Assalamu Alaykum warahmatullahi wa barakatuh

We are finally back to our series. Last week we had to deviate a little, I sincerely apologise.

 

Okay, fourth strategy for dispelling doubt. Last week I explained that the strategies I shared was for more or less before the doubt sets in. Now strategy number 4 which is YOUR ENVIRONMENT is both a before, during and after the doubt sets in.

 

So the fourth strategy for dispelling doubt is ENVIRONMENT. Your Environment is very very important and it affects you in way that you might have already noticed. It has the power to make or break you.

Your Environment entails your family, friends, your school and all that. Here is a Prophet tradition:

 

“A person is upon the religion of his close friend”

 

“The example of a good companion with a bad one is like that of the musk seller and the black Smith bellows. From the first, you would either bring musk or enjoy its good smell while the bellows would either burn your body or uour clothes or you get a bad nasty smell thereof”

 

“The whole religion is good character: whoever increases you in good character; increases you in religion”

 

These are profound prophetic traditions that we each need to ponder upon. Think about your friends, the people you hang out with. In what way do they make you doubt your faith? What bad habits do they have? Are they of good character? Think about how much you have changed from the time you became friends with them and now.

 

One of the scariest verses in the Qur’an for me is 25:28:

“Ah! Woe is me, would that I had never taken such a one for a friend”

 

I think that is a verse we all need to contemplate on. And also remember that your social media Environment is also an environment.

 

Lastly I leave you with a saying from Ibn Al Jawzi:

“You will be with whom you love”

 

For added reading please endeavour read up on the following:

Normative conformity

Diffused responsibility

Line experiment

Jelly Bean Experiment

 

Wa’alaykumus salam warahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Don’t forget to pray for my later friend Abubakar Abdulrahman, may his soul continue to rest in peace, Ameen.