What does Islam say about minding your own business?
The Shari'a of Islam is universal. No one is exempt from its rules and the only superiority anyone has over anyone else is through taqwa and obeying the commands of Allah. If a person becomes preoccupied with things that do not concern him, his actions will become unsound and unbalanced. This is one of the major factors which hold us back today, turning us into tools manipulated by others. It should not, however, enter into your thoughts that what this hadith says should prevent us commanding what is correct and forbidding what is bad. We seek refuge with Allah from that! That is an absolute command to the Muslims, since the harm which comes from the spread of the bad does not pertain to any one individual. Rather it is like a contagious disease. I should imagine that the people who oppose commanding the correct and forbidding the bad would nevertheless agree that when the existence of an epidemic is suspected in a city, special quarantine places should be built and the city should be put under constant supervision. It is an indisputable fact that sickness in the selves is a stronger force which attacks the body of a community than any outward sickness. When an outward sickness occurs, since it is physical, man flees from it and takes precautions against it. But as for what man does not see, it procedes apace while no one pays attention to its destructiveness. Man should not involve himself in matters in which neither he nor the community derive any harm or benefit. As for that which does bring about harm or benefit, that is absolute. If you see your neighbour setting fire to his house, you don't say, "It doesn't concern me," since your own house is then exposed to destruction by its flames.
Therefore, we should try our utmost best to stay away from matters such as peoples' personal lives, financial matters, relationships and general matters which we do not need to interfere with.
It is naseehah to an extent, but after that it is just purely not being able to mind our own businesses.
Just a little reminder, as it is nearing Ramadhan So insha'Allah we can all try and implement this.
Hey there! Looks like you're enjoying the discussion, but you're not signed up for an account.
When you create an account, we remember exactly what you've read, so you always come right back where you left off. You also get notifications, here and via email, whenever new posts are made. And you can like posts and share your thoughts. Sign Up
So insha'Allah we can all try and implement this.
Hide
Looks like you're enjoying the discussion, but you're not signed up for an account.
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks