Flame of Hope
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Ha ha ha! I see that I got your ATTENTION. That's good.
It's a good thing to have friends but one has to chose the right friends. It looks like we have to choose our companions wisely.
Here's an article with information on what to look for in a companion:
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Five Qualities to Look For In a Companion
When you try to find a companion in order that he may be your partner in acquisition of knowledge and your companion in your religious and secular matters, look for five qualities in him.
1. Intelligence. There is no good in the companionship of a stupid/ignorant man. Companionship with such a man end in isolation and separation. An enemy who is intelligent is better than a friend who is ignorant.
'Ali, may Allah be pleased with him said:
"Do not be in the company of an ignorant friend;
Beware of him and let him beware of you.
How often an ignorant man has brought destruction
to a forbearing man who has befriended him."
2. Good character. Do not be the companion of a man whose character is bad. He is one who is unable to control himself when he is angry and is overly excited when he desires something.
'Ali, may Allah be pleased with him said:
"Your true friend is he who is always with you,
And he who harms himself in order to help you,
And he who, when calamities of the time break you,
scatters his cloak in order to save you."
3. Piety. Do not be the companion of a fasiq who persists in major sin. This is because he who fears God does not persist in major sin, and he who does not fear God may cause you mischief; indeed, his attitude towards you will change with the changes in his luck and conditions.
Beware, because the constant sight of sin will remove the dislike of sin from your mind and will create the feeling that sin is something light.
4. Absence of greed. Companionship of a man greedy for the worldly matters is DEADLY poison, for human nature is such that the nature of one man tends to resemble that of another and to imitate it; indeed, a man's nature steals the qualities of another man's nature in such a way that he is not aware of it. Therefore, association with a greedy man will increase your greed.
5. Truthfulness. Do not be the companion of a liar, for he is like the mirage; he will show that which is remote near to you and that which is near remote from you.
. . . .
Men are of three categories:
One is like food from which no one can be independent.
Another is like medicine which is needed sometimes but not always.
The third one is like a disease which is never needed but with which man is sometimes afflicted.
~~~
[An excerpt from "Bidayat al-Hidayah" (Beginning of Guidance) by al-Imam al-Ghazzali]
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P.S. After reading this, I'm wondering WHERE on earth can I find a companion like THAT?!!!!!!
mg:But I'll keep searching......one mustn't lose hope.
