There was one day a few months back where I had gotten off to a late start in the morning and found myself hurrying to get to work on time. Of course this meant I was speeding, but I was trying to be reasonable about it. 45 on a 30 mile per hour zone sounded reasonable to me anyway, especially since that particular street is quite popular with cops (otherwise I probably would have been going 60). My speeding plans were going well, until one car turned onto the one lane street I was on and decided to follow the law.
It would seem at that anxious moment in time that nothing would be more frustrating than a civilian who ardently follows the law, and happens along in front of you when you so ardently planned on breaking it. Man, this guy was going t-h-i-r-t-y – painstakingly slow – m-i-l-e-s p-e-r h-o-u-r. SubhanAllah, I thought – if some cops were to see him pass, they’d have waved at him for sticking so enthusiastically to the law.
Now, I couldn’t beep at him for following the speed limit, and I couldn’t pass him either. In the time where I was completely rushed, Allah subhanaHu wa Ta’ala made it so that I was forced to slow down.
During the (painstakingly) slow trip down Tireman St. behind the law abiding car, I thought of how this situation reminded me of the characteristic of a good friend.
Here I was (“the bad friend”) fervently trying to break the law (ie speed). I had mapped it out in my mind, and while I knew that there could be repercussions for my actions (cops >> tickets), I was willing to take that chance anyway. After all, I was mainly thinking of what I wanted right at that instant – to get to work – and it had nothing to do with following the law.
Everything would have been fine – had that car directly in front of me been somewhere else. I couldn’t swear because that’s just not nice and quite unislamic too (plus this version of the bad friend doesn’t swear alhamdulillah : ). I couldn’t get angry because… well after all, he is following the law, not even one mile under it. And I couldn’t even pass him so that he’d be able to go on following the law on his merry own without forcing me into it too – but good Gracious God. There was no way to get past him.
I started thinking… am I like this law abiding car to my friends? Do I force them to slow down and take it easy when they so ardently want to commit a sin – when many or even one sin is beautified to them?
Or was I the one being slowed down by one (or all) of my good friends? And if I wasn’t being slowed down, what kind of friends did I keep? One’s that would pull me out of the HellFire? Or ones that would cause me to enter it?
I am definitely still reflecting over this analogy, and I pray that Allah makes me (and my friends) of those who allow their friends to enter into goodness while leading them away from haram.
And that, alhamdulillah, is how my attempt at speeding allowed me to remember Allah and the condition of my nafs, even when I thought I was too busy to remember it. Look at the Graciousness of our Rabb! : ) Walillahil Hamdu waShukr.
Abu Musa Al-Ash`ari (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (sallaAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam) said:
“The example of a good companion and a bad one is the bearer of musk and the worker on the bellows. A bearer of musk would give you some, you might buy some from him, or you might enjoy the fragrance of his musk. The worker on the bellows, on the other hand, might spoil your clothes with sparks from his bellows, or you get a bad smell from him.”
(Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim, this version found in Muslim)
On the authority of Abu Hurairah:
“Man models himself after his companion; so let each one of you see who he chooses for companion”
(At-Tirmidhi)
May Allah subhanaHu waTa’ala make us of those who are blessed with having good friends, and who are blessed with being good friends. Ameen!
Blessed Muslimah 