post. Imam Khalid al Talib mentioned:

“ The moment you think you are pious, you’re not ”

Such a short, yet powerful statement. It’s true, even the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), would stand for hours during the last third of the night supplicating to our Lord; he begged for mercy because he knew that he could not worship our Lord the way He deserves to be worshipped. Imagine, even the Prophet Muhammad, the most perfect man ever to exist, knew that he was not capable of doing justice to our Lord. So, who are we? Who are we to think we are so religious, doing the bare minimum: praying five times a day and fasting during the month of Ramadan? The key to this statement is that it continuously pushes you further. If you know you’re not the best Muslim, you will constantly strive to be better.