Mirror

[azc]

“The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu ‘Alayhi Wa Sallam) has said, “If a man condemns his Muslim brother for a sin which he has repented from, the accuser shall not die unless he himself commits that sin.” (Tirmidhi, Book on the Description of Qiyamah) The reason is quite obvious. A man who repents of his sin becomes as if he did not commit that sin at all and the sin is erased from the man’s register of deeds. The act of taunting a man for the sin which has been forgiven and which he has forgotten is abhorrent in the sight of Allah Ta’ala.What has been mentioned above relates to a person who has repented of of his sin. There may be a sinner about whom it is not known whether or not he has repented from his sin, although it is very likely that a believer may have repented or will repent in the near future. There is no right for anyone to condemn even such a person.There is a hadith declaring: “The believer is a mirror of the believer.” (Abu Dawud, Book of Etiquette). Hazrat Mawlana Ashraf Ali Thanwi (RA) has observed that this hadith advises that if one finds a vice in a person, one should disclose it to the person concerned, but should not disclose it to others. This is implied in the simile using the word mirror, because the mirror discloses the ugly spot on a man’s face only to the person standing before the mirror and not to any other person. Accordingly, if a believer happens to find some defect or vice in another believer, he should disclose it to the person concerned and not to any other perosn. Disclosing the defect to others will mean that selfishness of one’s own (one’s nafs) is involved in one’s action and it is not based on any consideration of service to Deen. Our Deen demands that the defect should be disclosed only to the person concerned with love and sympathy with the sole intention of reform.--– (Discourses on Islamic Way of Life (Islahi Khutbaat) of Hazrat Mufti Taqi Usmani (DB) Vol. 3, pgs. 205-206, and 208-209)